Of the state’s roughly 1,200 school districts, just two districts in Texas received straight As under the state’s preliminary A-F accountability report, which measures performance in four areas. The preliminary report was released to the public Jan. 6, based on data from the 2015-16 academic year.

Examining the scores

According to the TEA’s report, one third of all campuses received Cs in Domains I, II and IV. One third of all campuses received Ds in Domain III.
  • 13.1 percent of all campuses received an A in Domain I
  • 11.5 percent of all campuses received an A in Domain II
  • 10.1 percent of all campuses received an A in Domain III
  • 10.5 percent of all campuses received an A in Domain IV
“It’s unfair to look at these ratings and say, ‘This is the end-all, be-all,'” TEA Spokesperson Lauren Callahan said. “We’ve made that very clear from the very beginning. This is a work in progress. We were required by the Legislature to provide this report and to implement a new accountability system, so we did so and provided the report that they asked for.” Callahan said comparison between districts is discouraged, as the data for each domain will change by the time the first official ratings are released under the new accountability system in August 2018. Until then, the “met standard” accountability system is in place. “Obviously data is going to look different in two years,” Callahan said. “Especially when you consider Domain IV—the postsecondary readiness domain—there are things that we will be collecting by the summer of 2018 that we were not collecting in the summer of 2016.”

How do Texas’ above-average districts compare?

Here is how 13 of the highest-scoring districts fared under the new rating system. A breakdown of each district features data from the 2014-15 academic year. Klondike ISD: A | A | A | A Enrollment: 258 Economically disadvantaged: 34.9% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 1 Education service center region: 17 Malta ISD: A | A | A | A Enrollment: 128 Economically disadvantaged: 55.5% Grades enrolled: Elementary Number of campuses in district: 1 Education service center region: 8 Caddo Mills ISD: B | A | A | A Enrollment: 1,591 Economically disadvantaged: 35.5% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 4 Education service center region: 10 Eanes ISD: A | A | A | B Enrollment: 7,937 Economically disadvantaged: 2.7% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 10 Education service center region: 13 Ezzell ISD: A | A | A | B Enrollment: 80 Economically disadvantaged: 37.5% Grades enrolled: Elementary Number of campuses in district: 1 Education service center region: 3 Falls City ISD: A | A | A | B Enrollment: 359 Economically disadvantaged: 19.8% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 3 Education service center region: 20 Grandview ISD: A | B | A | A Enrollment: 1,119 Economically disadvantaged: 35.4% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 4 Education service center region: 11 Lovejoy ISD: A | A | A | B Enrollment: 3,810 Economically disadvantaged: 3% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 6 Education service center region: 10 Moulton ISD: B | A | A | A Enrollment: 317 Economically disadvantaged: 51.1% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 2 Education service center region: 3 Prairie Valley ISD: B | A | A | A Enrollment: 140 Economically disadvantaged: 55.7% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 2 Education service center region: 9 Skidmore-Tynan ISD: B | A | A | A Enrollment: 802 Economically disadvantaged: 51% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 3 Education service center region: 2 South Texas ISD: A | B | A | A Enrollment: 3,375 Economically disadvantaged: 57.3% Grades enrolled: 7-12 Number of campuses in district: 5 Education service center region: 1 Valley View ISD: B | A | A | A Enrollment: 4,479 Economically disadvantaged: 92% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 9 Education service center region: 1

How does Plano ISD stack up?

Here is a breakdown for Plano ISD, according to 2014-15 TEA data. Plano ISD:  A | A | C | C Enrollment: 54,398 Economically disadvantaged: 28.7% Grades enrolled: K-12 Number of campuses in district: 74 Education service center region: 10 For a more detailed look at how each district and campus scored, read our previous coverage.