DALLAS — The Texas Education Agency on Monday released "accountability ratings" for all state public school districts and campuses, the first grades handed down by the TEA since the pandemic began.
The ratings included A-F grades for several categories for 1,195 school districts and 8,451 campuses, and A-C overall grades for districts and schools.
This year, schools that received scores lower than 70 received a "not rated" designation, as opposed to an overall "D" or an "F" grade, TEA commissioner Mike Morath said.
A Texas Senate bill created the "not rated" score for this year to allow districts and schools the chance to recover from the pandemic.
The overall grades were measured in three categories: Student achievement, school progress and "closing the gap," which evaluates how goals are being achieved for certain groups of students, such as English learners, special education students and those who are economically disadvantaged.
Below are the top-rated school districts in North Texas, all with grades of 95 out of 100 and above, according to the TEA grades.
Note: These are just the top-ranked districts in our region -- there was no shortage of "A" and "B" grades, from Fort Worth, Dallas and Plano (all "B" grades) to Aledo, Allen and Prosper (all "A") grades.
Lovejoy ISD (Collin County)
Grade: A
Score: 99/100
Lovejoy, a district of about 4,700 students near Allen, scored high in all three categories, including a 100 out of 100 in "closing the gap." Within that category, Lovejoy met 100% of targets across the board: STAAR testing, graduation rate, English language proficiency and school quality, which measures college and workforce readiness.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Highland Park ISD (Dallas County)
Grade: A
Score: 98/100
Highland Park, a district of about 6,598 students in Dallas County, also had its highest score in the "closing the gaps" category, a 100 out of 100. Highland Park also scored 97 out of 100 on student achievement, which measures STAAR testing and graduation rates.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Carroll ISD (Southlake/Tarrant County)
Grade: A
Score: 98/100
Carroll, a district of about 8,300 students in Southlake, scored a 97 out of 100 on student achievement and 100 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," as well as 93 out of 100 on school progress, which measures how students perform over time.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Coppell ISD (Dallas/Denton County)
Grade: A
Score: 97/100
Coppell, a district of about 13,000 students north of the DFW Airport, received a 100 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 95 out of 100 on student achievement and 93 out of 100 on school progress. Coppell slightly improved its overall score from its most recent rating, in 2019, when the district scored a 95.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Argyle ISD (Denton County)
Grade: A
Score: 97/100
Argyle, a district of about 3,700 students south of Denton, score 100 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 95 out of 100 on student achievement and 91 out of 100 on school progress. Like Coppell, Argyle improved from a 95 rating in 2019.
Full district profile from TEA.
Brock ISD (Parker County)
Grade: A
Score: 97/100
Brock, a district of about 1,800 students west of Weatherford in Parker County, score 100 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 96 out of 100 on student achievement and 90 out of 100 on school progress. Brock received overall ratings of 95 in 2018 and 96 in 2019.
Full district profile from TEA.
Wylie ISD (Collin County)
Grade: A
Score: 96/100
Wylie, a district of about 17,400 students in Collin County, scored 99 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 94 out of 100 on student achievement and 92 out of 100 on school progress. Wylie's recent ratings have made several jumps, from 90 in 2018 to 93 in 2019.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Frisco ISD
Grade: A
Score: 95/100
Frisco, one of the fastest growing districts in recent years with around 63,000 students, score consistently across the board: 96 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 94 out of 100 on student achievement and 92 out of 100 on school progress.
Full district profile from the TEA.
Melissa ISD
Grade: A
Score: 95/100
Melissa, a district of about 4,000 north of McKinney, score 98 out of 100 on "closing the gaps," 93 out of 100 on student achievement and 89 out of 100 on school progress.
Full district profile from the TEA.