9 Jun 2011
Gains and Decreases Mirror Results Statewide; Number of Unacceptable Schools Expected to Increase
DALLAS- Students in the Dallas Independent School District posted gains in the subjects of mathematics, social studies and science on this year's Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.
Preliminary results were presented to the Dallas ISD Board of Trustees today.
The percentage of Dallas ISD students passing the Mathematics test increased by 1.2 percent while the percentage of students passing the state's science and social studies tests increased 0.9 percent in both subjects. The percentage of district students passing the state's reading test dropped 0.1 percent, while the percentage of district students passing the state writing test, given in both 4th and 7th grade, fell 1.2 percent.
Overall, the gains and decreases in Dallas ISD were similar to how students performed statewide. Dallas' gains were greater than the amounts of positive change statewide in math, science and social studies.
Dallas ISD also saw gains in all subjects except writing in the percentage of students passing at commended levels. The percentage of students passing at commended levels in science increased 2.1 percent and in social studies by 3.1 percent. The percentage of students passing at the commended level in reading/English/Language Arts and Mathematics increased by 1.5 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. The percentage of students passing at commended levels in writing decreased by 1.3%.
The percentage of African American students passing the Mathematics test, which has been an emphasis of the board and administration, improved during 2011. From 2010 to 2011, Dallas had equal or higher gains than the state in 7 of 9 grade comparisons. During the same period, the percentage of African American students passing at commended levels in Dallas was equal or higher than gains made at the state level in 8 of 9 grade comparisons.
A number of accountability standards changed in 2011. The standard to be named an academically acceptable school was raised 5 percent in both math and science. The state also required more special education students be included in accountability ratings. New requirements, including commended performance and English language learner progress, were added for schools to be named Recognized and Exemplary. In addition, the state no longer uses the Texas Projection Measure, which gauges indicators of future student progress.
With these changes factored in, it appears that Dallas ISD will have 30 Exemplary schools and as many as 66 Recognized schools when accountability ratings are released in late July/early August. 94 schools will likely be rated Academically Acceptable and 33 schools may be rated Academically Unacceptable, based on academic performance. Had the Texas Projection Measure remained in use, 50 district schools would have been rated Exemplary, 67 schools would be rated Recognized and 5 schools would be rated Academically Unacceptable based on academic performance.
Overall, passing rates in Dallas ISD rose slightly, which were similar to state changes. Commended rate gains in Dallas ISD surpassed passing rate gains in Reading, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Science and mathematics showed the highest increase in percent passing since 2005 and social studies showed the highest increase in percent commended, up 24 points, since 2005.
-30-