The year is drawing to a close, and the next few days will deliver results that will affect the next two years. TAKS testing results will be available by May 25

There are many variables that are used in state rating. Here is a short breakdown:

Campuses are labeled according to their lowest rating. Campuses are either: 1)Exemplary (90% of students Met Standard)

2) Recognized (80% of students Met Standard)

3. Acceptable (70% in reading and social studies, 65% in math, and 60% in science Met Standard)

4. Academically Unacceptable (if any student population—White-Hispanic-Economically Disadvantaged—falls under the Acceptable threshold.)

This is a simplistic approach to figuring accountability because other factors are used in high school such as graduation rate, completion rate, and other things. This year campuses must have at least 15% of students commended to reach Recognized and 25% to reach Exemplary.

The following tests for each campus in San Saba ISD are used in state accountability. If a student group has a minimum of 30 students, it is used in state accountability.

Assessments used in state accountability.

San Saba Elementary

3

3

4

San Saba Middle School

5

5

5

8

San Saba High School

9

9

10

10, 11

Chances are the scores will be released this weekend. Customarily, the scores are usually released a week earlier than the report date. Many teachers have already asked "Are the scores here!" I received a text this weekend, just seven days after sending in the answer documents, asking "Any word on scores?"

There are 8,317 Texas Public Schools with 4,329,841 students with nearly 70% of them taking a TAKS test. Wow. Twenty-seven tests are administered in our district without counting LAT, TAKS-M, TAKS Accommodated, TELPAS, and TAKS ALT. Here is a math question: how many answer documents are graded in one TAKS season? The answer: A LOT!

Nevertheless, the scores will soon arrive and plans will be made for the next year.

State assessment sometimes takes the focus away from what educators are really trying to do with students. It is easy to focus on the hardships in education, especially in Texas. The budget shortfall will provide significant challenges for educators in the next few years. Texas does rank 44th out of 50 states in education spending per pupil according to Financial Times, March 2011. It is really time to come to together as a community and do what is right for our students. We can’t let the anxiety of a rating skew our judgment about what is really right for students. Our job as educators, first and foremost, is to care about the future of our students, the next generation. We hope our state legislators keep this in mind when making decisions that affect our students and schools. There are many organizations that are advocates for education. "Raise Your Hand Texas" is one of the best. This group provides many opportunities to educators. One of the group’s senior educational advisors is previous Commissioner of Education, Dr. Mike Moses. They are highly active in promoting education in Texas. I encourage San Saba to mark this page and follow the activity the next few months. There are opportunities to voice your opinion by sending a pre-written letter to your representative about certain issues like spending the rainy day fund.

http://www.raiseyourhandtexas.org/

The next week holds in store the work we have for the future.

th. All campuses and districts are rated according to how well their students perform on state assessment. The assessment system is changing in Texas, so the rating received this year will stay in place for two years while the Texas schools transition from the TAKS to the STAAR. rd and 4th grade mathrd and 4th grade readingth grade writingth, 6th, 7th 8th Grade Readingth, 6th, 7th, 8th Grade Mathth, 8th, Grade Scienceth Grade Social Studiesth, 10th, 11th Grade Reading th, 10th, 11th Grade Mathth, 11th Grade Scienceth Grade Social Studies