A majority of Central Texas school districts did not meet federal standards this year under the law. It鈥檚 largely the outcome of tougher passing standards. But the results have some education officials questioning the validity of the testing system.
Some of the Central Texas school districts that failed to meet NCLB鈥檚 Adequate Yearly Progress standards included , , , , , , , , and . In Central Texas, the few school districts that did meet AYP were located in higher income areas such the , and . But even in Lake AG真人百家乐, the high school failed to meet AYP.
Across the state, 48 percent of districts fell short of AYP. The passing standards get tougher every year, and in 2012, schools basically had to be functioning at a B plus level to pass, regardless of the school鈥檚 socioeconomic level or per-student funding. The passing standard increased form 80 to 87 percent in reading and 75 to 83 percent in math.
When you look only at schools in Texas - those with low income students - failed to pass.
鈥淲hen you get to 84 percent of the title one schools in the state failing to meet the standard, it does call into question how meaningful it is,鈥� says Bill Caritj, AISD鈥檚 chief performance officer.
Even U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan last year of No Child Left Behind. The federal government and offered to states to be exempted from AYP.
But Debbie Ratcliff at the Texas Education Agency says the state is concerned about the conditions attached to a waiver, like having to adopt either federal curriculum or college readiness standards.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 said no, it鈥檚 still under advisement,鈥� Ratcliff said. 鈥淏ut the higher standards get, I think in many ways the less useful these ratings are for everyone, because if almost everyone is failing, there鈥檚 really no differentiation there.鈥�
But advocates of the academic accountability system warn against weakening it simply because education officials don鈥檛 like the results it produces.
鈥淭hese results will force schools to take a look at where there weaknesses are and come up with plans to address those weaknesses,鈥� Texas Association of Business president Bill Hammond . 鈥淚 think that will improve education in the long run. Without a strong accountability system that kind of improvement would never happen.鈥�
