District leaders say TEA scoring mistake left some schools with grades lower than expected accountability ratings.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Arlington ISD plans to appeal the Texas Education Agency’s preliminary A–F accountability ratings, alleging that a state error lowered some schools’ grades.
Superintendent Matt Smith said the district discovered scoring issues on some STAAR test results that had been evaluated using artificial intelligence.
“TEA listened when we picked up the phone and told them our concerns about the process. They acted on that, and I’m grateful,” Smith said.
The district paid more than $200,000 for a human to rescore more than 4,000 tests, which Smith said produced “significantly improved” results.
However, the updated scores came in too late to be included in the state’s ratings released Tuesday. The district believes five campuses may have missed out on earning higher letter grades because of the delay.
“That’s a big deal,” Smith said.
The TEA has not responded to a request for comment.
Arlington ISD’s appeal comes amid broader frustration from school leaders across Texas, who argue that the state’s accountability system doesn’t give a full picture of school performance.
“I do think we have to absolutely look at our assessments and think about how we actually measure student growth,” Smith said. “We know that we don’t live and die by a STAAR test, and there’s more to school than that. In the same breath, when we have live by the system, we want the scores to be accurate and reflect what students know and can do at each school.”
Smith said he still anticipates the district’s overall ‘C’ rating will remain the same. He also said the district will formally file an appeal once the TEA’s accountability ratings are released publicly on Friday.
Smith anticipates a response from the TEA on the appeal sometime in the Fall.
“We hope they do respond sooner rather than later, because we wanna inform our families,” Smith said.