The preliminary ratings are the first measures of school accountability based on TEA’s new A-F rating system, a result of House Bill 2804 passed by the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015.
Changes have been controversial for Texas school districts more accustomed to the ratings of “met standard,” “met alternative standard,” and “improvement required” that TEA has given out in previous years.
RRISD's board of trustees included in its priorities for the 85th Texas Legislature support for amending the A-F system to provide a "meaningful measure of performance," arguing that the new standards rely too heavily on test results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR. Other school boards, including Austin ISD and Dripping Springs ISD, have called for the A-F system to be repealed.
“As we embark on this change in our accountability system, we will continue to hold ourselves to a high standard as a district in assessing our performance,” RRISD Superintendent Steve Flores said in a statement. “Although we support and value campus and district accountability, we also believe that communities cannot assess the complexity of educating students by a single letter grade based mostly on a standardized assessment.”
Preliminary ratings released Friday include letter grades in four "domains" that rate a district's performance in student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and postsecondary readiness, respectively. TEA's first official ratings using the A-F system, due out in August 2018 and based on the 2017-18 school year, will include a fifth domain rating performance in community and student engagement, according to the agency.
Round Rock ISD's overall rating included A grades in domains I and II and C grades in domains III and IV, according to TEA.
Student achievement: A
Student progress: A
Closing performance gaps: C
Postsecondary readiness: C
Letter grades A through C are meant to indicate acceptable to well above average performance, while D through F grades show a need for improvement.
Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, in a statement Friday, said TEA's preliminary ratings are a "work in progress" meant to satisfy a legislative requirement and are likely to change before the A-F ratings take effect next year.
"No inferences about official district or campus performance in the 2015–16 school year should be drawn from these ratings, and these ratings should not be considered predictors of future district or campus performance ratings,” Morath said.
All RRISD schools were given "met standard" ratings by TEA for the 2015-16 school year.
The following RRISD school ratings are listed in order from domains 1-4; I: student achievement, II: student progress, III: closing performance gaps, IV: postsecondary readiness.
High Schools
- Cedar Ridge HS — B, C, C, C
- McNeil HS — A, C, C, C
- Round Rock HS — A, C, C, B
- Stony Point HS — B, C, C, C
- Success HS — B, B, B, C
- Westwood HS — A, B, B, B
Middle Schools
- C.D. Fulkes MS — C, B, B, C
- Canyon Vista MS — A, A, B, B
- Cedar Valley MS — A, A, B, B
- Chisholm Trail MS — B, C, D, B
- Deerpark MS — B, B, C, C
- Grisham MS — A, B, D, B
- Hernandez MS — C, D, D, C
- Hopewell MS — B, B, C, B
- Ridgeview MS — A, A, B, B
- Walsh MS — A, A, B, B
Elementary Schools
- Anderson Mill ES — C, C, C, D
- Berkman ES — D, C, D, D
- Blackland Prairie ES — A, B, B, B
- Bluebonnet ES — D, F, C, C
- Brushy Creek ES — A, B, C, D
- Cactus Ranch ES — A, A, no grade, B
- Caldwell Heights ES — C, B, C, C
- Callison ES — C, C, C, D
- Canyon Creek ES — A, A, no grade, B
- Caraway ES — A, A, B, C
- Chandler Oaks ES — A, B, B, A
- Deep Wood ES — A, C, D, C
- Double File Trail ES — C, B, D, C
- Elsa England ES — A, B, D, C
- Fern Bluff ES — A, A, A, B
- Forest Creek ES — A, A, B, B
- Forest North ES — C, C, C, D
- Gattis ES — C, C, D, C
- Great Oaks ES — A, A, A, B
- Herrington ES — A, A, A, C
- Joe Lee Johnson ES — not included in preliminary ratings
- Jollyville ES — B, B, C, D
- Laurel Mountain ES — A, A, D, B
- Live Oak ES — B, B, C, F
- Old Town ES — B, C, D, C
- Pond Springs ES — B, B, D, C
- Purple Sage ES — C, B, D, C
- Robertson ES — D, C, D, C
- Sommer ES — A, A, no grade, B
- Spicewood ES — A, A, no grade, B
- Teravista ES — A, B, D, C
- Union Hill ES — C, C, B, D
- Voigt ES —D, D, D, F
- Wells Branch ES — C, C, D, D
