04:22 PM CDT on Monday, August 1, 2005

From 11 News Staff and Wire Reports

It was a tough year for HISD in the latest accountability report released Monday by the Texas Education Agency. According to the report, the number of academically unacceptable schools more than doubled to 36 this year, up from 14 last year.

Among those schools, two (Sam Houston High and Kashmere High) received the lowest rating for a third consecutive year. Three other schools, McReynolds Middle School and De Chaumes and Gregory-Lincoln schools, were unacceptable for the second consecutive year. That makes those schools subject to the Texas education code which states: "If a campus has been a low-performing campus for a period of two consecutive years or more, the commissioner shall order the closure of the district or charter program on the campus or reconstitute the campus."

HISD policy gives Superintendent Abe Saavedra the authority to reconstitute schools to improve academic performance.

"While we recognize that the new accountability system is harder, we also know we have a responsibility to teach every child and to try to make every school a high-performing school," Dr. Saavedra said. "Our district-wide rating held steady. But overall, these results simply are not good enough, and everyone knows it. This should be a loud and clear signal that we must do better."

Although 242 HISD schools, or 86 percent of those rated, were judged at least academically acceptable by the state accountability system, as was the district as a whole, the number of top rated schools is down from last year.

KHOU-TV

HISD Superintendent Abe Saavedra says that despite tougher standards, HISD must do better.

This year, five HISD schools received the highest rating of "Exemplary" from the Texas Education Agency, down from nine a year ago.

The number of HISD schools earning the state's second-highest rating or Recognized was 29, which is down from 69 last year. The number of schools earning the rating of academically acceptable was 200, up from 188 a year ago.

Some of HISD's historically highest performing schools earned the exemplary rating this year, including DeBakey High School for Health Professions and T.H. Rogers school, a national "Blue Ribbon" award-winning school. The other exemplary schools were Lyons Elementary, River Oaks Elementary and West University Elementary.

Statewide, more schools and school districts received the state's lowest rating this year, and student performances on math and science tests were major reasons, Texas Education Commissioner Shirley Neeley said Monday.

Sixty-one districts, including 19 regular districts and 42 charter school operators, were labeled academically unacceptable, the lowest of the state's school accountability ratings. That compares with 24 districts that got the lowest rating last year.

The number of individual schools with the bottom ranking also increased, from 95 last year to 364 this year.

By far, most Texas districts and campuses were rated academically acceptable.

Nine school districts and one charter operator received the highest rating, exemplary.

The school ratings are based mostly on standardized tests students take called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS. High school completion and middle school dropout figures also are factored into the equation.

Neeley called the ratings report "mixed but not unexpected." She said more rigorous passing standards for the TAKS test were fully phased in this past year. Also, she said, a new TAKS-aligned exam for special education students was used for the first time.

Math and science test performances in fifth, eighth and 10th grades also played a role, she said.