Putting in the work
Annual report card’s new methodology has some schools ascend in the rankings for first time in years
Year by year, Jackson Elementary School Principal Deana Gonzalez and her staff in Lamar CISD have seen their students making steady progress with a tried-and-true formula: dedicated teachers, extra instructional time with kids and a consistent campus vision.
No fancy programs. No silver bullets. Just parents, teachers and administrators all pulling hard in the same direction — and getting results for kids.
“You will see our teachers giving their best, working late and coming in on the weekends, whatever it takes to get the job done. And my parents say, ‘If my kid needs help, do whatever it takes,’ ” said Gonzalez, the fifth-year leader of Jackson Elementary, a predominately Hispanic campus in a lower-income section of Rosenberg.
The recipe employed at Jackson Elementary resulted in remarkable academic gains last year, making it one of the biggest winners in the 2018 Children at Risk academic report card, released Sunday by the Houston-based nonprofit in conjunction with the Houston Chronicle. The annual grades and rankings reflect each Houston-area school’s performance in math and reading on state standardized tests in 2017, adjusted for poverty rates and expected performance.
This year, the report card comes with a few new wrinkles. In response to feedback from local academic leaders, Children at Risk scrapped its statewide “curve” on its A-through-F grading system, which artificially set the percentage of schools receiving each letter grade. Instead, Children at Risk set standard benchmarks for receiving each grade — a move that has resulted in fewer “A” and “F” grades, with more campuses clustered in the middle grades.
The organization also changed its standard for measuring student achievement and placed greater emphasis on student growth, two tweaks designed to benefit campuses serving more impoverished stu-
dents.
“We do want to emphasize growth, and we do really want to emphasize those schools that, despite their circumstances, are outperforming their projected performance,” said Claire Treacy, assistant director of Children at Risk’s Center for Social Measurement and Evaluation. “A lot of thought and energy has been put into this.”
The new methodology, combined with changes in school performance on state standardized tests, resulted in some shake-up on this year’s report card.
Out of the roughly 1,400 campuses evaluated by Children at Risk, dozens of schools made a major jump up the rankings or tumbled because of lower test scores. Jackson Elementary, for example, rose from 405th in the region last year to 148th out of 892 elementary schools.
“They are just pretty excited and proud,” Gonzalez said of students’ reaction to their progress. “The teachers, more than anything, have seen hard work really does pay off. They just feel confidence that kids are able to succeed.”
The region’s highest-rated schools largely held their positions atop the rankings, but a few campuses serving predominately lower-income students leapt into the top 10 for the first time in recent years. They include the Houston Gateway Academy’s Elite College Prep (fifth among high schools), Aldine ISD’s Victory Early College High School (ninth) and KIPP’s SHARP College Prep Lower School (10th among elementary schools).
Also, without the grading system curve, Houston-area schools earning an “A” grade dropped from 31 percent in 2017 to 15 percent this year. Some school districts saw huge declines in their number of “A”rated schools, including Clear Creek (from 27 to 5) and Humble (15 to 4).
At the same time, the share of “F”-rated schools in the Houston area declined from 14 percent last year to 10 percent this year. Aldine ISD benefited the most, cutting its number of “F”rated campuses from 18 to 6.
Still, even with the changes that could benefit higher-poverty schools, a persistent income gap continues in the rankings. As in previous years, the vast majority of “A”-rated schools serve predominately higher-income students, while nearly all “D”- and “F”-rated schools serve more economically disadvantaged students than the state average.
Ringing the bell
A couple times per day, students and staff at Angleton ISD’s Northside Elementary School gather at the front of the school for what’s becoming a favorite tradition. Whenever a student meets a goal set earlier in the year — pass a test, meet an academic benchmark, avoid any behavioral issues — he or she gets rewarded with an enthusiastic tug on a bell bolted to the wall.
The bell has gotten yanked so much, Principal Lori Gonzalez said, that employees have already had to replace the clapper rope.
“It just gives them something to look forward to, and I can tell you that they love it,” Gonzalez said.
The staff at Northside Elementary will have reason to ring the bell themselves, as the 2018 Children At Risk rankings show enormous progress at the 440-student school. After years of placing well-below-average among the region’s elementary schools, Northside Elementary jumped 323 spots, up to 346th in the region.
The change in Children at Risk’s methodology, along with improved standardized test scores, benefited many local districts this year — none more than Angleton ISD, home to about 6,700 students in central Brazoria County.
Seven out of the district’s eight schools improved their ranking this year, while the only school to fall dropped a single spot.
Under the new methodology, Children at Risk continues to evaluate all schools using three measures: raw test scores, student progress and performance relative to percentage of economically disadvantaged students. High schools are also evaluated on a fourth measure: college readiness.
In the past, 60 percent of an elementary or middle school’s rating was based on raw scores, with progress and relative performance each making up 20 percent. This year, however, all three measures were equally weighted, placing significantly less value on raw scores.
Previously for high schools, raw scores and college readiness each accounted for 30 percent, while progress and relative performance each were weighted at 20 percent. This year, all four measures are equally weighted.
Angleton ISD officials said the change reflects the district’s primary focus: student growth, regardless of a child’s academic abilities. Lisa Davis, the district’s director of secondary education, said Angleton ISD staff members increasingly rely on data centered on student progress to identify which kids — and teachers — need extra help.
“We are more and more individualized this year than ever before,” Davis said. “That’s not just with students, but most importantly, because of the direct impact that it has on student achievement, on staff. … It’s really putting the resources we have in the training of teachers, meeting them where they’re at. I would say that’s what’s helping us get down the road.”
Ultimately, major shifts in a school’s ranking were frequently the result of improved test scores in 2018, as opposed to changes in Children at Risk’s rating system.
The shift also didn’t dramatically benefit lower-income schools and districts across the board. In fact, some regional districts with high percentages of economically disadvantaged children, including Alief and Houston ISDs, saw their average school ranking decline, while relatively richer districts such as Tomball ISD and Lamar CISD increased their standing. Most districts saw mixed results.
Changing grades
While districts can still compare year-over-year changes in school rankings this year, the same can’t be said of letter grades issued by Children At Risk.
In recent years, the organization used a curve to ensure 25 percent of schools statewide received an “A” grade, while 20 percent scored “B,” “C,” and “D” grades each, and 15 percent were rated an “F.”
This year, without the curve, about 10 percent of schools statewide earned an “A,” roughly 25 to 30 percent received “B,” “C” and “D” grades each, and about 10 percent failed.
As a result, not a single district with at least 10 campuses increased its number of “A”-rated schools this year. Among those with at least five “A” schools last year, the districts that best maintained their share of top-rated campuses were Katy ISD, KIPP Houston and YES Prep Public Schools.
Treacy, the Children at Risk assistant director, said the organization hopes to keep the new methodology in place, though it might re-evaluate as the Texas Education Agency unveils its new A-through-F rating system for campuses next year.
“Our role might shift in light of that and what happens next legislative session,” Treacy said. “In an ideal world, we would be able to keep this and make it clear.”