School Ratings Plummet Under Tougher Standards

Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott released this year's school ratings Friday afternoon.

The annual accountability ratings let parents know how their local school districts are performing. Schools that perform badly over several years can be shut down if they don't meet the state's standards.

Parents may also request transfers for their children out of unacceptable schools.

The ratings are based on how students score on standardized tests, graduation rates and drop-out rates. Schools are placed into one of four categories: exemplary, recognized, academically acceptable and unacceptable.  See an explanation here.

In the Dallas ISD, 34 campuses rated unacceptable while 26 rated exemplary.  In Fort Worth, 23 campuses rated unacceptable while six rated exemplary.  Both districts rated Academically Acceptable overall.

To see a complete listing of school districts and campuses, click here.

The state ratings announced Friday are different from federal ratings, which apply different standards.

School ratings plummeted under tough new standards imposed by the Texas Education Agency. The number of unacceptable school rose from 1,884 to 3,285. Exemplary schools fell from 2,637 to 1,224.

The agency eliminated a controversial calculation called the Texas Performance Measure that critics say allowed schools to count failing students as passing.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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