Arlington schools Superintendent Matt Smith knows two things will be clear when academic accountability ratings drop during the first week of school.
“One, Arlington ISD is heading in the right direction, and we are showing academic improvement. Two, we’re not quite where we want to be yet,” he said.
Smith previewed the district’s expected A-F ratings and the new school year during his State of the District address Aug. 8 at the Mac Bernd Professional Development Center. Classes start Aug. 13.
Arlington ISD expects to see fewer F-rated campuses and more B-rated schools when grades are released, Smith said.
The Texas Education Agency plans to release the 2024 and 2025 accountability ratings Aug. 15. A judge allowed the state to unveil the grades after school districts filed a lawsuit delaying the release of last year’s ratings.
Arlington school officials plan to immediately appeal 2025 ratings over what Smith called an error in how some students’ state tests were scored.
In June, school administrators asked agency officials to rescore the impacted STAAR tests, which could change ratings. A-F accountability grades are largely based on how well students do on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.
Arlington ISD officials reached out to Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath after learning that the district’s rescores weren’t completed, the superintendent has said. The agency then expedited the process to ensure those students who relied on rescoring to graduate in the summer would have a shot at passing the tests.
Of the rescored tests for third through eighth grades, 25% received a higher score than their initial result, Smith said.
The rescored results were not counted in accountability ratings. TEA already knows that the district will file the appeal, Smith said.
Meanwhile, Smith told community leaders that the district has a lot to look forward to in the next school year.
Enrollment surpassed the 50,000-student mark as he walked into the event, the superintendent said. Arlington ISD, alongside many other school districts across Texas, has seen enrollment drop in the past few years.
“We see a lot of students coming in on a daily basis,” he said.
Across the district, new buildings and even new additions to school cafeterias are slated for the upcoming school year.
Some of the upcoming projects Smith highlighted:
“This isn’t just our story,” Smith told the audience. “This is our story because the success of our students is deeply tied to the success of our city.”
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
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