Updated Jan. 13 at 3:23 p.m.
In a shift from the existing school rating system, preliminary A-F grades for districts and individual campuses have been released by the Texas Education Agency.
The system change comes as a result of House Bill 2804 passed by the 84th Texas Legislature in 2015. The new rating system measures year-over-year district and student performance beyond State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results—also known as STAAR—according to the TEA. This system will officially be implemented in the 2017-18 academic year and reflect district and campus performance in the 2016-17 academic year.
Fort Bend ISD leaders expressed opposition to the new system before results were released, saying the metrics did not accurately reflect student growth or teachers’ efforts. On Friday, Superintendent Charles Dupre said the results had only enforced his stance and that FBISD would not change its methods based on the ratings.
“The grades are what they are,” Dupre said. “We don’t think this is a good system.”
Grades are divided into four categories, or domains, with each domain measuring and grading a different set of data. In the future, a fifth category will use indicators chosen by the district from a set of options. FBISD Director of Accountability Megan Evans said the district intends to give feedback to the TEA on which indicators it plans to use for the category, known as Domain V.
“I think it’s important to note that these ratings are preliminary,” Evans said. “[TEA] have stressed pretty heavily in recent communication that the development of an accountability system is still in progress and will continue for the next year.”
TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said that although the ratings used STAAR data from the 2015-16 year—which suffered issues in calculating results for some schools—students whose tests were compromised were removed from accountability and were not included in the calculations.
FBISD board of trustees President Kristin Tassin said trustees would ask legislators to work to reform the system. All FBISD-area representatives voted in favor of HB 2804.
"This policy aligns school accountability evaluations and allows parents to better understand their local school,” Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, said in a statement. “That is why this policy should serve as a wake-up call to parents and the community to help their local school improve on every level.”
Rep. John Zerwas, R-Richmond, who also voted for the law said he thought the ratings would generate discussion in the legislature.
“I think it’s too early to express any regrets or draw any conclusions from it,” he said.
Ratings
Fort Bend ISD: B | A | C | D
Elementary schools
Arizona Fleming: C | C | C | C
Austin Parkway: A | B | D | B
Barbara Jordan: B | B | C | D
Barrington Place: A | B | B | A
Blue Ridge: D | C | D | D
Brazos Bend: A | A | A | B
Briargate: F | F | F | D
Carolyn and Vernon Madden: A | B | A | A
Colony Bend: A | B | B | B
Colony Meadows: A | A | A | A
Commonwealth: A | A | N/A | A
Cornerstone: A | A | N/A | A
Dr. Lynn Armstrong: F | F | D | B
Dulles: C | D | D | C
E.A. Jones: D | C | D | C
Edgar Glover Jr: D | D | D | F
Heritage Rose: C | D | C | C
Highlands: A | A | B | A
Hunters Glen: D | B | D | D
Jan Schiff: A | C | D | A
Juan Seguin: C | C | C | B
Lakeview: B | C | B | B
Lantern Lane: D | F | D | F
Lexington Creek: B | C | C | D
Lula Belle Goodman: D | D | D | B
Mary Austin Holley: C | C | B | B
Meadows: B | C | B | B
Mission Bend: C | C | B | C
Mission Glen: D | D | D | A
Mission West: D | D | D | B
Oakland: A | B | B | B
Oyster Creek: B | B | A | B
Palmer: C | C | F | A
Pecan Grove: B | C | D | A
Quail Valley: C | D | D | C
Ridgegate: C | C | B | D
Ridgemont: F | D | F | D
Rita Drabek: A | B | A |C
Rosa Parks: C | C | C | B
Scanlan Oaks: A | B | N/A | A
Settlers Way: A | C | B | C
Sienna Crossing: A | B | C | A
Sugar Mill: B | C | C | B
Townewest: D | C | D | C
Walker Station: A | A | A | A
Walter Moses Burton: F | C | F | C
Middle schools
Billy Baines: B | B | D | B
Christa McAuliffe: F | C | D | F
David Crockett: B | B | B | B
Dulles: B | C | B | C
First Colony: A | B | A | D
Fort Settlement: A | A | A | A
Hodges Bend: C | D | B | B
James Bowie: A | B | B |B
Lake Olympia: C | C | D | C
Marcario Garcia: A | B | A | B
Missouri City: D | D | D | C
Quail Valley: A | A | D | C
Sartartia: A | A | A | B
Sugar Land: B | B | B | C
High schools
Clements: A | B | A | C
Dulles: A | B | B | D
George Bush: C | D | B | D
Hightower: C | C | C | D
Kempner: B | C | B | D
Lawrence E. Elkins: B | C | C | D
Ridge Point: A | B | D | C
Stephen F. Austin: A | C | B | C
Thurgood Marshall: D | D | D | F
William B. Travis: B | C | B | D
Willowridge: F | F | D | F
Additional reporting by Anna Dembowski
