In an encouraging development for several school districts in Texas, a manual rescoring of thousands of State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests has led to improved accountability ratings for about a dozen districts. This adjustment, announced by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), reflects a commitment to ensuring fair and accurate assessments of student performance.
According to TEA officials, approximately 27,200 students received additional credit for their responses to certain reading questions. This change primarily affected students in grades six through eight, as well as those who completed the English I end-of-course exam.
The districts benefiting from these changes include Chester, Crandall, Daingerfield-Lone Star, Floydada Collegiate, Forney, Fredericksburg, Galveston, Jim Hogg County, Odem-Edroy, Southwest, and Walnut Bend ISDs. As a result of the rescoring, nine campuses and five districts experienced increases in their A-F accountability ratings.
In December 2023, TEA implemented an automated scoring process for grading open-ended questions on the STAAR, including those in reading and English. However, TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky clarified that the recent rescoring was conducted manually, with none of the reviewed responses graded by the automated scoring system.
This annual review of test scores involved content experts who rescored “text entry” responses, where students provide brief written answers. The automated system primarily evaluates short constructed-response questions, while human reviewers focus on more complex answers.
Approximately 1.7% of the over 1.6 million exams reviewed saw score improvements; however, not all of these increases translated into improved A-F ratings for the schools involved. For instance, Central Middle School in Galveston ISD, which initially received a D, will see its score rise by six points to a 75 following the rescoring. A spokesperson for the district did not provide comments on this change.
Similarly, in Southwest ISD, the overall accountability rating will increase from a 79 to an 80, elevating it to a B grade. Acting superintendent Brandon Crisp expressed that the new ratings accurately reflect the progress made by both students and staff in the district.
The TEA’s academic ratings are fundamentally based on student performance on the STAAR tests. The agency routinely reviews these scores to ensure their accuracy and fairness, which includes automated rescoring checks and feedback from educators, as well as a thorough review of open-ended responses.
Kobersky emphasized that the review process is designed to reward students for their efforts. For example, if a student wrote “ferst” instead of “first,” content experts may still award credit, ensuring that nuanced responses are considered fairly. Importantly, no student’s score will be lowered as a result of this review.
With approximately 1,200 school districts and over 9,100 public school campuses in Texas, accountability ratings play a crucial role in educational oversight. Schools and districts that face five consecutive years of failing grades may face sanctions, including potential state intervention.
The preliminary accountability ratings were initially released on August 14, and districts have until September 11 to file appeals for their ratings. The TEA will automatically update the ratings for the impacted districts and schools, reflecting the recent rescoring adjustments.
