District Accountability
School districts in Texas are measured by a multitude of tools. These measurement tools all vary in what they are measuring, how they measure the district, who they measure in the district as well as when they measure students within the district.
State Measurement -- The state utilizes various forms of measurement and bases the majority of measurement standards upon the performance of students in grades 3 - 11. Students with the most significant disabilities (TAKS-Alt) were excluded from the ratings in the 2009 - 2010 school year as were those with measureable learning disabilities (TAKS-M). Additionally students with linguistic challenges were also excluded (TAKS-LAT).
For the 2010-2011 school year, the TAKS-Accommodated and TAKS-Modified students calculated into the state accountability ratings for the first time.
For the 2011-2012 school year, state ratings were not calculated. All students entering grade 9 for the first time were administered the STAAR EOC (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness and End of Course exams). Students in grades 3 - 8 were administered the STAAR tests in the same subjects that were previously administered for TAKS. Passing standards for the STAAR in grades 3-8 will not be set until fall 2012. Standards for the EOC were released in late spring. Students taking the EOC must acquire a cumulative score on the 12 required* assessments (ELA Reading & Writing I, II, & 3; Algebra I, II & Geometry; World Geography, World History & U.S. History; Biology, Chemistry & Physics).
Accountability ratings for the 2012 school year only fall under the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) based upon the No Child Left Behind Act. These requirements are federally based according to requests submitted by each state. The students that are counted in these calculations are in grades 3-8 and 10. Only reading and math are assessed for AYP. For the 2012 school year with new assessments in Texas, a STAAR Bridging Study was conducted to meet federal guidelines to be inconclusive of these test results.
Each campus as well as the district is rating upon the performance of students on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Additionally, each junior high is rated upon the number of students in grades 7-8 that are considered as "dropouts" (meaning they have left MISD and not been verified as enrolling in another school district). Each high school campus is rated based upon "Completers" (students having a 9th grade entry date in 2008-2009 school year and having graduated or re-enrolled by August 2012).
*based upon student's individual graduation plan
