CISD Fails Credibility Rating

August 3, 2010
by Alden Nellis

TEA has posted TAKS test results and Accountability Ratings for each school and each district in Texas for the 2009 / 2010 school year. The highest rating is Exemplary, followed by Recognized, Acceptable and Unacceptable. Cleburne as a whole was rated as Acceptable. Nearly three-fourths of all Texas schools were rated as Exemplary.

The Accountability Ratings are based on several factors, including the TAKS test scores, four-year completion rate, etc.

Cleburne ISD appears pleased with their ratings, even though they are in the bottom 25% of Texas schools. At the end of the last school year as TAKS grades were being evaluated, Dr. Ronny Beard bragged to the Board about CISD improvement during his two-years as Superintendent. He stated that the district was asking the state for special consideration which could increase their ratings even more.

What is this special consideration? Texas schools were doing so poorly two years ago that they were under federal pressure to do something about education. Rather than improve the quality of education for our children, the politicians, Governor Rick Perry and TEA Commissioner Robert Scott, came up with a scheme to make it look like Texas schools were doing better than they really were – in other words, to cheat.

Harold Gentry says “They decided to grade on the curve.” Most of us have experienced that in college. A professor gives a test and everyone does poorly, so the professor announces he will grade on the curve. Before the curve you had a C, and after the curve you had a B. That gives you a better grade, but it also makes the professor look like he has taught you something he really hasn’t, masking the fact that he is a lousy teacher.

You could also compare this system to getting extra points because you belonged to a certain class. For instance, on old Civil Service Tests, you could get an extra 10 points because you were a veteran. If your actual score was 70, it was increased to 80 because you were a veteran.

The Texas politician’s brilliant plan is the Texas Projection Measure (TPM). TPM uses a formula to calculate the probability of a student passing the next TAKS test even though he failed this one. If TPM predicts he will pass, the school does not count his failure, but can count him as a pass. Showing fewer failures and more passes raises the schools’ ratings above what they really are.

The Dallas Morning News (July 30, 2010) reported that one third of the time the TPM is wrong and the student does fail again. So they turn failures into passes based on false assumptions.

There are other gimmicks Texas schools use to cheat their ratings. The Exceptions Provision (EP) allows them to discount a whole classification of students in deriving the ratings. Some of the classifications include English Disadvantaged, Economically Disadvantaged, Race, etc.

Then there is the Required Improvement factor (RI) where schools can claim exemptions for meeting required improvements.

The Dallas Morning News reports that in many cases, the school or the district was able to raise it’s ratings by one whole level through the use of one or a combination of these exemptions.

Dr. Beard’s first year here was the year these exemptions were first implemented. Without these exemptions, CISD showed no significant improvement.

Here is a list of Cleburne schools, their ratings in 2009/2010, and the special exemptions they had to use to get those ratings:  

     RI = Required Improvement    TPM = Texas Projection Measure    EP = Exceptions Provision

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Santa Fe Elementary was our one Unacceptable school in 2009. In 2010 they were raised to Acceptable but they had to use TPM to do it.

TEA reports on their website, www.tea.state.tx.us, shows that only three of the 12 CISD schools obtained their rating by meeting absolute standards, that is, they did not use exemptions. Those three were Smith Middle School, Wheat Middle School, and Cooke Elementary School. All three got their Acceptable ratings honestly.

TEAM School was rated Acceptable, but its criteria are unique. TEAM did not use TPM, EP or RI exemptions. JJAEP was not rated.

Four schools were rated recognized, but they all had to use exemptions to do it. Adams Elementary used TPM and EP. (Three and four years ago Adams was our only Exemplary school.) Coleman Elementary, Marti Elementary and Gerard Elementary all used TPM.

Cleburne High School was rated Acceptable but used TPM and RI exemptions to do it.

How can Dr. Beard or anyone else say the schools improved when they are using a different measuring stick? Using false or misleading data to show improvement does not build public confidence in CISD.

If CISD and Dr. Beard took a credibility test, would they pass? That would be a resounding NO!