Local schools among big risers in TEA ratings

Houston ISD maintained its overall rating while several local elementary and middle schools saw significant leaps in the recently-released Texas Education Agency campus and district accountability ratings, the first ones to come out since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a whole, HISD maintained its B rating in the new TEA ratings, consistent with about 54 percent of school districts across the state according to state data. Local schools Love and Durham elementary schools both saw their ratings make huge jumps from C ratings in 2018-2019 to an A in the most recent ratings according to state data.

Additionally, Stevens Elementary jumped from a D/unrated in the 2018-2019 rankings all the way to a B in the most recent rankings according to state data, while Wainwright Elementary jumped from a D/unrated to a C rating according to TEA data.

In total, HISD said 79 of its campuses increased their overall rating by 10 or more points. And in addition to the aforementioned local campuses, Garden Oaks Montessori School saw its rating increase from a C (73) in 2018-2019 to an 85 (B) in the most recent ratings. Frank Black Middle School (83 to 90) and Hogg Middle School (81 to 90) also saw their grades go from a B rating to an A according to the TEA.

There were 96 total HISD campuses receiving an A rating (up from 39 in 2018-2019), according to the district, while 117 received a B rating – also up from 39 in the last ratings prior to the pandemic.

Texas’s state legislature developed the new accountability system, which ranks schools and districts on a scale of A to F, back in 2015. However, nobody in the state had received a grade/rating since 2019 – prior to the pandemic.The system rates schools based on three areas – student achievement, school progress and a campus’ ability to close academic gaps, according to the Texas Education Agency.

“We know we have a lot of work still to do, but the rating from the TEA is heartening and worthy of celebration,” HISD Superintendent Millard House II said. “Our students and staff stayed the course as we charted new territory in addressing learning loss. The work doesn’t end here, and we know we have areas where we need to grow even more.”

The local improvements were part of a trend across the state. The TEA said roughly 25 percent of districts statewide and 33 campuses improved their ratings from 2018-2019 to 2021-2022. About 33 percent (396) of districts statewide received an A rating, while about 54 percent (645) received a B rating, the TEA said. There were 112 districts to receive a C rating, according to state data.

“These results show our state’s significant investment in the post-pandemic academic recovery of Texas public school students is bearing fruit,” TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said.

And while HISD did maintain its B rating from the TEA, the district said seven campuses were not given a letter grade because their overall grade was 70 or below, up from four such schools in 2018-2019. The Texas Legislature passed a bill last year that allowed campuses to remain unrated if they scored too low so they could have more time to recover. 

The one local school among those HISD campuses that were unrated was Highland Heights Elementary, according to data from the TEA.

To view the full 2022 accountability ratings for districts and campuses, visit TXschools.gov.