It’s that time of year in which the federal and state accountability systems release their data based on student performance on standardized tests. A few days ago, we announced that the Austin School District was rated “Academically Acceptable” by the state, with the district scoring “Exemplary” or “Recognized” on 21 of the 25 state TAKS measures. Today the U.S. Department of Education notified us that we did not meet its Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards for the third year in a row. Those standards are based on the very same test results. At the same time, we learned that, for the first time since 2003, AISD will not have any campuses identified for the federal School Improvement Program (SIP) under No Child Left Behind.
Our district has made real progress:
• Our Hispanic students met the federal target outright in both Math and Reading.
• Our Economically Disadvantaged students increased their performance in Math and Reading, but only met the standard in Math.
• Our English Language Learners made a four percentage-point gain in Reading and Math.
• Our Special Education students improved in Reading and Math, but that was not enough to allow the district to make the AYP mark.
• AISD made the standard for the Graduation Rate; and
• The three schools in AISD that had previously been deemed for monitoring through the federal School Improvement Program (Reagan and Lanier high schools and Mendez Middle School) scored well enough to exit that status.
It’s complicated to explain. I’m still learning myself. Seventy-four percent of the 31 AISD schools that missed the federal targets, for example, either were rated “Academically Acceptable” or even “Recognized” in the state accountability system. Here’s how I unpack it, and I hope this helps you, too.
Part of the confusion stems from the fact that the federal system targets—after starting off slow—are rising at a challenging clip in order to meet the 100 percent passing rate for Math and Reading by 2014 set by the previous administration. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared in June that the federal “No Child Left Behind” accountability system should be retooled or 83 percent of all schools in the country will fail to meet its standards for the 2011-12 school year. He also said that the system needs to be changed to provide more support for students and their schools in order to better serve the future achievement of our students.
I completely agree. The state and federal standards are important, and we are very committed to assessing student progress according to high academic standards. But our primary concern is making sure that our students are learning, progressing and achieving at levels that prepare them well for college, career and life. That’s our bottom line.
