AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Independent School District received an overall “B” rating from the Texas Education Agency in its first series of ratings since 2019, which were released Monday.

The state agency paused ratings in 2020 and 2021 for both districts and campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, ratings were issued on an A-F scale; however, this year it’s different due to Senate Bill 1365, according to the TEA.

This year, districts and schools will be rated A-C. If a district or campus receives a scaled score less than 70, they will be considered “not rated” under SB 1365.

2022 Accountability Rating Labels (Source: Texas Education Agency)

There are other reasons a district or campus could be labeled as “not rated” — namely if data is still under review or there are issues with the integrity of the data, according to TEA’s 2022 accountability manual.

The TEA ratings system looks at performance across three domains:

  • Student Achievement: Performance on all subjects for all students, college and career readiness, graduations rates
  • School Progress: STAAR test results factor into this
  • Closing the Gaps: Reviews data to pinpoint differentials among racial/ethnic groups and socioeconomic backgrounds

In AISD, the ratings were as follows:

Overall ratingB/88
Student Achievement ScoreB/89
School ProgressB/89
Academic Growth A/90
Relative Performance A/91
Closing the GapsB/86

Here’s a look at the overall ratings for each district in the KXAN viewing area:

TEA published the raw and scaled scores for overall and each domain on its website.

Interim Superintendent Anthony Mays announced AISD’s ratings Monday at Bertha Sadler Means Young Women’s Leadership Academy in east Austin. Mays stepped into the role after Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde took the top job with Dallas ISD in mid-June. Mays served as chief officer of schools beforehand.

There were 115 campuses in Austin ISD which were evaluated in the state accountability system, and 70% increased their overall grade from 2019 to this year. Within those increases, six schools jumped from a D or F to post grades of C or better. 

  • Walnut Creek Elementary, up to a B from a D
  • Andrews Elementary, up to a C from an F
  • Bedichek Middle School, up to a B from a D
  • Martin Middle School, up to a C from an F
  • Bertha Sadler Means, up to a C from an F
  • Covington Middle School, up to a C from a D