8 Nov 2002
Moses Says District To Remain Vigilant In Making Further Improvements
DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Mike Moses on Friday said the Texas Education Agency report pegging 41 district schools as poor performing fails to reflect the significant progress that has occurred in 27 district schools over the past two years.
Late Thursday, TEA released a list of 41 DISD schools that had been rated as low-performing at least once in the last three years or had more than half of the students at a school fail their Texas Assessment of Academic Skills achievement test in two of the last three years.
Moses said that 27 of the 41 schools were not rated low performing this year, and 22 have not been rated as low performing over the past two years. He also noted that only one school made the list this year because of low accountability ratings and poor performance on the TAAS, while 12 had been on the list two years ago, and only five last year.
The superintendent said that three schools on the TEA list are now recognized: James B. Bonham, Lida Hooe, and Lorenzo DeZavala, while two have been rated as exemplary: Mount Auburn and Phyllis Wheatley.
"The fact that 41 schools are on this list is a little overwhelming at first blush, but when you break it down and look at it, the list does not reflect the significant progress we have made the past two years in Dallas ISD," Moses said.
"From the standpoint of a school district that has made significant progress in the past two years, this information is a little unsettling and something that isn't reflective of the progress that's being made every day by the hard working teachers and students in the Dallas ISD."
The superintendent said while he was Texas Commissioner of Education, he raised questions about using two different performance reports to the public because they tend to be confusing as opposed to being informative. The same student performance data is analyzed and presented in different ways for the same period of time. He said the addition of the Leave No Child Behind Act school performance report requirements further adds to the confusion.
The superintendent said he would likely raise the issue with the Dallas legislative delegation at a meeting with them next month, but said for now, district principals, teachers, students and the parents of all DISD children should know the district has made great strides over the past two years."We have clearly made significant improvements in Dallas ISD over the past two years that is not reflected in the release of this information," Moses said. "Our accountability ratings show we have come from just 16 exemplary, 32 recognized and 10 low-performing schools two years ago, to 27 exemplary, 40 recognized, and only 14 low-performing schools this year. Our goal district-wide is to do even better in the future. That is the message we have to offer the Dallas community."