Valley School Districts Receive the Highest Average Accountability Ratings

Emilio Flores
La Feria News

Rio Grande Valley — On September 5, 2022, the Texas Tribune released an article sharing that the “Texas Education Agency has dismissed the notion that the accountability ratings are a poverty rating. As evidence, they point to districts like those in the Rio Grande Valley, which have achieved high marks while serving a high number of economically disadvantaged students.”

The Texas Education Agency notes that 18% of school districts with a high percentage of “economically disadvantaged” students earned an A rating when they released their first post-pandemic scores last month. Overall, 33.1% of school districts received an A, an 8% increase from 2019, the last time the TEA released these ratings.

According to a new analysis, 95% of 38 school districts and 10 charter systems in what is known as the Region One Education Service Center area received rankings of either A or B, compared with 87% for school districts statewide. The region also had the most campuses receiving an A grade, according to the Region One Education Service Center, one of 20 such centers funded by state, federal, and local governments that assist local school districts.

Rio Grande Valley school districts received the highest average accountability ratings
School districts in region 1, which includes the Rio Grande Valley, received an average score of 88.8 out of 100. The average for school districts across the state was 86.3.

Of the 1,195 districts that were evaluated, 42 districts across 17 regions received scores lower than 70.
“This region punches above its weight when you look at student demographics,” said Daniel King, executive director of the Region One Education Service Center. “School districts [here] — pretty much across the board — have a ‘no excuses’ attitude.”

Last month, the TEA released its first school ratings since 2019, which showed some improvement despite the pandemic that forced schools to close. These letter grades, the state’s accountability ratings, are tied in large part to results of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR test.
La Feria ISD’s received a ‘B’ as an overall rating with an 88-point score; raising the district one point from the previous year’s rating back in the 2018-19 rating.

Given the impact of COVID-19, all districts and schools received a label of ‘Not Rated’ for their 2019-20 and 2020-21 accountability ratings.

La Feria ISD shared on Facebook, “We are thrilled to announce that La Feria ISD has earned a district rating of an 88, letter rating B, on the Texas Education Agency 2022 Accountability Rating, with a total of 17 stars, which are distinction designations awarded to campuses for being in the Top 25% in different areas.”

Below are listed the individual ratings for each campus:

CE Vail Elementary, earned a 93, letter rating A, with a distinction designation in the area of Reading, Math, Academic Growth , Postsecondary Readiness, and Closing the Gaps. Earning the highest letter rating possible and all 5 distinction designations eligible for an elementary school. Furthermore, they ranked number 1 out of 40 comparison schools in the area of academic growth for their students.

Sam Houston Elementary earned an 83, letter rating B, with a distinction designation in the area of Math.
David Sanchez Elementary earned an 87, letter rating B, with a distinction designation in the area of Math.
Noemi Dominguez Elementary earned an 87, letter rating B, with a distinction designation in the area of Reading, Academic Growth, and Closing the Gaps.

William B Green Junior High earned an 81, letter rating B, with a distinction designation in the area of Reading.

La Feria High School earned an 84, letter rating B, with a distinction designation in the area of Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, Postsecondary Readiness, and Closing the Gaps.

La Feria Academy earned a 91, letter rating of an A.

Lastly, the District says ‘thank you’ to “all of our students, teachers, staff, and community who play a role in the education of our La Feria ISD students. It takes a team of people working together to achieve this level of success. The power of growing and moving students has been even more critical after the pandemic and here at La Feria ISD it is evident tremendous growth and closing of gaps has occurred for our students.”