Austin ISD passing rates for STAAR released

AISD was below state passing rates in sixth through eighth grades in reading, science, social studies and writing. AISD sixth-graders passed math at a rate of 77 percent, the same as the statewide rate. In science, the AISD passing rate for eighth grade was 69 percent, compared with 70 percent at the state level. The lowest passing rate was eighth-grade social studies, with AISD at 58 percent and the statewide pass rate at 59 percent.

AISD passing rates for reading in third and fourth grades reached 82 percent, compared with 76 and 77 percent state pass rates, respectively.

At the state level, passing rates increased for current 10th-grade students. Students who first took the STAAR end-of-course exam as ninth-graders in spring 2012 increased the algebra passing rate from 76.8 percent to an 84.7 percent cumulative passing rate, reading passage rates rose from 67.7 percent to 81.2 percent, writing passage rates increased from 54.4 percent to 72.6 percent, biology passage rates rose from 86.4 percent to 91.0 percent, and world geography passage rates increased from 79.7 percent to 84.8 percent, according to Commissioner of Education Michael Williams with the Texas Education Agency.

"While there is still work to be done to ensure success for all, these improved numbers are indicative of what can occur when the focus is on students and a commitment to achieve success in the classroom," Williams said in a news release.

STAAR passing standards will be phased in for elementary and middle schools during a four-year process. In March, the TEA plans to release details about what criteria it uses to rate schools.

At its Jan. 28 meeting, the AISD board of trustees again voted to defer implementation of the statutory provision that requires end-of-course assessment performance to count for 15 percent of a student's final grade.