State Accountability Ratings

An important indicator of school and district quality is the state accountability rating, developed by the commissioner of education with support from staff at the Texas Education Agency (TEA). to the local school and district. You will hear schools and districts labeled Exemplary, Recognized,  Academically Acceptable, or Academically Unacceptable. Those are the ratings Texas has used for 18 years. New ratings will be developed for use in 2013.

The accountability rating system is based on results of standardized test scores, dropout rates, and high school completion rates. Ratings can change from year to year because they’re so closely tied to student performance; one good—or disappointing—round of results can nudge a school’s rating up or down.

You may have heavily researched your local schools when deciding where to live, or you may be looking into your schools’ ratings for the first time. Begin with the TEA Web Site to see where your local scores appeared in the 2011 ratings.

Because ratings can change from year to year depending on the performance of small groups of students, it's important to keep the proper perspective when looking at your child's school rating for the first time. Evaluate your local school's performance over time and consider factors such as your child's relationship with his or her teacher, how the campus and district leadership communicate with parents, and, of course, your own child's performance in the classroom.

Annual School Report Card

TEA also releases annual School Report Cards that are provided to parents each December. These report cards are required by state law and cover these topics:

  • Student performance
  • Spending
  • Average class size
  • Student/teacher ratios

Don't want to wait until December? TEA's report cards for the previous year are always available on line.

References

Texas Education Agency