TEA ratings: MFISD gets a 'B', Burnet CISD receives a 'C'
By Lew K. Cohn
Managing Editor •
The Texas Education Agency's accountability ratings are in for Burnet County's two school districts and the results are a mixed bag for local educators.
Marble Falls Independent School District (MFISD) was awarded a grade of B overall as a district, while Burnet Consolidated Independent School District (BCISD) was given a grade of C overall.
All campuses in both districts were rated as meeting the standard in the three main criteria used by TEA, but some campuses had low scores individually which barely met the minimum standard.
Local superintendents expresses their concern that the rating issued by the state oversimplifies their mission to educate and prepare their students by boiling all they do down to a single letter grade.
“I am frustrated by the A-F grading systems because it tries to define a school district and learning by a single letter grade, when there is so much more to educating children,” BCISD superintendent Keith McBurnett said. “My message to our staff is, “We still have work to do,” and that is based on our belief of continuous improvement.
“I have challenged all of us to give an 'extra inch' each day to move the needle on student achievement, but that will be based on multiple measures, and not just the narrow indicator of a single day performance of our students. That 'extra inch' looks differently on each campus, and our principals and teachers are up to the challenge.”
“What we know is that this accountability system is generally more accurate in tracking economically disadvantaged students than it is in measuring student learning,” added Dr. Wes Cunningham, MFISD assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.
“Although the 'grade' given may seem familiar in light of the grades students receive in school, how the grade is determined is a very complex process and includes varied formulas, statistical analyses, and computational processes and remain focused primarily on state assessment scores.” . . .
Find more on this story, including a comprehensive breakdown of the assessment, in the Friday, Aug, 17 issue of The Highlander.
