because we created Vision 2030 , our 10-year strategic plan to make sure students are life , college and career ready .
Next is School Progress , where this domain is made up of two components . The first measures if students are growing academically . Next , it looks at how we are doing compared to campuses across the state that look like us .
The third domain is Closing the Gaps . It ’ s extremely important because that ’ s where we look at our individual student groups . These groups include economically disadvantaged , English language learners , students of different ethnicities , special education , etc . The state and federal governments tell us that every one of these groups has a performance target these students should reach .
STEPHANIE : Why should I , as a parent , care about A-F Accountability ?
JENNIFER : It ’ s similar to how we keep track of our children ’ s report cards . If your son tells you he ’ s making a B in his math class , you ’ re going to want to know how he got there . If the teacher is changing the way they are grading your son ’ s work , similar to how the TEA has indicated that they will change how A-F Accountability works , then you ’ d want to know what those
changes are .
STEPHANIE : So , what are some of the changes we can expect to see for A-F Accountability ?
JENNIFER : The biggest one is that the state standardized test , STAAR , is changing . Writing will be added to the reading test as early as third grade , where students were previously assessed only on multiple choice questions . Additionally , the maximum number of multiple-choice questions on a test is 75 %. This means the other 25 % of the test will be made up of open-ended questions , graphs , number lines , free response questions and more . This is different than what students are used to .
A lot of the questions now will also have multiple answers . Instead of just picking A , B , C or D , students could be asked to choose the two or three best answers . There could also be multiple parts to a question . For example , what you answer in part A of a question determines what you answer in part B .
And remember , STAAR performance is a part of how districts are graded in the Student Achievement Domain . Also , the TEA is changing how college , career and military readiness is evaluated . This one is a part of the Student Achievement Domain , too and has a tremendous impact on our high schools . We have many high school students who are career ready because of the industry based certifications they earn . TEA has eliminated some of the more popular industry based certifications and also added course requirements to be career ready .
Another change can be found in Domain 3 , Closing the Gaps . This is the domain where we measure the performance of our various student groups . In the past , you needed at least 25 students in a group for that groups performance to count towards your accountability rating . The number of students has now decreased to 10 . This truly puts a focus on all students , and in MISD when we talk about students , all means all .
Finally , the way campus grades are averaged together to create the district rating will change . Previously , campuses , no matter what size , were averaged together in the same way . Now , campus grades will count for more or less of the district ’ s rating based on the campus ’ s size . This proportional weighting will have significant impact to all districts across the state .
STEPHANIE : We currently have so much more to offer our students in MISD , but how are we going to show the parents that only know to look at the rating ?
JENNIFER : That ’ s a good question . As a district , we created Vision 2030 , and it ’ s our road map to making sure students are college , career , and life ready . We are committed to making sure students read on grade level by the third grade and continue to do so during their time here . We also want to make sure they master Algebra II . With A-F Accountability , it doesn ’ t measure social and emotional learning , but we know that ’ s so important to the development of a child . So , we created a way for parents and students to track things like learning how to share , setting goals , and dealing with conflict .
Finally , parents should know that we have the best educators in the state . Our teachers average 10 years or more of experience and many hold advanced degrees . Most importantly , our teachers and staff have a genuine passion for educating students , and that ’ s something that cannot be measured .
For more information regarding A-F Accountability in Mansfield ISD visit www . mansfieldisd . org / A-F or scan the QR code .
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