‘C’ ratings for local schools and frustrations with state standards
After two years of legal battles stemming from a change in Texas public education standards, accountability ratings for the 2022-23 academic year were released, revealing C’s for the Marble Falls, Burnet, and Llano school districts. However, local school officials say the standards shifted after it was too late to address the new measures on campuses.
“The game changed after we finished (the 2022-23 school year),” reads a statement from Marble Falls Independent School District to DailyTrib.com regarding the C rating for that year. “We set goals based on a system that then changed afterwards.”
The 2022-23 Texas Education Agency A-F accountability ratings were released this April following a decision from Texas’ Fifteenth Court of Appeals. Justices ruled that the TEA was rightful in its move to change standards and measures after the 2022-23 school year had already transpired.
Over 100 school districts, including Llano Independent School District, but not the Marble Falls or Burnet districts, filed a lawsuit against the TEA to restrict the release of the ratings in protest of the sudden change in criteria.
The results of the 2023-24 accountability ratings are being held up by a separate lawsuit, and the 2024-25 ratings should come out this summer after the end of the current school year. By Texas law, accountability ratings for public schools are updated every five years, so the 2023 change was expected, but it was not clear the standards would be retroactively applied to the previous academic year.
The A-F accountability rating system, implemented in 2018-19, uses a three-part scoring system made up of student achievement metrics, overall school progress over time, and “closing the gaps,” which refers to specific improvements in different groups of students based on ethnicity, economic status, special education needs, and English skills. An overview of the 2022 ratings system can be found here.
Following the change, MFISD went from an 81, or B rating, in the 2021-22 academic year to a 76, or C rating, in 2022-23. Burnet Consolidated ISD went from an 82 (B) to a 73 (C) in that same timeframe. Llano ISD fell from a 91 (A) to a 79 (C).
BCISD Superintendent Aaron Peña echoed MFISD’s sentiments in his assessment of the accountability ratings change.
“We certainly want to move up and improve, but it is not causing us a whole lot of worry,” he told DailyTrib.com. “(The TEA) moved the goalpost after we kicked the ball.”
Llano ISD representatives did not provide responses to DailyTrib.com questions at the time of this article’s publication.
Despite the 2022-23 ratings not being made public until early April 2025, Highland Lakes school districts have had access to them for two years and have been making adjustments since then.
“As you know, the newly released ratings are not a surprise to MFISD,” reads the district’s statement. “We have had this student performance data for two years and have had plans in place to support students and staff in providing interventions, as well as training on the new calculation methods for A-F for our staff.”
MFISD and BCISD leaders expressed frustration with the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test, which measures a public school district’s academic achievement and has a major influence on its rating. The annual standardized test is used when calculating all three major categories of a district’s A-F rating.
“STAAR testing is how we are rated as schools, but STAAR testing does not reflect a student’s entire educational experience,” reads MFISD’s statement. “Ratings based on a one-time measure do not take into account all of the other successes a student may experience in that school year. From Fine Arts to Athletics, our students succeed in many areas not measured in the current accountability system.”
Again, BCISD’s Peña agreed with MFISD’s assessment. While it would require a change at the state level, he recommended testing throughout the year to get a better idea of progress and learning.
“For a kid to show up (for one test) and show us everything they’ve learned for a year, it’s unfair,” Peña said.
Highland Lakes school districts aren’t the only ones that have an issue with STAAR testing. House Bill 4 is currently making its way through the 89th session of the Texas Legislature. If passed, the measure would do away with the STAAR test and create a series of assessments throughout the year that could be used by teaching staff to make adjustments to education in real time rather than one end-all-be-all test.
“Today, I passed HB 4 that will end the STAAR test and reform the A-F accountability system,” reads a May 12 public statement from the bill’s author, Rep. Brad Buckley (District 54). “The legislation will reduce the number of tests for students, provide teachers timely feedback and inform parents in a meaningful way. This is not less accountability, it’s smarter accountability.”
2 thoughts on “‘C’ ratings for local schools and frustrations with state standards”
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Regarding education standards in Texas schools . When do we get accountability ratings for all the home school students that, yes, are taking money away form our public schools, with no oversight?
Thank you.
I bare to disagree with you on Homeschoolers taking money from the public schools. The parents pay Property taxes to the school and get no benefit from it since their children do not attend the school and they have to cover their own supplies to teach their children. They also have to pass tests to graduate. And in case you are not aware hs kids are highly intelligent and go onto successful careers.