HARLINGEN — The Harlingen school district is celebrating another successful year.
As the district begins another school year, it’s reflecting on the Accountability Ratings released this past week by the Texas Education Agency.
The ratings are based on a system of four indicators to provide greater detail about the performances of districts and campuses throughout the state. The district exceeded expectations on all four indicators, meaning it met Standard.
“The Harlingen school district is really very proud that student achievement is so high,” said George McShan, school board president.
“I guess you might say in particular it’s been in our elementary schools.”
While the district has met Standard for several years, administrators are pleased this year by the number of distinctions at individual campuses. Each campus in Texas can receive seven distinctions. Last year, Harlingen schools received 72 distinctions combined. This year that number increased to 103.
“That’s a huge increase,” said Dr. Alicia Noyola, chief academic officer for the district.
“It really speaks to the success of the things that we are doing, the focus that we have across the district not only on academic achievement but using data to drive the work that we do,” she said. “Only when we focus on data can we truly make significant changes and we’re starting to see that.”
Distinctions are based on scores of similar campuses. For example, a campus with a large number of students in low income household may not have high scores compared to more affluent areas. However, when compared with a campus of similar socioeconomic background, the scores may be more equitable.
This is why the Harlingen district takes distinctions so seriously.
“Distinctions are where you get to compare apples to apples,” Noyola said.
She referenced a campus scoring 90 percent on reading, and then finding another campus of similar demographics scoring 98.
“That puts it into perspective,” she said. “We are really excited to see so many of our campuses receiving distinctions. The state considers them gold stars. To know that students are performing at the highest levels, it reinforces the work that we are doing and validates the initiatives that have been taken across the district.”
Harlingen’s scores
• Student Achievement: 76
Target Score: 60
• Student Progress: 43
Target Score: 22
• Closing performance Gaps: 45
Target Score: 28
• Postsecondary Readiness: 78
Target Score: 60
What does it mean?
• Student Achievement – Snapshot of performance across all subjects
• Student Progress – Measures year-to-year student progress by subject and student group
• Closing Performance Gaps – Emphasizes the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students and the lowest performing racial/ethnic student groups
• Postsecondary Readiness – Emphasizes the importance of earning a high school diploma that provides students with the foundation necessary for success in college, the workforce, job training programs or the military
Seven Distinctions that can be earned by Texas campuses
• Academic Achievement in Reading/English Language Arts
• Academic Achievement in Mathematics
• Academic Achievement in Science
• Academic Achievement in Social Studies
• Top 25 percent student progress
• Top 25 Closing Achievement Gaps
• Postsecondary Readiness
Distinctions earned by
Harlingen schools:
2015: 62
2016: 72
2017: 103
Stay tuned for a follow-up story about individual campuses.
