Tyler ISD's ratings favorable with new system

The Texas Education Agency on Thursday released ratings for all school districts, campuses and charter schools.

This is the first time campuses and districts received ratings after the switch to a new testing system and the remake of the accountability system.

"What I am most proud of is the fact that Tyler ISD has met standard as (well) as our secondary schools including middle schools and high schools as well as 14 out of 17 elementary schools," TISD Superintendent Gary Mooring said.

School districts and campuses could receive one of two ratings: Met Standard or Improvement Required. Alternative campuses were rated using different standards.

The ratings were based primarily on student performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, the state's standardized test but also considered graduation rates for high school campuses and districts.

In Tyler ISD, both high schools, all six middle schools and 13 of 17 elementary schools received a Met Standard rating.

Douglas, Griffin, Orr and Peete elementary schools received an Improvement Required rating.

Douglas and Peete missed the standard in the same two categories: student progress and closing performance gaps.

Griffin and Orr elementary missed the standard in the closing performance gaps category.

The Wayne D. Boshears Center for Exceptional Programs, which serves students with special needs, received an Improvement Required rating. The St. Louis Early Childhood Center received the Met Standard rating.

Thirteen TISD campuses received a Distinction Designation, which means they performed at top levels when compared to other schools of similar size and population.

Campuses could earn up to three distinctions in reading/English language arts, math and student progress.

To earn a distinction in reading or math, high schools had to perform in the top 25 percent of their comparison group on at least 33 percent of the indicators in the specific category.

Elementary and middle schools had to reach the top 25 percent in their comparison group in at least half of the indicators to earn a reading or math distinction.

Campuses could earn a third distinction based on student progress on the tests. If that progress was in the top 25 percent when compared to the other similarly sized and populated schools, the campus earned a distinction.

Every school district in a 17-county East Texas region, which includes Smith and all its surrounding counties, received a Met Standard rating except for two: Leverett's Chapel ISD in Rusk County and White Oak ISD in Gregg County.

One charter school system, the UT Tyler Innovation Academy, received an Improvement Required rating as did each of its three East Texas campuses.

Vista Academy, of Tyler, another charter school, also received an Improvement Required rating. 

Only 26 out of 405 campuses in the region received an Improvement Required rating.

Local results mirrored statewide trends. Almost 93 percent of Texas school districts and charter schools received a Met Standard rating, according to a Texas Education Agency news release.

Eighty-four percent of campuses statewide received this rating as well. More than 7,900 campuses were rated statewide.

The distinction designations were hard to come by. About half the 7,206 campuses that received a Met Standard rating statewide earned at least one distinction.

More than 750 campuses, or about 10 percent of those that Met Standard, received all three distinctions, according to the news release.

"Under the new accountability system, these designations recognize outstanding work at the campus level that would not be acknowledged in previous years," Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams said, according to the news release. "Despite the many positive numbers, I am confident school leaders across our state share my concern for the number of campuses where improvement is still required, especially at the elementary level. If we can target our efforts in those grade levels today, the state will see improvements for all students in the years ahead."

Although the four components of the new accountability system are in place, changes will be made based on input from school district personnel and others, according to the news release.

In addition, House Bill 5, passed during this year's legislative session, requires stronger postsecondary readiness measures to be added, according to the news release.