Keep in mind that these figures do not reflect students that are no longer in the system. Some of which were counted as dropouts, and others have disappeared from the the data altogether.
-Patricia
By Melissa B. Taboada and Laura Heinauer | AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, May 27, 2011
Austin school district officials changed Johnston High School's name, redesigned its approach to teaching the curriculum and were required to replace more than three-quarters of its faculty, but it appears the campus, which has struggled for years to meet state academic standards, again will rank among Austin's most troubled schools.
More than 29 percent of students at what's now Eastside Memorial Green Tech High School at the Johnston Campus will be ineligible to graduate next week after failing state-mandated exit exams.
Overall, 92 percent of Austin students passed the exit-level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, which matches the statewide average, according to figures released Thursday. The numbers varied from school to school: 21 percent of seniors from Reagan and LBJ high schools failed to pass; the highest exit-level passing rate, 100 percent, came from the Liberal Arts and Science Academy .
Students must pass all four parts of the exit-level exam, and pass their classes, to receive a diploma from Texas public schools. Students had five chances, beginning their junior year, to pass the exams before graduation, but 194 Austin students did not pass one test, and 117 needed two or more tests, district documents show. In all, 33 Eastside students didn't pass in time for graduation, although they can continue to test to get their diplomas.
Austin school district officials didn't respond to repeated requests for more information or comment Thursday.
In a statement, officials said preliminary results from the first 2011 TAKS administration show that in four of five test subjects, districtwide passing rates for all grades will either improve or remain the same. Passing rates for reading fell 1 percentage point — the statement wasn't more specific — in four grades.
The district's statement did not mention the exit-level exam at all.
"As another school year comes to a close, it's rewarding to know that the hard work of our teachers and students has paid off," Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said in the statement. "There is little doubt, that rule changes announced by the (Texas Education Agency) Commissioner on April 23 (regarding not using a formula that boosted some campus accountability ratings in the past) will have a significant negative impact on campus ratings."
An Austin school district spokeswoman said late Thursday afternoon that she couldn't speak on the exit-level results and that at least one administrator who could was away from the office at a retirement party.
A performance administrator, when questioned Thursday via cellphone text messages, replied that he couldn't comment because he didn't have the district's data on hand.
Statewide, passing rates on the TAKS test have ticked up since 2003, when the test was first administered. Passing standards have gotten tougher over the years as well.
State accountability ratings won't come out until the end of July.
How the district and its individual campuses rate this year is significant, because state ratings may stick for two years. The Texas Education Agency is moving from the TAKS to the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, starting with third- to ninth-graders in 2011-12. And during the transition, the state won't count results from that test for accountability ratings.
Also, the state this year won't use the Texas Projection Measure, which counts as passing the TAKS some students who didn't, based on past and anticipated improvement.
"With the changes that are occurring we do expect to see a decrease in ratings, not just for schools but also for school districts," said Round Rock school district Superintendent Jesús Chávez. He said scores in his district — where 91 percent of 11th-graders passed the TAKS on the first try — may be lower this year because teacher layoff announcements came just as testing was getting under way.
"It has impact (on) the mental state of teachers and students who were very worried that their teacher had been let go. It's probably not in the best state of mind in performing your best," Chávez said. "It's not an excuse for lower scores, but it does have an impact."
Not all area districts had a chance to analyze their data as of Thursday.
Last year, the projection measure, boosted three Austin schools from "academically unacceptable," the state's lowest rating, to "academically acceptable."
Despite the curve last year, Eastside Memorial has failed to meet state standards for the past two years. The campus was Austin's only unacceptable school in 2010.
Schools that received the rating for three years in a row can be repurposed, turned over to alternative management or closed . A law passed by the state House and Senate this session also allows parents students in chronically underperforming schools to request that the state education commissioner order closure.
Johnston was previously closed in 2008. The so-called accountability clock started over when it reopened as Eastside.
Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said the school's fate won't be decided until final test scores and completion rate data are available in the next few months. She said it would be unusual for a school that had only three years of low performance to be closed but added that Eastside Memorial does have a unique history.
Austin district officials, meanwhile, already have made plans to strengthen the school. Eastside Memorial, which houses the Green Tech and Global Tech academies under the same roof, will be consolidated under a new principal and could get yet another new name , according to plans the school board approved Monday .
