Today, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its annual A-F school accountability ratings for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. The A-F accountability system provides families, communities, and other stakeholders a measure of how well schools helped students meet state academic standards. To learn more about the ratings and how they’re calculated, check out our blog post from earlier this week.
After multiple years of delays due to ongoing litigation, we (finally) have three years of information under the current rating system. This long-term perspective allows us to track how our schools are doing at providing students with the quality education they deserve and how that has changed over time.
Today’s A-F ratings tell an inspiring story of noteworthy progress. Nearly 145,000 more Houston area students attended A- or B-rated schools in 2025 than in 2023, and the share of students attending D- or F-rated schools fell from 32% to 12%.
Led by Houston and Aldine ISDs, schools across the region demonstrated widespread growth: there were 160 more A- or B-rated schools in 2025 than two years ago. The map below makes clear that this progress happened in schools throughout Houston.
Incredible Progress, But More Work To Be Done
A quality education remains vital to long-term outcomes, and the hard work and dedication of our teachers, administrators, and district leaders have put thousands more students on the path to economic mobility and increased their likelihood of earning a living wage in adulthood.
However, we cannot rest on our successes. Even with strong academic growth this year, just under half of students across the region met grade level standards in math and reading. Today’s A-F ratings confirm there is more work to be done. The accountability system’s Domain 1 scores–which are based solely on student achievement on the annual STAAR test–were lower than overall scores, which reflect factors such as growth or comparisons to similar student group performance, rather than solely measuring the extent to which students are meeting state standards.
Indeed, when we look at specific districts, this year’s ratings tell different stories. Led by HISD and Aldine ISD, some districts showed exceptional student growth, demonstrating the impact of bold initiatives such as the New Education System (NES) and Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) models, as well as implementation of High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) and the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program.
Students in some districts, like Cypress-Fairbanks, Klein, and Spring Branch ISDs, were more likely overall to meet state standards, but these districts showed less year-over-year growth than others in the region. The distribution of student academic performance within Spring Branch ISD in particular also raises potential equity concerns, with Black and Hispanic students being much less likely to attend A- or B-rated campuses than their white or Asian peers.
Achievement and growth in a few districts, like Alief and Spring ISDs and Houston-region IDEA Public Schools, have not kept pace with their peers, demonstrating the need for innovation and new ways of thinking to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education.
Along with HISD, students in Galena Park ISD demonstrated higher than average growth and achievement this year.
The Bottom Line
The 2025 A-F accountability ratings make clear that our schools have made tremendous progress in recent years. Nearly 145,000 more students attended an A- or B-rated school in 2025 than in 2023. At the same, 78,000 students still attended a D- or F-rated campus.
As we applaud the admirable progress across our region, we also recognize that the work must continue. Every child in every neighborhood across Houston deserves access to a quality education. This year’s A-F ratings show that we’re moving in the right direction, and we are excited to continue partnering with school leaders, policymakers, and the community to accomplish more for our students in the years ahead.
Want to see your school’s or district’s ratings? Search in the table below!
