Students starting the new school year will soon begin receiving grades on their various assignments. At the same time, parents and other community members are able to see if their local schools and campuses are making the grade in a fresh update to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) rating system of all public school districts.

Aldine ISD, with about 60,000 students at 83 campuses, received a C rating overall. But there were significant reasons for encouragement and signs of growth in student achievement: Students showed improvement on all tests at all levels.

According to district officials, Aldine ISD elementary campuses out-gained the state levels from Spring 2021 in reading and math at all grade levels. Additionally, kindergarten performance out-gained the national average.

Thirty-three Aldine ISD campuses received A and B ratings. The number was twice the amount reported on the 2019 released ratings report.

Thirty-two of the campuses improved their overall ratings by at least a letter grade. Campuses like Anderson Academy, Eckert Elementary and Reece Academy showed improvement at multiple levels, moving from F to B.

Two recently opened Aldine ISD Choice Schools, Young Women’s Leadership Academy and La Promesa, performed well in their first ratings earning an A and B, respectively.

Aldine ISD released this statement about its TEA 2022 ratings:

“We are incredibly proud of the work of all of our teachers and students. And while there is still work to be done to fully recover from the academic effects of the COVID slide, we are pleased to have made progress and will celebrate those wins, as we continue to see improvement. We look forward to making further strides while providing our students with choices and opportunities.”

Parents are encouraged to review the ratings for their area district and schools at TXschools.gov. Users can search for schools by entering their addresses.

The TEA’s 2022 A-F Accountability Ratings for schools and districts statewide are the first since 2019, when the agency paused reporting ratings due to the pandemic. In the meantime, all districts and schools received a label of Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster.

During the rating reporting hiatus, districts and campuses received report-only accountability results, student listings, and data tables. Scaled scores and letter grades were not published. But this year’s return to publishing of the ratings includes data for 1,195 districts and 8,451 campuses in Texas.

On the statewide level, the agency reports student academic growth with a 25 percent of districts and 33 percent of campuses improving their letter grades from the 2019 report. Additionally, TEA data reveals that of the designated high-poverty Texas campuses, 18 percent rated at the highest level.

“These results show our state’s significant investment in the post-pandemic academic recovery of Texas public school students is bearing fruit,” said Texas Education Commissioner, Mike Morath. “I’m grateful for the driving force behind this year’s success: our teachers and local school leaders.”

The TEA ratings are based on three domains: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps.

— By Jessika Leal