The district has plans to increase instruction time, place teachers and staff on improvement plans and use more data-driven instruction. The district may use an outside group to help reform the school, district documents show.
mtaboada@statesman.com; 445-3620
Austin district 2011 results
High school Students who failed the
exit-level TAKS
Akins 9%
Anderson 1%
Austin 7%
Bowie 2%
Crockett 4%
Eastside Memorial Green Tech 29%
Garza Independence 7%
Lanier 16%
Liberal Arts and Science Academy 0%
LBJ 21%
McCallum 3%
Reagan 21%
Travis 13%
Districtwide 8%
Texas 8%
Source: Austin school district
Showing posts with label TAKS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TAKS. Show all posts
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, July 19, 2010
Controversial Texas Projection Measure may again boost schools' ratings
Hundreds of Texas campuses are expected to receive high marks again this month, thanks to a state rule that counts some students who failed a TAKS test as having passed.
The Texas Projection Measure, introduced last year, predicts students' future TAKS scores in a given subject based on their current TAKS scores and on their previous year's average campus score. If a student fails this year's TAKS test but is predicted to pass in a future year, the school gets credit as if the student had passed this year. And that can boost a school's rating.
The Texas Education Agency is scheduled to release this year's ratings July 30.
The controversial formula came under attack during a recent Texas House subcommittee hearing. Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, gave a few examples of how students could bomb the TAKS but still get credit for passing.
Since then, TEA Commissioner Robert Scott has said the Texas Projection Measure may be eliminated or revised in 2011. One possible revision: allowing districts to decide whether to use the measure.
Supporters say the concept helps recognize the efforts of schools where students have made academic gains but still fall short of the passing standards.
According to the agency, 73 districts and 1,111 campuses saw their ratings rise from recognized to exemplary last year because of the measure. And 178 districts and 1,077 campuses climbed from acceptable to recognized because of the adjustment.
Here are some hypothetical North Texas examples of how the projection measure works and how it can benefit schools. All of the following schools saw a ratings boost last year because of the projection measure, but it isn't clear whether they'll benefit again this year.
SMITH HIGH SCHOOL, CARROLLTON-FARMERS BRANCH ISD
2009 rating: Recognized
Example: Ninth-grade math
Suppose a student answered only 20 of 52 questions correctly on the math TAKS (28 correct answers are needed to pass) but answered 32 of 42 questions correctly on the reading TAKS (26 are needed to pass).
Result: School gets credit for student passing the math test.
MAYNARD JACKSON MIDDLE SCHOOL, DALLAS ISD
2009 rating: Acceptable
Example: Eighth-grade science
Suppose a student answered only 15 of 50 questions correctly on the science TAKS (33 are needed to pass) but answered 42 of 48 questions correctly on the reading TAKS test (35 are needed to pass) and 34 of 50 questions correctly on the math test (29 are needed to pass).
Result: School gets credit for student passing the science test.
MEMORIAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, PLANO ISD
2009 rating: Acceptable
Example: Fourth-grade writing
Suppose a student missed all 32 questions on the writing test (17 correct answers are needed to pass) but got 27 of 40 questions correct on the reading test (27 are needed to pass) and 27 of 42 questions correct on the math test (27 are needed to pass).
Result: School gets credit for student passing the writing test.
BRIGHT ELEMENTARY, FRISCO ISD
2009 rating: Exemplary
Example: Third-grade math and reading
Suppose a student failed the math test by four questions (22 correct answers out of 40, 26 are needed to pass) and the reading test by just one question (20 correct answers out of 36, 21 correct answers are needed to pass).
Result: School gets credit for student passing the math test but not the reading test.
TAKS formula draws concerns
By Lindsay Kastner | Express-News
07/19/2010
Several area school districts expect good news when the state releases its preliminary accountability ratings this month, but whether those good ratings are the result of actual student performance has become the subject of much debate.
Richard Middleton, superintendent of North East Independent School District, said he has concerns about the use of the Texas Projection Measure, which helps many schools and districts boost their ratings by giving them credit for students who did not pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills but who appear to be on track to pass in the future.
“I want to see our students improve, but I also want to have a credible assessment system that people believe in and understand,” Middleton said.
The TPM was approved for use as a growth measure, meaning it is intended to give credit for a student's progress over time. But it has come under fire since state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, chairman of the House Appropriation Committee's education subcommittee, recently called into question the use of a formula that projects future success rather than taking into account past improvement.
“The accuracy of the TPM varies according to where you look but in some cases is not very accurate at all,” said Hochberg, who said he began looking into the system after realizing that a school hailed as a turnaround relied on the model.
Locally and across the state, schools and districts have benefited significantly from the TPM, which was put in place last year.
The number of Bexar County schools that achieved the state's highest rating, exemplary, more than doubled in 2009 over the previous year. But 63 percent of the exemplary schools would not have achieved that rank without the TPM, according to a San Antonio Express-News analysis.
