You may recall that TEA (Texas Education Agency) is changing how schools are rated to an A–F rating scale that will start in 2018. The state has created a complex formula built around five domains for determining these letter ratings. This Friday, TEA will release “what if” report cards showing what each district and campus would have received for the 2015-16 school year if the A-F rating system had been in effect. It’s like a warm-up for Texas schools, but it doesn’t compare apples to apples in every domain.
Many districts across the state will be in an uproar about these ratings. In fact, many states have dumped their A-F system while Texas is adopting one. However, our message is that the future for a student attending a Wylie ISD school is bright and these ratings will convey that we are preparing them for a prosperous life beyond high school. The sneak peek at the rating system conveyed that Wylie ISD is among the elite in student academic performance. We continue to be the “STAAR Star” of Texas. The preview also raised some caution flags that we have already addressed, corrected and hope will result in incredibly high marks when the accountability ratings “count” in 2018.
Qualification Warning
This is a brand new system with many unanswered questions. We are doing our best to get information that will help our kids achieve and receive the exemplary ratings Wylie ISD is accustomed to receiving. Please know the information we share with you is solid, truthful and transparent. However, there is much to learn and the state is still providing districts with information.
Domain 1 & 2
We celebrate our success of Domain 1 and 2 and believe the scoring to be very similar to how TEA evaluates schools under the current system using our STAAR results. This is a huge accomplishment and we believe we are among the elite in the state to achieve it.
Domain 3
We are learning that Domain 3 uses the same STAAR results using only the data from our economically disadvantaged students. We received a “B Rating” with a score of 6.4. We barely missed the “A Rating” set at 7.0. So close…but we will get there!
Domain 4
As you can see, we received an “F” in this Domain. If you are like me…you never want to see an “F” anywhere. We have spent several days pouring over the data to determine what went wrong. Fortunately, we believe we have found the source of the issue (which was only a COURSE CODING ERROR AND NOT A RESULT OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE) and understand that it was corrected the following year. This will help us when these grades go live in 2018. Whew!
Here is overview of how Domain 4 is scored.
Student Chronic Absenteeism
-
Assessed only in Grades PK-8
-
We discovered yesterday that this area does not count in the district scores. It only counts for non-high school campus scoring. (We are learning new stuff every day!)
-
The calculation or rationale for this rating number has not been detailed. (I asked) Once the details of how it is calculated are communicated, we will design a plan to improve it.
Post-secondary Ready Graduates
-
Districts receive their rating based on grades 9-12 performance in this Domain. (This explains our rating)
-
Assessment based on data from 2014-15 graduation data is based on one of the following measurements.
Measurement/Explanation
-
Graduation Rate (10 of 35 Points) Wylie ISD received high points here, we have an excellent graduation rate
-
Graduation Plan (5 of 35 Points)Wylie ISD graduates almost every student on the highest graduation plan, we received high points here
-
Annual graduates who achieve at least ONE of the following (20 of 35 Points)
-
Score at the college level on the Texas Success Initiative or (TSI) which is a voluntary assessment that Junior Colleges require students to take for enrollment in dual credit courses in math and reading.
-
Achieve college ready standard on ACT/SAT
-
Complete 12 Hours of Dual Credit Coursework
-
Completion of Coherent Sequence of Courses for CTE (3 courses) <– Coding Error
-
We plan to make sure this coding error mentioned above does not occur again. In fact, we are proposing safety nets that will require every Wylie ISD student to receive at least one “check in the box” as part of their graduation requirements.
You may rest assured that Wylie ISD has an amazing attendance rate, exceptional graduation rate (95.6%) and we are graduating more kids successfully at rates higher than the lauded state average. Most of our students graduate on the RHSP/DAP (Recommended High School/Distinguished Achievement) graduation plans. Our students are prepared for a prosperous life beyond high school.
STRAIGHT A’s
Our goal is to achieve and Wylie ISD is well on its way to an incredible report card when the State of Texas officially begins rating districts in 2018. This first glance at preliminary ratings is an encouragement and reassures our district that we are on the right track. It also provided us the right measure of caution to make sure we have all our “ducks in a row” and coded correctly to avoid any pitfalls this preliminary report revealed. We set a high standard for our kids and ourselves and appreciate it when we are recognized with high marks that show the public we are on the right track.
