More Information on the Latest Keller IDS Accountability Rating

The latest ratings from the TEA have been released, and Keller ISD's rating has fallen to Acceptable from Recognized. Naturally, all residents of KISD are concerned about a ratings fall. Those with children and those who are concerned about children wonder about the effectiveness of education in the district. Even those without children are concerned about falling property values because of school quality.


A quick look at the ratings of various campuses demonstrates the problem. Although some campuses did have lesser ratings this year, Caprock Elementary fell from Exemplary--the highest rating--to Unacceptable. Falling from the highest rating to the lowest in one year is an unusual development, to say the least.



Brice Nieman from KISD shed some light on these new developments. The rating change for Caprock seems to be directly linked to a change by the TEA. The TEA did use the Texas Projection Measure in 2010, and the scores from all sub-populations were not used to establish Caprock's rating in 2010. In 2011, those two factors were reversed: the Texas Projection Measure was not used and scores from all sub-populations were used.


These and other changes to the rating system made achieving higher ratings more difficult in 2011 than in 2010. Rating changes--mostly downward--were not unusual for Texas school districts and for individual campuses in 2011. Caprock Elementary's fall is unusual in how far it fell in a single year.


Keller ISD is working to improve its campuses this year. The question is how much time will be spent on teaching to the test because of the furor over the ratings change.