The Texas Education Agency on Aug. 15 released its first set of accountability ratings for public school districts and campuses since 2019, and two north San Antonio districts saw overall little improvement among key categories.
After pausing the ratings process for two school years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, TEA issued ratings for nearly 1,200 districts and about 8,450 campuses based on their students’ academic growth and performance in the 2021-22 school year.
According to the TEA, the newest set of ratings saw 25% of districts and 33% of campuses improve their letter grade from 2019. Additionally, 18% of high-poverty Texas schools were rated an A, the agency said.
Overall letter grades A-F are given on categories such as a performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness exam; the level of college, career and military readiness; graduation rate; academic growth; and performance for economically disadvantaged student populations.
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said the statewide results show that school systems are recovering from the school closures and remote learning that dominated the educational environment during the height of the pandemic.
“I’m grateful for the driving force behind this year’s success: our teachers and local school leaders. Statewide policy in Texas continues to remain focused on meeting the needs of students with an accountability system that supports high expectations, robust tutoring supports, rigorous curricular resources and an investment in evidence-based training for our teachers,” Morath said.
North East ISD received an overall score of 89 and a B rating for the 2021-22 academic year, including an 85 score on the STAAR exam.
Following the 2018-19 school year, NEISD had a B rating and a total score of 89, with an 86 score on the STAAR exam.
NEISD received 212 distinctions this year, improving upon the 120 it earned in 2019. Fifty-five NEISD campuses earned an A or B rating—12 more than reported in 2019.
At least 17 NEISD schools in the north central San Antonio area received an A rating, according to the TEA, and another three campuses in the same area earned a B rating.
Colonial Hills Elementary School received a C rating and a 73 score, including a STAAR performance score of 58 and a student achievement score of 58.
NEISD officials said the district’s 89 overall score ranks NEISD among the best-performing districts in the San Antonio area, adding that the ratings reflect the work done by teachers and staff to re-engage students who endured a long period of home-based instruction.
Northside ISD this year received an overall score of 84 and a B rating with a STAAR performance score of 79.
Following the 2018-19 school year, NISD had a B rating, an overall 87 score and an 83 score on the STAAR exam.
Janis Jordan, NISD deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said NISD continues to review the accountability data.
“Our initial response is that we are pleased with some areas of performance and have noted substantial gains when compared to our performance last year,” Jordan said.
Jordan added that NISD remains focused on improving the areas of math, and on special education and emerging bilingual student populations.
In part of the Clark High School cluster of campuses, only Blattman Elementary School received an A rating with Clark, Rawlinson Middle, and Colonies North Elementary schools each earning a B rating, according to the TEA.
Hobby Middle and Locke Hill Elementary schools each received a C rating. Twenty NISD campuses earned an A rating, and 61 schools received a B rating with another 31 campuses getting a C rating.
