School district accountability getting an update

The Texas Education Agency has announced expected significant updates to the A–F accountability process that will begin to impact students, schools and districts in 2023.

The A–F Accountability System is a statewide rating system established by the Texas Education Agency that allows them to evaluate the academic performance of Texas public schools and assign a letter grade (A–F) to districts and campuses. TEA derives the grade from a district’s performance in three domains including student achievement, school progress and closing the gaps.

Within these domains, the TEA measures what students are learning in each grade and whether or not they are ready for the next grade. It also shows how well a school prepares their students for success after high school - in college, the workforce or the military.

While the changes are still preliminary, districts across the state are preparing staff and the community for the changes, which are expected to be finalized in summer 2023. Some of the changes include:

STAAR Testing Changes – All students will take standardized testing online and see new question types on their upcoming state tests. Writing will be added to the reading test as early as third grade, where students previously were assessed on only multiple-choice questions. Students will also answer multi-part questions.

College, Career and Military Readiness Evaluation Changes - TEA has eliminated some of the popular industry-based certification and added course requirements to be considered career ready. This change has an impact on our high school students who are considered career ready because of the industry-based certifications they earn.

Closing the Gaps Changes - This is the domain that measures the performance of various different student groups. In the past, you needed at least 25 students in a group for that group's 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.

District Rating Changes - The way campus grades are averaged together to create the district’s overall 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 a significant impact on all districts across the state.

For more information about A-F Accountability, visit www.mansfieldisd.org/a-f as well as the TEA’s accountability page.

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