Area school districts score ‘B’ on TEA report card

Posted

All three Gonzales County school districts — Gonzales ISD, Nixon-Smiley CISD and Waelder ISD — received an accountability rating of “B” from the Texas Education Agency, the first ratings to be released since 2019 due to COVID-related issues.

Established by House Bill 22 during the 85th Texas Legislature, the A–F accountability system provides educators, parents, and communities with a transparent view of the academic performance of Texas public schools based on three domains, or areas: Student Achievement, School Progress, and Closing the Gaps.

Gonzales ISD

Gonzales ISD received an overall rating of 81, with only one campus being rated — Gonzales High School received a 78 for a rating of C. All other campuses fell under a label of Not Rated due to Senate Bill 1365. This label was applied whenever a score for a district or campus fell below 70. Gonzales Elementary, Gonzales North Avenue, Gonzales Primary Academy and Gonzales Junior High all were rated at a 69.

GISD Superintendent Dr. Elmer Avellenada said the district performed very well “in the area of School Progress, scoring an 85 due to the Relative Performance indicator which measures our student performance on STAAR in comparison to districts of similar economic makeup.”

“The Closing the Gaps domain, which measures the performance of special population groups on STAAR, is our greatest area of need with a score of 73,” Dr. Avellenada said. “To address this area of need, the district will continue to target our lower performing students requiring intervention through House Bill 4545 initiatives during the school day.”

Dr. Avellenada also said an additional initiative targeting the district’s “historically moderate to high performing students” will be presented to the Gonzales ISD Board of Trustees in September.

“Through both of these initiatives, we will grow our students and prepare them for high performance in the new accountability framework in spring 2023,” he said.

Five years ago, the district was rated an “F” with an overall score of 59, showing the strides GISD has made in improving student performance since 2017-18.

Nixon-Smiley CISD

Nixon-Smiley CISD received the highest grade of any district in the county with an overall rating of 87 as all three rated campuses also received a B. Nixon-Smiley Elementary received an 83, while Nixon-Smiley Middle School received an 88 and Nixon-Smiley High School also received an 83.

Nixon-Smiley CISD Superintendent Jeff VanAuken said the 2021-22 Accountability ratings were a source of excitement and pride for the district.

“Over the past couple of years, district leadership, campus administration, and teachers have worked to implement instructional systems designed to increase students’ academic growth and success rate,” VanAuken said. “Teachers have embraced instructional changes that directly impact individual student growth instead of just being focused on ‘passing the STAAR test.’

“Throughout the process, the students have diligently worked to accomplish their academic goals. NSCISD’s ability to work as a team across all levels is an integral part of our student's success. We welcome the 2022-2023 school year and look forward to its potential challenges and future achievements!”

Waelder ISD

Meanwhile, Waelder ISD received an 80 for an overall rating of a B. Waelder is considered to be a single-campus school, so the rating applies to the campus as well as the district. This was an improvement from the previous rating of C in 2018-19, said Waelder ISD Superintendent Ron Lilie.

“In consideration of the pandemic, and the purported gaps that the pandemic caused, I am truly proud of our students and educators for moving up over the past year,” Lilie said. “We recognize there is more work to be done, but we are in a position with excellent educators to continue to improve our district scores.

“In the time I have been with Waelder over the past decade, I have seen Waelder move from ‘Improvement Required’ status to the B rating. This has been a steady rate of improvement over several years.”

Lilie said the district now offers dual credit and AP courses that “even 5 years ago were not possible.” “We offer high levels of support for our students academically,” Lilie said. “The view and mindset regarding education has shifted in both the community and among students over the past years. We have a growing community, with new students coming in, and a desire to continue to elevate the level of academic success here, and I am confident that Waelder ISD will continue to improve.”

Comments