Today, the Texas Education Agency announced the 2013 district and school ratings under the new State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests. Birdville ISD and all 31 district campuses “met standard.” This is the highest rating possible this year.

“I am proud that the district and every campus ‘met standard’ under the state’s new and more rigorous testing system,” Superintendent Darrell Brown said. “This is a reflection of the hard work of the students and staff this past year. Congratulations to the students, staff and community.”

To receive a “met standard” rating, the district and high school campuses had to meet four applicable index targets. Elementary and middle schools had to meet the first three of these standards:

• Index 1) Student Achievement – Looks at performance across all subjects and all student groups at the satisfactory performance standard.
• Index 2) Student Progress – Looks at scores of 10 student groups, including ethnic groups, English language learners and special education students for reading, writing and math scores categorized as having met or exceeded progress standards.
• Index 3) Closing Performance Gaps – Includes scores of students who are economically disadvantaged and, as applicable, the campus’ or district’s two lowest performing ethnic groups from the year before.
• Index 4) Postsecondary Readiness – Examines graduation rates and rates of students graduating on Recommended and Distinguished/Advanced plans. (Applies only to high schools.)

Additional distinction designations were also awarded in 2013 to campuses in three areas: academic achievement in reading/ELA, academic achievement in mathematics, and top 25 percent in student progress. Distinctions are based on comparisons between individual schools and a 40-campus group with similar student demographics. Overall, 22 of the 31 BISD campuses received at least one distinction and three campuses received the maximum possible: Haltom Middle School and Spicer and Green Valley elementary schools. A total of 36 distinctions were awarded to campuses across the district.

Other academic highlights from 2013 include:

• BISD test scores exceeded the state average in every area of the STAAR grades 3-8 and end-of–course (EOC) exams, with the exception of one area. (Since seventh-grade math scores were reported differently by districts across the state, these scores were not included in our state comparisons.)
• Third-grade students exceeded the state average on the STAAR math test by five percentage points.
• Students taking the eighth-grade math test exceeded the state average on the STAAR math test by seven percentage points.
• Eighth-grade students exceeded the state average on the STAAR social studies test by five percentage points.
• BISD students scored seven percentage points above the state average on the Algebra 1 EOC exam.
• BISD students scored seven percentage points above the state average on the Reading 1 EOC exam and six percentage points above the state average on the Reading 2 EOC exam.
• BISD students scored seven percentage points above the state average on the Writing 1 EOC exam and eight percentage points above the state average on the Writing 2 EOC exam.
• Students scored six percentage points above the state average on the biology EOC exam and seven percentage points above the state average on the chemistry EOC exam.
• BISD students scored seven percentage points above the state average on the world geography EOC exam and nine percentage points above the state average on the world history EOC exam.