The projections
In the previous years, the district received a “What If" rating of 82 in 2022 from the TEA, which would translate to a B. An A would represent a score of 90-100. The scores are considered out of 100 possible points, according to the TEA. In 2023, the district received an estimated rating of 84 and the 2024 unofficial rating is 85, Deputy Superintendent Bethany Medford said.
Officials said the presentation will be available on the CISD website.
The following are the number of CISD campuses that received each of the letter grades for 2024, locally calculated and verified by TEA, officials said.
- A: 21
- B: 27
- C: 12
- D: 3
A Travis County district court blocked the TEA from releasing its A-F accountability ratings for Texas school districts and campuses in September following a lawsuit from school districts across the state, as previously reported by Community Impact.
Districts have not received complete A-F ratings since 2019. In 2022, schools that received a C or lower were deemed “not rated” as they recovered from significant learning loss from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A full trial on the case has been set for Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. in Travis County.
The breakdown
The A-F ratings system is used to continue improvement in student performance, achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and ensure student success in post-secondary life, according to the TEA.
Lauren Helfer, CISD’s coordinator of accountability, data analysis and performance reporting, explained how the state’s rating system is set up for elementary and middle school as well as high school.
Helter said the rating consists of four different student groups for a weighted average including student achievement, academic or relative performance, as well as the following for elementary and middle schools:
- Academic achievement status
- Academic growth status
- English language proficiency
- Student success status
- Academic achievement status
- School quality status—Career and College Readiness
- English language proficiency
- Federal graduation rate
- “[There’s] lots of really great work; we've seen the systems we’ve worked so hard to put in place ... really starting to pay off, and as it grows from campus to campus we’re excited about what that means for us moving forward,” Medford said.
- “One of the things we’ve learned over time is that it’s about continuous improvement, and we have learned that there are kind of high-leverage moves that are effective and we can replicate them so we become better. We’re better today than we were four or five years ago,” Superintendent Curtis Null said.
