Exemplary campuses but Acceptable district

Q: All the campuses in our district are Exemplary or Recognized, but the district is rated Acceptable. How can that be?

A: It is often the case that individual schools have higher ratings than their district because there are fewer students at the school level. That is, while schools and districts are held accountable for the performance of all students, the individual student groups must have at least 30 students to be considered in the ratings system. For that reason an elementary school might only be judged on 7 or 8 indicators because it only had a handful of students taking (for example) 5th grade TAKS science, but at the district level, where science is tested in grades 5, 10, and 11, there are enough students in each group, so the district is held accountable for the performance of every student group in science.

Also, elementary and middle schools are not accountable for the Completion Rate indicator. As a result, districts are more likely to be held accountable for all 36 indicators, while many schools are held accountable to fewer than 10 indicators.

Q: I carefully checked the performance of my district on every indicator, and it appears they should be rated Recognized, but the state rated them Acceptable. How can this be?

A: A district whose performance is at the Recognized or Exemplary level can be held to a rating of Academically Acceptable if it has one or more campuses rated Academically Unacceptable.

Q: Looking at the Completion Rate for a neighboring high school, I would think the rating should be no higher than Academically Acceptable, but I see that they are rated Recognized. Why is that?

A: For the first time this year, a new definition is being used to determine who is a dropout. Because this is a transition year, a School Leaver Provision is in place. This means that, for 2007, none of the indicators that include dropouts will lower the rating of a school or district. Please see Appendix I of the 2007 Accountability Manual for a complete explanation.

Mobility

Q: What happens when a student comes to my school just a week before the TAKS test? We try hard to get them ready for the tests, but it's difficult with so little time. Will their performance affect our rating?

A: No, students who change schools after the PEIMS snapshot date (end of October) and before the date of testing are taken out of the accountability subset. Please see Chapter 2, Table 3 in the 2007 Accountability Manual for a complete explanation.

Masking

Q: Why does the data table for my school show >99% under Percent Met Standard? I know that 100% of the students passed that test!

A: The accountability data tables now employ more masking of assessment data than has been used in the past, in order to comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). For more detailed information, please see the Explanation of Masking.

2007 Accountability | Performance Reporting