The Texas Education Agency was finally able to release their 2022-23 accountability ratings for schools and their districts. They were unable to release them until last Thursday morning due to a lawsuit involving STAAR testing and the pandemic.
Data courtesy of Texas Education Agency
The A through F grades take into account things such as STAAR testing and college readiness. A ‘failing’ campus may not have been given some opportunities a few years ago, but may be able to receive them now.
These grades essentially allow a school board to figure out whether their campuses are equal, getting better or worsening.
Industrial’s four campuses came out on top with straight As, and Superintendent Clark Motley said they were thrilled with their ratings. Based on projections, he said the board expected to be rated as ‘A,’ but one never knows entirely until the true ratings come out.
“You just never know,” he said. “It’s nice to have the validation for the work put in by all faculty, staff, students and parents, because it takes everyone working together to achieve the results we desire.”
Motley said the Cobra motto: ‘Because they think they can, they will,’ is really what puts the entire school district in the mental space to achieve, despite obstacles and challenges that are thrown at them.
“Our teachers and staff do all they can to make sure our students ‘think they can…’, and then we trust ‘they will.’ The 2223 ratings show the campuses have put in the work to prepare our students, and they stepped up and delivered for themselves and our district,” he said. “We’re blessed to have a community that supports this, which allows us to push all students to their true capabilities.”
Four campuses out of Edna’s five received Bs: alternative, high school, junior high and intermediate. The primary campus received a C. According to Superintendent Robert O’Connor, the distinctions in Edna Intermediate were Reasoning Through Language Arts, which is a component of the GED test, math, academic growth, postsecondary readiness and closing the gaps.
The junior high distinctions were in social studies and postsecondary readiness, and the high school, science, and postsecondary readiness.
“In 2023 is when the cut scores changed for passing and a big overhaul of CCMR (college, career, and military readiness), so we were not sure where our scores would come out at,” he said. “Overall we were pleasantly pleased with the score of a B and nine distinctions. It is a credit to the students and staff in terms of their efforts and progress.”
O’Connor went on to say the primary school is an area they will work on. “This is also when everything went online and was done completely on computer, which was a tradition. That one we feel better about now versus 2023.”
Ganado was rated with two Cs for the high school and junior high, while the elementary came out with a B.
Numerous attempts by phone and email were made to reach out to Superintendent Jonathon Szymanski, but he did not respond.
Parents can look up other schools and districts by visiting txschools.gov/ The TEA plans to release the 2024-25 school year rating on August 15, but it might be impacted by further litigation. The releasing of last year’s ratings will depend on how the court case unfolds.
Motley ended by saying Industrial teachers do a phenomenal job of setting and holding students to high expectations.
“The things we will do to continue as an ‘A’ rated district will be to work hand in hand with our teachers to support them in the work they do in the classroom,” he said.
