How Children at Risk calculates scores
For nearly two decades, the Houstonbased education nonprofit Children at Risk has produced annual rankings of Texas schools aimed at helping parents, educators and the community understand how schools are performing and where they can improve.
With the 2023 rankings officially out, here’s what to know about how the nonprofit calculates its scores, and how they are different from the Texas Education Agency:
How grades differ
Children At Risk’s grades use similar elements as those used by TEA to determine school performance — primarily standardized test scores — but there are some key differences.
Broadly speaking, Children At Risk weighs elements differently than TEA when calculating the scores that each school’s grade is derived from.
For elementary and middle schools, the Texas nonprofit assigns scores using three metrics from each school’s STAAR scores: raw student achievement, achievement relative to poverty levels, and yearover-year student growth.
High schools are also ranked on a fourth metric, college readiness, which evaluates how well schools are preparing their students for college. TEA ratings also look at military and career readiness, metrics that Children At Risk does not factor into their scores.
In addition to a grade, Children At Risk also assigns rankings to each school in its annual data, something TEA does not do.
The ranks are assigned by comparing school scores among campuses with similar levels (i.e. elementary schools are compared to other elementary schools) to show how each school performed relative to other elementary, middle and high schools.
Calculating scores
Overall scores are calculated based on the average scores the campus receives for each metric.
The metrics used depend on the grade level of the school.
Elementary and middle schools:
• Student achievement score
• Campus performance score
• Average growth score
High schools:
• Student achievement score
• Campus performance score
• Average growth score
• College readiness Unlike TEA ratings, Children At Risk does not include military or career readiness in its high school scoring metrics.
Bob Sanborn, Children At Risk’s president and CEO, said that the nonprofit is focused on breaking the cycle of poverty for Texas children and that the data supports college-attendance as a critical component in meeting that goal.
Assigning grades
Each campus is assigned a general letter grade — such as “A,” or “B” — based on its overall score calculation.
After campuses have been assigned a general letter grade, Children At Risk then divides the range of overall scores for each letter grade into thirds to assign plus and minus grades.
The top third of overall scores become “plus” grades and the bottom third become “minus” grades.
The ranges are different for elementary, middle and high schools because they are based on the unique sample of scores for the year’s schools at each level.
Ranking schools
Each elementary, middle and high school’s overall score is compared with other schools in the state to assign its rank.
What’s changed
Children at Risk awards a Gold Ribbon designation to high-need campuses that outperform their peers.
In this year’s ratings, Children At Risk changed the requirements a school must meet to qualify for the Gold Ribbon designation to exclude any campus that has an application process for enrollment.
Children At Risk said its aim was to recognize schools that “meet students where they are,” and this year’s aim is to eliminate campuses that have the ability to pre-select higher-achieving students.
As in previous years, charters and magnet schools are ineligible for the gold ribbon designation.
Gold Ribbon schools
To qualify for the Gold Ribbon designation at least 75 percent of a campus’ students must be low-income and the school must receive an A or a B in the nonprofit’s annual school rankings.
Excluding schools
Children At Risk excludes the following campuses from their annual rankings:
• Campuses missing data for one or more metrics.
• Campuses with fewer than 90 students enrolled.
• Alternative campuses.
• Campuses confirmed to be undergoing a state or district investigation.