The Texas Education Agency is delaying the release of campus AF scores after lawsuits in multiple districts and pushback from school superintendents.
Accountability scores for local schools and districts may not be released until late October or early November, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Moras said. Before Tuesday's announcement, school leaders had been preparing for a Sept. 28 release.
Moras said the decision was unrelated to the lawsuit or the superintendent conflict. Still, the postponement will likely give school leaders additional time to breathe easier. District officials expect scores to drop this year because of a new formula for calculating grades.
Texas' AF School Accountability System evaluates every school district in the state and lets families know what's going on on their campuses. Ratings are a key factor in how the community perceives local schools, and parents often consider scores when enrolling their children.
Grades are based primarily on standardized test scores and take into account how well schools are improving academic performance and closing gaps between student groups.
The formula has remained largely unchanged since lawmakers created it in 2017. But broader changes will be factored in when the Texas Education Agency releases new scores later this fall.
It will become increasingly difficult for graduates to score well on metrics that measure how prepared they are for college, careers, or the military. The changes also affect other data points, such as weighting scores differently based on campus size.
School district leaders across the state have expressed concerns for months about the new system, which could give families the idea that school conditions will suddenly worsen even if school performance improves. He said there is.
Moras said the state is delaying the release because the government needs to recalibrate the data to better account for the impact of COVID-19.
Most of a school's grades are based on student performance or school progress, whichever is higher. Coming out of the pandemic, far more schools than usual had high scores in the growth areas.
“What is immediately clear from this growth data is that the level of academic growth that occurred in 2022 was extraordinary,” Professor Moras said. “We are currently doing a lot of aggregation to set new proposed cut scores for growth.”
He said it would be inappropriate to set district standards based on “abnormal heights.” The agency will instead look at pre-pandemic years to consider appropriate cut scores.
“Goals should not be based on abnormal performance; goals should be set that are reasonable and rigorous for the student,” Moras said.
local opposition
In Dallas ISD, students showed some growth on the most recent STAAR test. Still, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde is bracing for a dramatic drop in the state's accountability metrics.
“There could be more Ds and Fs in our district than ever before in the history of accountability,” she said last week.
A handful of school districts, including Spring Branch and Del Valle, are joining a lawsuit seeking to block the Texas Education Agency from implementing the new scores.
“We believe this case has no merit, but it is the judge's opinion that will go to court,” Moras said.
Elizalde expects DISD trustees to discuss the lawsuit in closed session at Thursday's press conference.
special session
Among some superintendents' concerns: New, potentially lower scores come just before a special session expected in October focused on bringing programs like school vouchers to Texas. There was a possibility that it would be made public.
Republican leaders have criticized public schools for pushing for a new law that would allow private schools to use public funds for tuition.
“Current politics are useless because subsidies for private schools are being considered,” Elizalde said.
The DMN Education Lab deepens our coverage and conversations about pressing education issues that matter to the future of North Texas.
DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative supported by Bobby and Lottie Lyle, Community Foundation of Texas, Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Dee Dee Rhodes, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Meadows Foundation, Murrell Foundation, and Solutions. I am receiving support. Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sidney Smith Hicks, University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control over Education Lab's journalism.
