County schools improve TEA accountability scores
School districts across Milam County got great news last week as the Texas Education Agency released its ratings for the 2018-19 school year.
Cameron Independent School District improved its score from a C in 2018 to a B in 2019, scoring 86 out of 100 points.
CISD Superintendent Kevin Sprinkles said he was happy with the improvement.
“I know that it takes tremendous effort by faculty, staff, students and parents to show marked academic improvement,” Sprinkles said. “Improving the district rating from a C in 2018 to a B this year, demonstrates to me that all of these educational partners understand the importance of academic success and the processes necessary to achieve it.”
Sprinkles said Cameron ISD has been very intentional in its design and implementation of Professional Learning Communities.
“These PLC’s have created opportunities for common planning and lesson enrichment,” he said. “Using these collaborative sessions, teachers have been able to develop data-driven, engaging learning experiences for students which have resulted in improved performance.”
From 2017-2018 to 2018-2019, Cameron ISD students improved their percentage passing the STAAR Math and STAAR Writing by four and five percentage points respectively.
Sprinkles said the greatest gains in academic performance came in STAAR Science and STAAR Social Studies. Cameron students gained 11 percentage points in STAAR Science performance and scored 83 percent in STAAR Social Studies, improving 21 percentage points from last year.
“I am very proud of the efforts of our faculty and staff,” he said. “Their hard work and dedication made these improvements possible, but will pave the way for future academic successes for our students and school district. Former superintendent Allan Sapp and the Cameron ISD school board must be commended for providing leadership and direction regarding district improvement initiatives.”
Sprinkles said the district must continue to keep reading improvement and early literacy interventions as a priority.
The district performed slightly lower in STAAR Reading in 2018-2019 than it did the previous year.
“Reading on grade level by the third grade is essential for success in subsequent years as students traverse the Pre-K to 12 continuum,” he said. “Therefore, it is imperative that the district maintain a laser focus on reading instruction and provide research based intensive reading interventions.”
“I am confident that we have some of the best teachers in the state of Texas, here at Cameron ISD,” Sprinkles said. “I have met so many committed and devoted instructors. The Cameron community loves its school district and deserves the very best we can give. We are excited about the future of Cameron ISD and look forward to continued improvement.”
Buckholts
There was also great news in Buckholts.
Buckholts Independent School District turned its score around in only three years from a F to an A.
Just three years ago when Nancy Sandlin took over at BISD the TEA was threatening to close the district, but with drastic changes and parent and community involvement they turned things around.
The district scored a 90 out of 100, rising from last year’s score of 77 out of 100.
Around the County
Other schools in Milam County scored as follows: Milano ISD – B – 89 out of 100, which is up from the prior year’s B or 80 out of 100; Gause ISD – B – 83 out of 100, which is up from the prior year’s B or 81 out of 100; Thorndale ISD – B - 86 out of 100, which is up from the prior year’s B or 83 out of 100; Rockdale ISD –B - 86 out of 100, which is up from last year’s C or 86 out of 100.
For a closer look at the ratings, visit TXschools.gov to view district and school report cards.
TXschools.gov has been enhanced with new several new features allowing visitors to better understand the accountability ratings data. These include ways to analyze trends, compare performance, and correlate results, as well as a new map feature which provides parents the ability to more easily view ratings of nearby schools.
The A-F system has remained consistent with last year’s system. As in 2018, districts, charters, and schools are given an overall rating based on performance in three areas: student achievement shows how much students know and are able to do at the end of the school year; school progress shows how students perform over time and how that growth compares to similar schools; closing the gaps shows how well different groups of students within a school are performing.
A-F accountability uses a variety of indicators such as graduation rates, college, career and military readiness, SAT/ACT scores, and college prep course completion. The majority of a district’s rating is based on indicators other than the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test.