Tyler ISD received a report card from the Texas Education Agency of three Ds and a B, according to preliminary results of a new letter rating system released Friday.
The district received a B for student progress and D ratings for student achievement, closing performance gaps and post-secondary readiness.
More than 65 percent of campuses state-wide scored a C or lower in each indicator.
“What TEA releases provides insight about the methodology of a futuristic system,” Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford said in a news release. “These marks do not reflect the incredible progress Tyler ISD campuses made over the course of last school year in current law, such as the increased number of state recognized academic distinctions and the significant reduction of low-performing campuses.”
State lawmakers approved the letter grade rating system during the 2015 legislative session to transition the current state accountability system of “Met Standard” or “Needs Improvement” into one that gives A through F letter grades to schools and districts.
The Met Standard/Improvement Required ratings issued in August 2016 and updated in November 2016 are the official academic accountability ratings for the 2015–2016 school year, and a similar process will be used for the 2016–2017 school year, according to the TEA.
In releasing the district and campus level grade letter ratings, TEA cautioned the grades are for informational purposes to meet a legislative requirement and represent work-in-progress models that are likely to change before A–F ratings become effective in August 2018.
"No inferences about official district or campus performance in the 2015–2016 school year should be drawn from these ratings, and these ratings should not be considered predictors of future district or campus performance ratings," according to the TEA.
According to State Education Commissioner Mike Morath, models and rules for calculating grades in these four categories are not completely set and likely will change before next fall. He also warned parents and districts against using the preliminary grades to predict their overall letter grades for the following year.
TEA Information Specialist DeEtta Culbertson said the letter grade rating system is still being tweaked and there will be many changes before the system is finalized in 2018. She also stressed that current accountability ratings and distinctions campuses received for exceeding requirements are still valid.
“It’s not indicative of what future ratings will be; they're not official,” she said. “If they were met standard in 2016, they still meet standards.”
Tyler ISD Communications Director Dawn Parnell pointed out that many Tyler schools received lower letter grades on categories in which they had received distinctions.
“Robert E. Lee got six out of seven distinctions and a C is considered good. For most of us that have been through school, we would consider C on the borderline,” she said.
Lee actually earned distinctions for Top 25 percent student progress and postsecondary readiness, yet the campus received a C and D in those categories on its report card. Moore Middle School received the same distinctions, but its report card showed an A and C.
Griffin and Jones Elementary Schools and Dogan Middle School were the only campuses listed at Improvement Required in the most recent ratings.
The report cards also are missing a fifth category, Community and Student Engagement, which is still being shaped.
“TEA was clear in cautioning this statutory requirement as developing and unfinished,” Crawford said. “We’re not letting the success of students and solid work of teachers under the current system go unnoticed, much less be distracted by the experimental features of these new, unofficial targets.
"Right now, we’re focused on teaching this year’s students and continuing the gains we saw last year," he said. "Once the rules of this game are clear, we will work to win in that setting, just as we are in the current system.”
The report card also included charter schools.
Cumberland academy scored 3 Cs and a D. Its middle school had two Fs, one C and one D.
Under the current accountability ratings system, parents of students at improvement required schools are allowed to transfer their students to any school of their choosing. It is unclear if a similar option will be available under this new system. Culbertson said it was too soon to tell, as the TEA is still working on the best measures for the new letter grades.
TYLER ISD CAMPUS RATINGS
Student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps, post-secondary readiness
Bell Elementary - D, B, C, C
Birdwell Elementary - C, A, B, A
Bonner Elementary - F, C, D, C
Boulter Middle School - F, D, D, D
Caldwell Elementary - D, D, D, C
Clarkston Elementary - F, D, F, C
Dixie Elementary - D, B, D, D
Dogan Middle School - F, F, D, B
Douglas Elementary - D, C, D, B
Jack Elementary - B, C, D, C
Griffiin Elementary - F, C, D, C
Hogg Middle School - D, D, C, C
Hubbard Middle School - C, C, D, B
John Tyler High School - F, D, D, F
Jones Elementary - F, F, F, C
Moore Middle School - B, A, B, C
Orr Elementary - D, B, D, F
Owens Elementary - C, D, D, C
Peete Elementary - D, A, C, B
Ramey Elementary - F, C, D, C
Rice Elementary - C, C, D, B
Robert E. Lee High School -C, C, C, D
T. J. Austin Elementary - D, C, C, C
Three Lakes Middle School - C, F, F, F
Woods Elementary - C, C, D, C
