School district earns B rating
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Texas Education Agency issued grades on Friday as part of the Texas A-F accountability ratings for districts and campuses in the state, with Albany ISD receiving a B.
This was the first time that the rating system has been used since 2019 due to two years of COVID-related disruptions.
The local district received an overall grade of B based on a score of 85 for the 2021-22 school year. The district had received a B when ratings were given for the 2018-19 school year.
The Albany Junior/Senior High campus also was given a B, scoring 83 points and earning a “distinction designation” in science. The campus was graded a B during the last ratings as well.
Nancy Smith Elementary improved from a D two years ago to a C for 2021-22, scoring 78 points this year.
“When you compare the ratings this year to those two years ago, both our campuses improved, especially in the area of student growth,” said Leigh Lowe director of student services. “There was an increase in the number of the students obtaining the level of Meets or Masters on the STAAR tests.”
Secondary campuses were graded on three criteria including STAAR scores, graduation rate, and college, career, and military readiness, while elementary campuses were judged solely on STAAR testing scores.
This year, to align with Senate Bill 1365, districts and campuses received an A, B, or C rating or were assigned a label of Not Rated.
The Not Rated label was applied when the domain or overall scaled score for a district or campus was less than 70. There were a total of 42 districts and 564 campuses that received this label, representing 3.5 percent of all districts and 6.7 percent of campuses statewide, according to TEA.
“The big take-away for us was the student growth that was indicated on both campuses,” superintendent Jonathan Scott said. “We developed growth and intervention plans, especially at the elementary, and saw where that paid off for our students.”
While the grade given to Nancy Smith Elementary was an improvement over the grade received two years ago, Scott said that the rating system is tough since it is based solely on STAAR scores.
“TEA has asked for ways to improve the rating system that will give credit in other areas to elementary campuses,” Scott said. “They have announced that there will be a new rating system by August 2023, but of course we don’t know what those changes might look like.”
Lowe reported that the elementary campus hit 5 out of 12 academic achievement targets last school year, compared to 0 of 10 previously. The campus also met 6 of 8 growth targets last year.
“We always want better scores, but when you break down the numbers, it is evident that a lot of students and teachers worked hard to make improvement.” she said. “We are making strides in multiple areas that we have targeted.”
To view the 2022 accountability ratings for districts and campuses, visit TXschools.gov. Users can search for schools using an address and even compare schools across selected data points.
