For the most current and complete information on accountability in the State of Texas visit the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/accountability.html.
For the most current and complete information on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) visit the U.S. Department of Education NCLB website at http://www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml.
The TEA provides the AEIS report ever year. The report provides comprehensive data on the performance of students in every district and campus in Texas. More information on the AEIS can be found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/index.html.
Texas annually rates its public schools and districts on the academic performance of their students.
District Accountability Rating: Academically Acceptable
Guidelines for the Academic Excellence Indicator System
Under the accountability provisions in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, all public school campuses, school districts, and the state are evaluated for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Districts, campuses, and the state are required to meet AYP criteria on three measures: Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, and either Graduation Rate (for high schools and districts) or Attendance Rate (for elementary and middle/junior high schools).
| High School | Meets AYP | AYP Data Table (2009) |
State Accountability | AEIS Report (2009) | AEIS Campus Report Card (2009) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Current | |||||
| MBHS | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| MHS | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Academically Unacceptable (Appealing) | AEIS | Report Card |
| MNHS | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
| Middle School | Meets AYP | AYP Data Table (2009) | State Accountability | AEIS Report (2009) | AEIS Campus Report Card (2009) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Current | |||||
| Cockrill | No | AYP | n/a | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Dowell | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Evans | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Faubion | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
| Scott Johnson | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Elementary School | Meets AYP | AYP Data Table (2009) | State Accountability | AEIS Report (2009) | AEIS Campus Report Card (2009) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Current | |||||
| Bennett | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary (2010) | AEIS | Report Card |
| Burks | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
| Caldwell | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Eddins | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Finch | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
| Glen Oaks | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Johnson | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Malvern | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
| McGowen | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| McNeil | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Minshew | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Press | Yes | AYP | Academically Acceptable | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Slaughter | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Valley Creek | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Vega | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Walker | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Webb | Yes | AYP | Recognized | Recognized | AEIS | Report Card |
| Wilmeth | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Wolford | Yes | AYP | Exemplary | Exemplary | AEIS | Report Card |
| Alternative School | Meets AYP | AYP Data Table (2009) | State Accountability | AEIS Report (2009) | AEIS Campus Report Card (2009) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Previous | Current | |||||
| Serenity | Yes | AYP | Not Rated | AEA: Academically Acceptable | AEIS | Report Card |
Accountability Ratings (August, 2009)
The Texas Education Agency released preliminary campus and district ratings. The ratings assigned to Texas schools and districts include Exemplary, Recognized, Acceptable, and Unacceptable, with Exemplary being the highest level of achievement. The ratings are based upon a variety of indicators, including: TAKS performance, dropout rate, completion rate and other factors.
McKinney ISD campuses performed well overall and several campuses moved up in the respective rating system. 16 of 19 McKinney ISD elementary schools received a rating of Recognized or Exemplary. Since the inception of the rating system, McKinney ISD elementary schools have performed exceptionally well with the vast majority receiving one of the top two ratings.
Middle schools in the district also performed extremely well and four were ranked at the Recognized level. Evans Middle School, Cockrill Middle School, Dowell Middle School, and Scott Johnson Middle School all elevated to Recognized status. McKinney Boyd High School also received a Recognized rating and McKinney North High School maintained an Acceptable rating. McKinney North High School was only three students from earning a Recognized rating.
McKinney High School was downgraded to an Unacceptable rating due to its completion rate for Hispanic and Economically Disadvantaged students, but the district intends to contest the rating. The campus coded roughly 6 students incorrectly, pushing them below the acceptable standard for completion rate. They are currently accounting for the students in preparation for an appeal to the Texas Education Agency. If the appeal is granted, the District rating would also meet the necessary requirements to move to the Recognized level.
“In reviewing the data, we have identified students in both the Hispanic and Economically Disadvantaged populations to remove the designation, but we must now appeal the rating to the Texas Education Agency and then await a final ruling,” said Tom Crowe, Superintendent of Schools. The results of the appeal are expected to be released in October.
A high school campus is rated on 25 different indicators. Of these 25 indicators, 20 are related to academics. McKinney High School improved their performance on 15 of the 20 academic indicators. The improvement in their academic performance left them only 30 students short of being a Recognized high school.
“The teachers and administrators of MHS have worked very hard to maintain high academic standards and have seen the fruits of their labors through the improved academic performance campus-wide. It is a real shame that one single indicator has caused this rating,” added Mr. Crowe. “It’s important to consider the context of the indicator, in comparison to the overall performance of the school. As a district and campus we bear the responsibility for improving the process of coding students properly when they transfer out of the district, move out of state, pursue a GED, or begin home-schooling. But it is imperative that when judging the quality of education at a school the other factors are considered. In this case, they are close to achieving Recognized status, but will be labeled Unacceptable until we have the opportunity to appeal the designation.”
The most common issue in this particular case occurred when students who either moved out of state, or completed school, were not accounted for properly when coded. McKinney High School and the District have implemented systems to avoid a similar error in the future.
Ironically, the student groups in which the McKinney High School rating is currently taking the hit (economically disadvantaged and minority sub-groups) are areas in which the school has recently received recognition. In 2007 the school was one of only 100 schools in the nation to be named an AVID National Demonstration School, a college preparatory program for underrepresented students with the goal of closing the achievement gap. In addition, the campus saw a substantial 15 percentage point increase in performance by African American students on the Science portion of the TAKS exams, and a 10 percentage point increase on Science by economically disadvantaged students.
“McKinney High School was ranked by Newsweek Magazine as the 222nd top high school in the U.S. in 2009, in a ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the country,” said Lewis Isaacks, McKinney ISD Board President. “They have been honored for closing the achievement gap and TAKS, SAT, and ACT scores exceed State and Regional averages. The faculty has worked hard to maintain a rigorous and exemplary educational environment at MHS, and I feel confident that this bump in the road will not deter them from continuing to provide an exceptional place of learning for our students.”
While the campus administration and staff are disappointed, they are committed to correcting the process, as well as ensuring parents and the public that the rating is not representative of the quality of education students receive at the school.
“We are committed at MHS to verifying our data more effectively and avoiding this trap in the future,” said Stewart Herrington, McKinney High School Principal. “Our teachers and staff work diligently to provide excellent opportunities for all of our students. I believe our student performance in TAKS, Advanced Placement, SAT, and ACT testing validates the quality of education that students receive in our classrooms. It is unfortunate that events occurring well before the 2008-2009 school year have such a dramatic impact on our school's accountability rating for the upcoming school year. There may be schools in Texas where educational opportunities are below acceptable expectations. However, in this situation, MHS students, parents, staff, as well as the City of McKinney can be well assured that the education available at MHS is of high quality, despite what the term Academically Unacceptable may imply. We will be working diligently to appeal the rating now that we have corrected the coding errors.”
