Districts across Texas are getting graded for their work . The Texas Education Agency launched a rating system in 2014 called A-F Accountability . This system rates campuses and districts on student achievement , school progress , and closing learning gaps . Complicated metrics , standardized testing results , campus offerings and more are distilled down into a single grade districts receive each year .
It ’ s important for the community – students , staff , parents and stakeholders – to understand this system . Even more important , the community needs to know that change is coming to this Accountability system that influences a district ’ s rating . In this article , mom of two and MISD parent Stephanie Baird sat down with associate superintendent Jennifer Young to talk about A-F Accountability .
STEPHANIE : Based on your role in Mansfield ISD , how are you involved with A-F Accountability ?
JENNIFER : I oversee curriculum , instruction and accountability for the district .
STEPHANIE : A-F Accountability can be hard to understand . What is the simplest way you can explain it ?
JENNIFER : The Texas Education Agency wanted to make a system that would resonate with the public , and they determined that giving campuses and districts a grade similar to what students receive on a report card was the best way to do it .
As a result , they created something called A-F Accountability . Every campus and district in Texas get a numeric rating . If you get a 92 , you ’ re an A . If you get an 84 , you get a B .
Through this system , districts and campuses are graded based on three different categories called domains . They are Student Achievement , School Progress , and Closing the Gaps . You can think of these categories as graded assignments that count toward your overall grade . These three domains include student testing , college and career readiness , how special student groups are progressing academically , and more .
STEPHANIE : Can you explain each of the domains ?
JENNIFER : Student Achievement reflects how students are performing on state standardized testing such as the STAAR and End of Course exams . This domain is rated differently for different grade levels . For elementary through middle school campuses , the Student Achievement Domain is completely determined by standardized testing results , which is a single test a student takes one day in the spring .
At the high school level , the Student Achievement Domain is made up of standardized tests in addition to the campus graduation rate and college , career , and military readiness . This section could really be titled Vision 2030 . So , TEA has told us this is important , but we already know that
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