State Lawmakers Consider Changes In Measuring School Performance

AUSTIN (AP) — Some state lawmakers want the Legislature to consider rating public schools based on strides students make on standardized tests, not just on whether they pass or fail.

But that’s just one proposal lawmakers want considered next year for how school performance is graded.

That’s as momentum seems to be building for significant reforms to the oft-criticized school accountability system when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

Under the current system, every school and district in the state is graded based on annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills scores and student dropout rates. Superintendents, teachers and parents anxiously await state ratings because they’re the chief measure of how well schools are educating their students.

But educators and parents have increasingly voiced dissatisfaction with the grading system that was first implemented in 1994. They argue that increased federal attention and stronger state curriculum have since made it obsolete.