It also helped about 10 percent of Bexar County schools avoid a failing rating from the state.
Projection models are generally considered accurate, said Pete Goldschmidt, a senior researcher at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing.
“Where they're less accurate are for those kids for whom you want them to the most accurate,” he said, noting that poor performers can trip up the models.
In a recent letter to districts' administrators, Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott wrote that he is considering changes to the use of the TPM next year, including modifying or suspending its use “to ensure that student performance is acknowledged and to ensure that the state accountability system remains transparent.”
Hochberg said those options aren't good enough.
“I don't think you design an accountably measure by throwing out a half a dozen options and saying, ‘Gee, which one sounds best to you,'” he said. “This is a difficult problem, and it will take difficult work to figure out.”
Students also had to correctly answer fewer questions on most tests to earn a passing score this year. Last year, for instance, students had to correctly answer 58 percent of the questions to pass the 10th-grade social studies test. This year, that threshold dropped to 50 percent.
“That's probably a little bit larger that we would normally expect, but is it completely out of range? No,” researcher Goldschmidt said.
State officials say test questions were harder this year, which accounts for the reduction in the number of questions students must correctly answer.
“Every year, we have to ensure that the overall difficulty level of the test is the same,” said Gloria Zyskowski, deputy associate commissioner of the Texas Education Agency.
At San Antonio ISD, where preliminary passing rates increased significantly, Deputy Superintendent Betty Burks credits a strong math curriculum and more time spent in science labs.
Zyskowski attributed this year's rating gains in part to legislation that requires students to pass their tests at certain grades before they can move on.
“They had a little more reading and math instruction because they were required to pass those tests to be promoted,” she said.
07/19/2010
Several area school districts expect good news when the state releases its preliminary accountability ratings this month, but whether those good ratings are the result of actual student performance has become the subject of much debate.
Richard Middleton, superintendent of North East Independent School District, said he has concerns about the use of the Texas Projection Measure, which helps many schools and districts boost their ratings by giving them credit for students who did not pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills but who appear to be on track to pass in the future.
“I want to see our students improve, but I also want to have a credible assessment system that people believe in and understand,” Middleton said.
The TPM was approved for use as a growth measure, meaning it is intended to give credit for a student's progress over time. But it has come under fire since state Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston, chairman of the House Appropriation Committee's education subcommittee, recently called into question the use of a formula that projects future success rather than taking into account past improvement.
“The accuracy of the TPM varies according to where you look but in some cases is not very accurate at all,” said Hochberg, who said he began looking into the system after realizing that a school hailed as a turnaround relied on the model.
Locally and across the state, schools and districts have benefited significantly from the TPM, which was put in place last year.
The number of Bexar County schools that achieved the state's highest rating, exemplary, more than doubled in 2009 over the previous year. But 63 percent of the exemplary schools would not have achieved that rank without the TPM, according to a San Antonio Express-News analysis.
It also helped about 10 percent of Bexar County schools avoid a failing rating from the state.
Projection models are generally considered accurate, said Pete Goldschmidt, a senior researcher at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing.
“Where they're less accurate are for those kids for whom you want them to the most accurate,” he said, noting that poor performers can trip up the models.
In a recent letter to districts' administrators, Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott wrote that he is considering changes to the use of the TPM next year, including modifying or suspending its use “to ensure that student performance is acknowledged and to ensure that the state accountability system remains transparent.”
Hochberg said those options aren't good enough.
“I don't think you design an accountably measure by throwing out a half a dozen options and saying, ‘Gee, which one sounds best to you,'” he said. “This is a difficult problem, and it will take difficult work to figure out.”
Students also had to correctly answer fewer questions on most tests to earn a passing score this year. Last year, for instance, students had to correctly answer 58 percent of the questions to pass the 10th-grade social studies test. This year, that threshold dropped to 50 percent.
“That's probably a little bit larger that we would normally expect, but is it completely out of range? No,” researcher Goldschmidt said.
State officials say test questions were harder this year, which accounts for the reduction in the number of questions students must correctly answer.
“Every year, we have to ensure that the overall difficulty level of the test is the same,” said Gloria Zyskowski, deputy associate commissioner of the Texas Education Agency.
At San Antonio ISD, where preliminary passing rates increased significantly, Deputy Superintendent Betty Burks credits a strong math curriculum and more time spent in science labs.
Zyskowski attributed this year's rating gains in part to legislation that requires students to pass their tests at certain grades before they can move on.
“They had a little more reading and math instruction because they were required to pass those tests to be promoted,” she said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)