The Texas Education Agency is changing how it gives accountability ratings to school districts and campuses beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The change will affect all school districts in the state, including Tomball and Magnolia ISDs.

The new ratings, which follow an A-F letter rating system, were applied to each school district based on 2015-16 data as a trial run and were scheduled to be released to the public by Jan. 6, according to the TEA. However, the first official ratings will not be released until August 2018.

The A-F ratings are a change from the “met standard” and “improvement required” ratings given to school districts in 2016.

The rating change comes as a result of House Bill 2804, passed in 2015.

At a November MISD board of trustees meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Anita Hebert said the TEA intends the A-F rating system to reflect student and district success beyond State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results.

“Part of the overall goal [of HB 2804] is that Texas will be among the top 10 states in postsecondary readiness in 2020,” Hebert said. “The way [the TEA] want[s] to do that is by [increasing] student achievements in all four subjects, ensuring the progress of all students toward advanced academic performance, closing those performance gaps among different subgroups and also rewarding excellence based on indicators—not just the STAAR [test].”

According to the TEA, districts and campuses will receive a rating of A, B, C, D or F in each of five domains and for overall performance. As of a Dec. 1 release from the commissioner of education, indicators measuring performance include STAAR scores, graduation rate, dropout rate, postsecondary readiness, attendance, enrollment in a higher education preparation course and student engagement.

As of press time, the provisional ratings for Tomball and Magnolia ISDs had not yet been released.