Date: Friday. October 1, 2004
Contact: West Oso ISD Assistant Superintendent, 361-806-5900

New TEA Ratings System Based on More Difficult Test, Higher Standards

This morning, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released new ratings for school districts and individual schools based primarily on 2003-2004 TAKS performance.

Some fundamental features of the previous TAAS-based ratings system parallel the new ratings system, however, according to TEA, the two systems cannot be compared.

If a campus was Recognized in 2002 and Academically Acceptable in 2004, it does not necessarily mean that the students are not performing at the same level or even higher.

This is due to:

1. The difficulty of the tests has increased – the questions are harder.

2. The number of ways in which a rating can be lowered has increased – these are known as indicators.

3. The standard in order to pass the tests has been raised - it takes more correct answers to pass.

For more information about WOISD http://www.tea.state.tx.us