Many more Tarrant schools are rated academically unacceptable

By Eva-Marie Ayala and Jessamy Brown

eayala@star-telegram.com,

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Accountability ratings for dozens of Tarrant County schools dropped to academically unacceptable this year after state education officials scrapped a provision that critics said inflated the ratings.

Under the state's four-tier accountability ratings released Friday, 40 local schools are rated academically unacceptable for 2011, more than half in the Fort Worth district.

While the district is rated acceptable as a whole, 22 of its schools are rated academically unacceptable, up from five last year. The New Lives School, which serves pregnant and parenting teens, is also rated academically unacceptable in the alternative schools system.

Districts that dropped from recognized to academically acceptable include Arlington, Azle, Burleson, Castleberry, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw, Everman, Keller and Mansfield.

Districts that maintained recognized ratings are Aledo, Grapevine-Colleyville, Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Kennedale and Northwest.

This year's ratings are the last to be based on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge of Skills, but TAKS did not go quietly.

Education Commissioner Robert Scott eliminated the Texas Projection Measure for this year's ratings, a provision that was applied to schools based on how well students were expected to do in the future. Critics, including some lawmakers, had complained that the projection measure did not accurately reflect student achievements on tests. But supporters said that the measure was a good indicator of progress.

Districts statewide were affected by the change. Unacceptable schools increased from 104 to 569. Exemplary schools fell from 2,637 to 1,224.

Last year, the projection measure helped boost ratings at 225 schools in the Tarrant County area. In the Fort Worth district, it did so at 51 schools, 18 of which would have been unacceptable otherwise.

Ratings will be suspended next year because of the switch to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. A new accountability system will debut in 2013.

Fort Worth

Eastern Hills High School is rated academically unacceptable for the fifth year in a row, one of only a handful in the state to have the lowest rating for that long. That once would have triggered closure by the state, but the law was changed in 2009 to give schools more time to improve.

Interim Superintendent Walter Dansby acknowledged that the high number of unacceptable schools could harm student and staff morale, but he emphasized that forthcoming changes will help the district address the problems.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we can reach our goals," Dansby said. "This is a temporary setback for the district, yes. But there are much brighter days ahead."

Half of the unacceptable schools are middle schools, and Dansby is reorganizing positions so that middle schools will have their own central administrator rather than share one with high schools.

Three schools that serve special-education students -- Boulevard Heights, the Transition Center and Joe Kelly -- received their first ratings, all acceptable.

Arlington

The district's 2010 recognized rating, its first ever, returned to acceptable this year, and five schools dropped to academically unacceptable.

"I'm disappointed in the schools that are unacceptable, but we've already started working to make sure that doesn't happen again," Superintendent Jerry McCullough said. "There were a lot of factors, but no excuses. It's just we have to work harder."

Two campuses -- Ditto and Hill elementary schools -- are exemplary, compared with eight last year.

Birdville

The number of exemplary schools dropped from 11 to four, and two campuses, Birdville High and Richland Middle, are academically unacceptable.

The district retained its acceptable rating.

Birdville High's rating dropped because fewer African-American students passed math tests: 56 percent compared with 61 percent.The new superintendent, Darrell Brown, will work with staffers to focus on areas to help students successful, spokesman Mark Thomas said.

School board President Richard Davis said the unacceptable ratings are "disheartening."

"There are some areas that need some detailed focus," Davis said. "The board is confident that Dr. Brown is going to give the focus and attention and leadership to address this."

Carroll

For the third consecutive year, all 11 schools are rated exemplary. Carroll is the only district in Tarrant County to earn an exemplary rating.

Carroll was one of the largest districts with the coveted rating. Other major districts include Frisco; Highland Park; Lake Travis, near Austin; and Friendswood, south of Houston.

"While this last year was filled with many challenges, our leaders maintained a focus on student achievement and worked tirelessly to ensure that each child had every opportunity to reach his or her full potential," Superintendent David J. Faltys said.

Crowley

Five schools are rated academically unacceptable and none are exemplary.

Officials say it's a story of what might have been; the district would have received its first recognized rating since 2002 if the Texas Projection Measure had not been removed.

"Our kick was already in the air, and they changed the goalposts," Superintendent Dan Powell said.

The district had an academically unacceptable rating last year because of dropout accounting errors.

Eagle-Mountain Saginaw

The district dropped from recognized to acceptable. Saginaw High dropped from recognized to academically unacceptable the percentage of African-American students who passed math tests fell fell from 63 to 55 percent.

Everman

Baxter Junior High is rated unacceptable, but district officials say they will challenge the rating.

"Overall our scores improved across the district, and even the junior high had amazing scoring," Superintendent Jeri Pfeifer said. "The math scores on that campus went up 10 points. We're hoping this appeal will show how much that campus has improved."

Grapevine-Colleyville

Ten schools are rated exemplary, up from nine last year.

"We had some campuses move up and some dropped one rating, nothing across the board," district spokeswoman Megan Overman said.

Improving middle-school science scores will be the district's focus, she said.

Hurst-Euless-Bedford

Exemplary schools dropped from 19 to nine, and recognized schools increased

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