This week, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released School Accountability Ratings for the 2021-2022 school year. The following analysis covers around 660 public and charter schools in Houston serving 500,000 students. 

Top headlines about the state of public school quality in Houston:

• 342,000 students are enrolled in A/B rated schools, compared to 250,000 in 2019
• 157,000 of students are now enrolled in C or “unrated” campuses compared to 265,000 in 2019.
• By design, the TEA Accountability Rating System allows districts to achieve a higher rating if year-over-year growth is high, even if student achievement is low.
• 75% of Houston schools relied on the Academic Growth Score to achieve their overall rating compared to 47% statewide. This is an increase from 22% in Houston and 15% statewide in 2019.

Rating System Explained

The TEA’s Accountability Rating System is an annual measure of school performance that rates schools on an A through F scale. The system takes into account three domains: 1) Student Achievement, 2) School Progress which includes Academic Growth and Relative Performance, 3) and Closing the Gaps. 

The final score takes the better of Achievement or Progress and weighs it at 70%. The other 30% considers “Closing the Gaps” which means student achievement among specific student groups.

This is the first year that schools have received a rating since 2019. In 2020 and 2021, schools were not rated due to Texas’s declared state of disaster resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How Did Schools Do?

For 2022, the TEA assigned A-C ratings only. Campuses that would have received a D or F rating received a “Not Rated: Senate Bill 1365” designation. This is a result of Senate Bill 1365, which was passed in the 87th Texas Legislative Session. 

The results show significant improvement of schools across Houston. 341,000 students now attend a A/B rated public school compared to 250,000 in 2019. This means 69% of students in Houston now attend an A or B rated public school. 157,000 students are attending a public school that was either rated C or received the “Not Rated” designation compared to 265,000 in 2019. Notably, of the 111 public schools in Houston that received a D or F in 2019, 68 have now improved to an A or B rating.

Key Takeaways

It’s worth noting that by current design, the TEA Accountability Rating System allows districts to achieve a higher rating if year-over-year growth is high, even if student achievement is low. Last year’s low achievement scores set the stage for an uncharacteristically large growth in student achievement this year. 

There is so much progress to celebrate which is a reflection of the hard work of students, families, and educators across Houston. Looking forward, it’s essential that our community continues to build on this meaningful progress AND double-down on efforts to accelerate student learning to grow proficiency for every child in every neighborhood. 

To view the 2022 accountability ratings for districts and campuses, visit TXschools.gov where you can search for your school or compare schools.