The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has released Community and Student Engagement ratings for the state’s school districts, charters and campuses. Under House Bill 5 passed last year by the 83rd Texas Legislature, all districts and charters are required to evaluate their performance, as well as the performance of each campus, in regard to community and student engagement. Districts must assign one of four performance ratings – Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable or Unacceptable. This is the first year that the ISDs and charter schools have issued the ratings and for many schools, the process will continue to mature and improve. Across Texas, the twenty regional education service centers (ESCs) have provided technical assistance to many of the school districts and charter schools on the development of the evaluation process for community and student engagement.
For 2014, more than 99 percent of school districts and campuses reported a locally-assigned Overall Performance rating of Acceptable or higher.
| OVERALL PERFORMANCE | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % | ||
| Exemplary | 347 | 28.3% | 3,196 | 38.3% | ||
| Recognized | 613 | 50.0% | 3,771 | 45.2% | ||
| Acceptable | 264 | 21.5% | 1,343 | 16.1% | ||
| Unacceptable | 3 | 0.2% | 8 | 0.1% | ||
| N/A | 30 | 0.4% | ||||
| TOTAL | 1,227 | 100% | 8,348 | 100.0% | ||
Note: N/A indicates Not Applicable
In addition to an overall rating, the district and each campus must assign a performance rating for the following categories: fine arts; wellness and physical education; community and parental involvement; 21st Century Workforce Development program; second language acquisition programs; digital learning environment; dropout prevention strategies; and educational programs for gifted and talented students.
| FINE ARTS | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 413 | 33.7% | 3,857 | 46.2% |
| Recognized | 507 | 41.3% | 2,646 | 31.7% |
| Acceptable | 279 | 22.7% | 1,468 | 17.6% |
| Unacceptable | 6 | 0.5% | 102 | 1.2% |
| N/A | 22 | 1.8% | 275 | 3.3% |
| WELLNESS/PHYSICAL ED | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 509 | 41.5% | 4,229 | 50.7% |
| Recognized | 489 | 39.9% | 2,839 | 34.0% |
| Acceptable | 216 | 17.6% | 1,127 | 13.5% |
| Unacceptable | 1 | 0.1% | 25 | 0.3% |
| N/A | 12 | 1.0% | 128 | 1.5% |
| COMMUNITY/PARENT INVOLVEMENT | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 467 | 38.1% | 3,987 | 47.8% |
| Recognized | 485 | 39.5% | 2,849 | 34.1% |
| Acceptable | 260 | 21.2% | 1,363 | 16.3% |
| Unacceptable | 4 | 0.3% | 49 | 0.6% |
| N/A | 11 | 0.9% | 100 | 1.2% |
| 21st CENTURY WORKFORCE | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 303 | 24.7% | 3,080 | 36.9% |
| Recognized | 514 | 41.9% | 2,585 | 31.0% |
| Acceptable | 311 | 25.3% | 1,737 | 20.8% |
| Unacceptable | 8 | 0.7% | 97 | 1.2% |
| N/A | 91 | 7.4% | 849 | 10.2% |
| SECOND LANGUAGE | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 277 | 22.6% | 3,088 | 37.0% |
| Recognized | 498 | 40.6% | 2,925 | 35.0% |
| Acceptable | 379 | 30.9% | 1,929 | 23.1% |
| Unacceptable | 13 | 1.1% | 93 | 1.1% |
| N/A | 60 | 4.9% | 313 | 3.7% |
| DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 372 | 30.3% | 3,075 | 36.8% |
| Recognized | 515 | 42.0% | 3,112 | 37.3% |
| Acceptable | 304 | 24.8% | 1,902 | 22.8% |
| Unacceptable | 9 | 0.7% | 123 | 1.5% |
| N/A | 27 | 2.2% | 136 | 1.6% |
| DROPOUT PREVENTION | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 493 | 40.2% | 3,831 | 45.9% |
| Recognized | 466 | 38.0% | 2,749 | 32.9% |
| Acceptable | 222 | 18.1% | 1,317 | 15.8% |
| Unacceptable | 4 | 0.3% | 39 | 0.5% |
| N/A | 42 | 3.4% | 412 | 4.9% |
| GIFTED & TALENTED | DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | ||
| Locally-Assigned Rating | # | % | # | % |
| Exemplary | 252 | 20.5% | 2,863 | 34.3% |
| Recognized | 446 | 36.3% | 2,624 | 31.4% |
| Acceptable | 402 | 32.8% | 1,985 | 23.8% |
| Unacceptable | 30 | 2.4% | 169 | 2.0% |
| N/A | 97 | 7.9% | 707 | 8.5% |
House Bill 5 requires a local committee or committees to determine the criteria that the district uses to evaluate and assign performance ratings and to evaluate the district’s compliance with statutory reporting and policy requirements.
While districts must assign locally-determined performance ratings for the district and all campuses in the district, ratings are not required for budgeted (non-instructional) campuses, Disciplinary Alternative Education program (DAEP) campuses, Juvenile Justice Alternative Education program (JJAEP) campuses and facilities operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
Under House Bill 5, districts must also assign a Yes/No status for compliance with statutory reporting and policy requirements.
| DISTRICTS | CAMPUSES | |||
| Statutory Compliance | # | % | # | % |
| YES | 1,107 | 90.2% | 7,906 | 86.6% |
| NO | 120 | 9.8% | 444 | 4.9% |
| N/A | 779 | 8.5 | ||
The Texas Education Agency is required to report the performance ratings and compliance statuses on the TEA website. Districts and charters were required to have posted their locally-assigned ratings and compliance status for the district and each campus on the school district’s website by August 8, 2014. For questions regarding the process in determining locally-assigned performance ratings, contact your local school district or charter school.
Note that the Community and Student Engagement ratings are strictly locally-determined and not a part of the state’s accountability rating system or the financial accountability rating system – known as the School Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (School FIRST).
To see a summary of all state accountability ratings, financial accountability ratings and locally-assigned ratings, please visit the 2014 Texas Consolidated School Rating Report page on the TEA website at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/tcsr/index.html .
