31 Jul 2009
Number of Exemplary Schools Has Tripled Since 2007
DALLAS-The Dallas Independent School District has more exemplary and recognized schools than at any time in the district's history, according to ratings released by the Texas Education Agency today.
Forty-five Dallas ISD campuses have been rated exemplary, while 83 more have been rated recognized. The number of exemplary campuses has more than tripled from two years ago, while the number of recognized campuses has more than doubled during the same period. The total number has risen from 47 exemplary and recognized campuses two years ago to 128, meaning that more than 56 percent of Dallas schools earned the state's top two ratings.
"It is very exciting to announce that the majority of Dallas schools are making considerable progress," said Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa. "While that progress may not be as fast as we would like, it is clear from these ratings that the district is moving in the right direction, thanks to the hard work taking place at our schools by literally thousands of dedicated individuals."
The number of academically unacceptable campuses rose slightly from 21 to 22 schools, in large part because the completion rate was included in this year's ratings, a criteria that was not counted by TEA last year. Using last year's criteria, the figure would have dropped to 14 campuses. There were 27 academically unacceptable campuses two years ago.
"While progress has been made at most of the schools rated academically unacceptable last year, there is obviously still work to do at others that came onto the list this year," said Hinojosa.
Hinojosa noted that the ratings for some campuses will be appealed.
"There is reason to believe that the completion rate should be recalculated at one or more schools," said Hinojosa. "We will push for these schools to be credited for their gains while acknowledging that our work on these campuses is far from being complete."
H. Grady Spruce High School, which had shown double-digit gains on the TAKS test, was rated academically unacceptable because of its completion rate. The Texas Education Agency has granted the school a reprieve during the 2009-10 school year, however, because of the significant improvement exhibited on the test and because the school was restructured last summer by transferring the previous year's sophomore and junior classes to Lincoln and Madison high schools.
"Overall, the TEA ratings are a fairly accurate assessment of where we are right now as a school district," said Hinojosa. "Clearly, there are many campuses in the district that are making significant progress and that is very good news. There are also still areas of concern and we are committed to assist the staff on those campuses who are working diligently on behalf of the students at those campuses."
As a result of recent legislation, the Texas Projection Model (TPM) was used in the accountability ratings to serve as an indicator of how a student's performance at the end of a school year positions that student to meet the standard in future grades. Dallas ISD has used two accountability systems in the past: one for meeting absolute standards and another that factors student growth. TEA has followed the national trend that provides a method for measuring student improvement in the federal accountability system. The U.S. Department of Education approved Texas' method in January 2009. Once approved, the commissioner also incorporated the growth model, or TPM, into the state accountability system.