As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken. Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.
24 May 2001
18 Schools Are Projected Exemplary; 30 Projected To Receive Recognized Status
Dallas Independent School District students scored at the highest passing rate in the history of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills, General Superintendent Mike Moses announced today. Preliminary results show that all-time highs were reached in every comparison on All Tests Taken, Reading and Mathematics.
"This impressive performance can be attributed in part to our teachers and administrators working as a team to make sure the students attending DISD are learning the basic objectives required by our state," Dr. Moses said. "This is a move in the right direction, but we still have much work to do. This is not the time to declare victory or to gloat. We need to repeat our efforts next school year to further close the achievement gap between our students and the rest of the state."
Following are highlights of preliminary TAAS results for district students:
• All time highs were reached in every comparison on All Tests Taken, Reading and Mathematics. African American students in Writing also reached an all time high.
• All district students increased their percentage passing All Tests Taken by 6.3 percent, Reading by 3.2 percent, Mathematics by 6.8 percent and Writing by 2.7 percent. All time highs in percentage passing were reached on All Tests Taken, Reading and Mathematics.
• African American students increased their percentage passing All Tests Taken by 5.6 percent, Reading by 1.5 percent, Mathematics by 6.1 percent and Writing by 2.4 percent. All time highs in percentage passing were reached on All Tests Taken, Reading, Mathematics and Writing.
• Hispanic students increased their percentage passing All Tests Taken by 7.9 percent, Reading by 5.3 percent, Mathematics by 8.4 percent and Writing by 4.1 percent. All time highs in percentage passing were reached on All Tests Taken, Reading and Mathematics.
• White students increased their percentage passing All Tests Taken by 2.9 percent, Reading by 0.9 percent, Mathematics by 2.4 percent and dropped in Writing by 1.5 percent. All time highs in percentage passing were reached on All Tests Taken, Reading and Mathematics. The achievement gap between White and minority students narrowed in every comparison.
• When comparing District TAAS performance with State performance, there were generally gains across the board for both the District and the State. On English TAAS, district gains exceeded those of the State in 26 of 35 comparisons in Reading; in 32 of 35 comparisons in Mathematics, and in 13 of 15 comparisons in Writing.
• On the Spanish TAAS, District and State gains were tied in Reading at 2 each. District gains exceeded gains in Mathematics in 4 of 4 comparisons, and District gains exceeded State gains in the only Writing comparison. The District still had smaller percentages passing than the State on most tests and groups, although the gap is obviously closing.
•18 schools are preliminarily classified as Exemplary. The district had 8 Exemplary schools in 1999-2000.
•30 schools are preliminarily classified as Recognized. The district had 18 recognized schools last year.
• 12 schools are preliminarily classified as low performing. The district had 28 Low Performing schools in 1999-2000.
Earlier this year, DISD's 10th grade students scored higher than ever on the mathematics portion of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Test results show that more students took the TAAS this year, with more students taking the math portion, than writing and reading. Achievement in reading and writing remained a constant at about 84 percent.
The district has 18 schools that met the necessary percentage-passing criterion on TAAS to be classified as Exemplary. Seventeen of these schools will probably be rated Exemplary. Two of these schools, (Prairie Creek and Navarro) will, because of low numbers tested, have their final accreditation status determined by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Middle College, because it is under the State's Alternative Accreditation System, cannot receive an Exemplary rating. Therefore, 17 schools will probably be Exemplary and Middle College will be Commended.
Schools projected to be Exemplary are: Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, School of Education and Social Services, School of Health Professions, School of Government, Law and Law Enforcement, School of Science and Engineering, School for the Talented and Gifted, George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Academy (7-8), Harry Stone Montessori Academy (7-8), Longfellow Academy, William B. Travis Academy (7-8), William B. Travis Vanguard (4-6), Julia C. Frazier Elementary, Stonewall Jackson Elementary, Elisha Pease Elementary, and Priscilla Tyler Elementary.
The district has 30 schools that met the necessary percentage-passing criterion on TAAS to be classified as Recognized. One of these schools, (Harris) will, because of low numbers tested, have their final accreditation status determined by TEA.
The schools projected to be on the list of Recognized campuses are: Carter High School, A. Maceo Smith High School, Skyline High School, W. T. White High School, School of Business and Management, Atwell Middle School, Dallas Environmental Academy, Nathan Adams Elementary, Bethune Elementary, Bonham Elementary, Budd Elementary, Carpenter Elementary, Casa View Elementary, Billy Earl Dade Elementary, DeGolyer Elementary, Fannin Elementary, Gooch Elementary, Harllee Elementary, James Elementary, McMillan Elementary, Peabody Elementary, Ray Elementary, Rhoads Elementary, Rice Elementary, Seguin Elementary, Starks Elementary, Thompson Elementary, Walnut Hill Elementary and Wheatley Elementary.
The number of Low Performing schools declined this year. Preliminary numbers show that only 12 schools are deemed low performing. Three of the schools (Language Academy, Buckner Charter Academy and Community Education Partners) are alternative education settings and their final accreditation status will be determined by TEA. Six of these schools are regular DISD elementary schools—Hawthorne, Houston, Moseley, Lakewood, Burnet and Silberstein. The remaining Low Performing schools, Henderson, Medrano and Titche, are Edison Schools.
"Though we are encouraged that the ratings based on the TAAS scores are increasing, we cannot be satisfied until all of our students are passing all three parts of the exam," Dr. Moses said. "This is a pledge the district has made to the students, parents and Dallas community."