Published: August 01, 2009 09:02 pm      

JACOBS: Congratulations to area schools

On Friday, the Texas Education Agency released ratings for the state’s districts and schools and it was good news for everyone in Navarro County, if not the state.

Each year, the standards change a little bit more, to “encourage” schools to watch drop-out rates, or to get them to focus more on math, or whatever. This year, the changing standards helped more than 50 districts jump into the Exemplary category, but it also pushed 50 districts into the Unacceptable range.

None of our local districts or campuses were deemed Unacceptable, which is great news. I’m told at this writing that a complete list of what our districts have done will run on Tuesday.

Not to leak too much, but three of our districts, Blooming Grove, Dawson and Rice, are all Recognized districts this year, which is fantastic. Some of the superintendents I spoke to Friday afternoon were over the moon with joy and pride, and just talking to them brought me to tears, they were so happy.

It was well-deserved, because local educators are doing everything but standing on their heads to get kids in shape for those tests.

Dawson, I will point out, was rated Unacceptable just two years ago, but has come back strong in just a couple of years. This is Blooming Grove’s first time to get Recognized since the scores started being figured this way, and Rice hasn’t been a Recognized district in five years. You know these teachers and administrators are thrilled, and they should be.

The ratings are based on how many kids pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), along with the drop-out rate, and the completion rate. You’d think those last two would add up to the same thing, but they don’t. Some kids drop-out, declaring they won’t be back. Some just drift away, and others get their GED certificates. The completion rate is how many kids finish in four years, or at least come back for a fifth year.

The campus ratings are almost all about the test scores. So, if 90 percent of the kids pass in every category, a campus will be Exemplary. If 75 percent pass, then it’s Recognized. If 70 percent pass English, and 55 percent pass math, and 50 percent pass science, then it’s Acceptable.

It’s not as simple as it sounds because the state divides kids up into racial and economic categories, too. Kids from economically disadvantaged homes, judged according to who gets free or reduced lunches, are a tough one for schools, no matter what race the kids are because poorer families are less likely to have books in the home, or to have parents who went to college, stuff like that.

Still, our little county, where huge numbers of kids are from economically disadvantaged homes, has 11 Recognized schools and one Exemplary. If you throw in Hubbard and Wortham, it’s 14 Recognized schools and two Exemplary.

That’s amazing, when you think about it. And as those superintendents know, it doesn’t just happen.

I always ask the superintendents “to what do you attribute your success?” and they often tell me it’s about never leaving a kid out, making sure each kid gets the personal attention to keep up. That’s hard to do when you’re talking to a group of 22 squirming, chatting children, but our teachers are doing it.

Even schools that didn’t quite make Recognized — and some missed it by just a frog’s hair — still have the majority of kids passing, and that’s no mean feat, either.

We have something to be proud of in all our schools this year. If you see a teacher, give her or him a pat on the back. School starts back up in less than a month, and with the added pressure from the state and the districts, that’s daunting. But it helps if someone acknowledges that you’re doing your job well, and it’s appreciated.

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Janet Jacobs is a Daily Sun staff writer. Her column appears on Sundays.

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