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TEA Announces 2007 State Accountability Ratings - Austin ISD Continues to be Rated 'Academically Acceptable'
Superintendent Pat Forgione announced that for 2007 the Austin Independent School District has again been rated Academically Acceptable by the Texas Education Agency, as it has for each year under the current state accountability system. (As shown in the attached chart, the District averages in all five content areas are well above state standards.)  2007 Preliminary TAKS Results Statement from Superintendent Forgione State Accountability Ratings for all Schools AISD's Commitment to Johnston High School Accountability Standards Continue to Rise AISD Improvement on TAKS, 2003-2007 AISD's Strategic Education Plan What TAKS is All About
Dr. Forgione also announced that 25 Austin campuses have met the challenge of increasing state accountability standards and earned Exemplary or Recognized ratings from TEA for 2007. This represents 24 percent of AISD's 104 regular (non-alternative) campuses. The number of Austin campuses rated Acceptable was 69. Ten schools were rated Academically Unacceptable. Ratings are based on students' performance on a battery of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge & Skills (TAKS) tests administered annually in the Spring. Students in third through eleventh grades are tested in Reading, Math, Writing, Social Studies, and Science. (Not all grades are tested in every subject.) Campuses must achieve a passing rate in every subject tested, and for every student group (All Students, African American, Hispanic, White, and Economically Disadvantaged), to be rated at least Acceptable. In the case of Austin schools, that means there are over 1,508 "accountability measures" that must be met, and in 2007, AISD students met or exceeded the standards in 1,429 of those measures, for a success rate of 95 percent. "Austin has a very diverse student population. We must succeed on all state accountability measures, compared to suburban or rural school districts that must meet fewer measures," Dr. Forgione said. "That's because they don't have enough student groups to make all of the measures count. We do." Completion rates for high schools and dropout rates for middle schools are also accountability factors. The Superintendent also acknowledged that AISD supports the many state accountability standards, which have increased by five percentage points over 2006. "The bar is set high and will continue to rise, but we welcome these challenges. These ratings for 2007 show us where our hard work has paid off, and where we need to work harder," he said. Austin's distinguished campuses for 2007 are: Exemplary - Baranoff, Casis, Gullett, Highland Park, Hill, Kiker, and Mills elementary schools. Recognized - Bailey and Small middle schools; Barton Hills, Blanton, Bryker Woods, Clayton, Cowan, Cunningham, Davis, Doss, Joslin, Lee, Metz, Oak Hill, Ortega, Pillow, Summitt, and Zilker elementary schools. Six of the Recognized campuses - Blanton, Cunningham, Joslin, Metz, Ortega, and Pillow - are high-need, Title I schools. These represent one-third of Austin's Recognized campuses. Ten regular campuses, as compared to six in 2006, were deemed Academically Unacceptable for 2007 - Norman and Perez elementary schools; Burnet, Fulmore, Martin, Mendez, and Pearce middle schools; and Johnston, Reagan, and Travis high schools. Dr. Forgione commended three campuses that were rated Academically Unacceptable last year - Crockett High School, and Dobie and Webb middle schools - and rose to an Acceptable rating in 2007. Also, the International High School, which serves non-English-speaking youth, rose from Academically Unacceptable in 2006 to Acceptable in 2007. The staff and students at these campuses were determined to succeed, and they did," he said. "Nothing can hold back success if determination is there." Austin's 10 Academically Unacceptable campuses, and their level of intervention, are:
"Every year, the Texas testing and accountability landscape changes," Dr. Forgione said. "The accountability standards are more difficult, and more students must reach higher standards for schools to be rated Recognized and Acceptable. "Across the state, these tougher standards are a significant challenge to urban districts such as ours-districts with a majority of high-needs students. While 94 of our 104 regular campuses are succeeding, we are the first to recognize that there is much more work to do for the students of Austin," Dr. Forgione said. "There are no easy solutions to creating successful schools-but there are no excuses either." |
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