School districts throughout West Texas are now being evaluated under a new accountability system. The Texas Education Agency has rolled out its A-F grade scale today, which measures the academic performance of school districts.
Every year, the state grades school districts, schools, and charters, but this is the first time TEA is using letter grades.
The new system replaces the previous pass/fail system.
The districts are being graded on three areas: student achievement, school progress, and Closing the Gaps.
Student performance is based on scores from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR. School progress is calculated using student performance on STAAR year after year. And closing the achievement gaps is based on helping to improve scores for special populations, like special education students, English-language learners, and students of color.
The Texas Legislature created the A-F grading scale during the 2017 session. Proponents say it allows for a more detailed and transparent system. But critics of the new system say it focuses too much on testing to evaluate student performance.
You can search for the grade for any Texas district here.
