The Aldine ISD staff and administration are all smiles this week after getting some good news from the Texas Education Agency. Fourteen of 61 campuses were ranked Exemplary the highest accountability rating that a campus can achieve. Another 29 campuses earned the Recognized ranking.
The school district was ranked Acceptable by the TEA based on this past years TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) tests. Making the Exemplary level were the Victory Early College High School, Anderson, Carroll, Raymond and Harris Academies and Mendel, Worsham, Oleson, Johnson, Thompson, Stephens, Ermel, Black and Spence Elementary Schools.
To be exemplary a campus must have 90% passage rate for students overall as well as in each of the four subgroups: African American, Hispanic, White and Economically Disadvantaged.
Depending on the grade level, students are tested in the areas of reading, writing, math, social science and science.
MacArthur High School (the ninth grade and sr. high campus combined) hit the Recognized level this year. This is a repeat for the sr. high school and an upgrade for the ninth grade.
Students averaged a 92% passage rate in reading, 95% in social science, 75% in math and 73% in science. In math, the passage rate of among the subgroups ranged between 75 and 82%. In science the range was 70 to 80% passage.
As a whole, students showed improvements across the board. The only drop from last year was 2% in African American math (or five students) and White science 6% (three students).
While the TEA did not use completion/dropout rates to determine a schools rating thestatistics were still included in the annual report. MacArthur had an 86% completion rate last year, drop 4.9% from the previous year. The highest percentage of students graduating were Hispanics and Economically Disadvantaged at 86.8%. The lowest percentage was White students at 75.7% or eight dropouts out of 37 students. Aldine High School earned an Academically Acceptable rating from the state.
Students averaged an 85% rate in reading, 89% in social science, 56% in math and 54% in science. In math, the TEA found a decline of 1 to 4% in three of the four subgroups, with a 1 to 6% decline in science. The biggest drop came in Hispanic Math in which 58% of students passed the test. While there was one less student who took the test this year than last year, 33 more students failed the test. In African American Science while 11 more students took the test nine more students failed. Aldine High recorded an 87.3% completion rate, down 5% from last year. The highest percentage of students graduating were Hispanics with 88%, down 4.7% while the lowest percentage were African Americans with 84.8%, down 4.9%.
The TEA said that in 2005-06 they changed the definition of drop-out and completion. This, they said, resulted in what appears as a statewide increase in dropouts. It was because of these new definitions that the state opted to not include them in the accountability rating.
NORTH FOREST ISD
North Forest ISD officials and administrators are thrilled by the newly released TEA academic accountability ratings for the District and nine of the 11 rated campuses it operated in the 2007-2008 school year.
All of the Districts elementary and middle school campuses rate Acceptable or better, including four campusesLakewood Elementary School, Shadydale Elementary School, Tidwell Elementary School and B.C. Elmore Middle Schoolthat are Recognized. Fonwood Elementary School, W.E. Rogers Elementary School, A.G. Hilliard Elementary School, R.E. Kirby Middle School and Oak Village Middle School are rate Acceptable.
The ratings, which were released today, also designate North Forest ISD as an Acceptable district.
This is the real news, the good newsthat even with all of the challenges North Forest ISD has undergone and continues to face, our students and schools are meeting and exceeding the standards set by the statethe same standards every Texas public school is required to meet. Our students are getting a quality education right here in North Forest ISD, says Interim Superintendent William Jones.
The Districts two high schools, Forest Brook and M.B. Smiley, still struggled academically, earning Unacceptable marks from the state. In 2008-2009, the District will operate one high schoolNorth Forest High.
District administrators and school staff are focusing on the issues that are problematic at the high-school level, such as discipline and truancy, says Jones.
Additionally, the school merger has given us the opportunity to place highly-qualified teachers and staff at one high school. Mr. Charles Russell, whose leadership was instrumental in pulling Oak Village Middle School from the brink of closure, has been named principal of North Forest High. We believe that the same success our other campuses are experiencing can and will happen at the high-school level.
Jones says the accountability ratings bode well for the future of the District.
The 2008 ratings are a tremendous boost and a testament to the hard work that students and staff have committed to this District and to themselves, he says. Two years ago, eight of our 11 campuses were unacceptable. In 2007, we managed to get a few more of our campuses off the Unacceptable list. But in 2008, nine of our 11 schools met the mark. The District is excited, energized, encouraged and truly optimistic. With the continued commitment of our staff, hard work from our students and involvement of this community, I am certain that more great things are to come.
Here is a campus-by-campus look at the ratings:
Fonwood Elementary School – Acceptable
A.G. Hilliard Elementary School – Acceptable
Lakewood Elementary School – Recognized
W.E. Rogers – Acceptable
Shadydale Elementary School – Recognized
Tidwell Elementary School – Recognized
B.C. Elmore Middle School – Recognized
R.E. Kirby Middle School – Acceptable
Oak Village Middle School – Acceptable
Forest Brook High School – Unacceptable
M.B. Smiley High School – Unacceptable.
