Schools

Departments

Board of Trustees

Superintendent

Employment

District Policies Online

School tax payments

About the district

Dr. Annette Griffin

Superintendent of Schools

Much has been written about the accountability rating system set by the federal government through the “No Child Left Behind” legislation. Those reports have caused a great deal of discussion and misunderstanding about the academic achievements of students in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District and other Texas public school districts.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has worked with the United States Department of Education (USDE) to align the state’s accountability requirements with the federal system, but there are still major differences. Student performance on TAKS (the Texas-mandated test for grades 3-11) plays a big role in the federal “Annual Yearly Progress” (AYP) system, but the federal system does not agree with how Texas evaluates the achievement of some Special Education students and English Language Learners (ELL). Download information about AYP versus AEIS

I disagree with the stance that the federal government has taken on Special Education and ELL students. This district and our state educational leaders believe that all students can learn but they learn at different rates because of their individual circumstances and abilities. That is why, Texas developed state-wide tests to measure the learning and progress of Special Education and ELL students.

Even Texas Commissioner of Education Dr. Shirley Neeley has stated that many Texas schools and districts were unfairly tagged with a “fails to meet AYP” label. She added that this occurred because Special Education and ELL students were classified as “non-participants” by the federal system. This happened because the students did not take TAKS, but took other state-approved tests.

C-FB ISD has been affected by the differences in the two systems because our schools have followed state guidelines. R. L. Turner High School (RLT) was identified as “not meeting AYP” in the participation rate in mathematics. What our community needs to understand is R. L. Turner did meet student achievement requirements in reading and mathematics, but less than 95% of RLT’s tenth graders took TAKS. The students who did not take TAKS are ELL students. And, although the federal government labeled RLT as “not making progress,” RLT’s test scores improved from the 2003 to 2004 in all subject areas and student subgroups.

This designation should not take away from the great strides that RLT students have made and will continue to make. The RLT faculty and staff continue to work with all students to help them succeed. And, RLT students are making great progress in their learning and are achieving.

One federal AYP requirement provides a transfer option to students whose school has been labeled as “not meeting AYP.” All RLT parents received a letter outlining that option, and as of October 21, only seven families have opted for transfers to other C-FB ISD high schools. I believe that is a signal to our community as well as state and federal educational leaders that the RLT families believe in RLT, its instructional program, faculty and staff.

Fortunately, federal guidelines do allow us to appeal the label, and we are appealing; however, the final decision will not be announced until February 2005. We do not know what the appeal’s outcome will be, but the C-FB ISD community needs to understand the differences in our state’s accountability system and the federal AYP system.

And, although we disagree with the nuances of the federal accountability system, C-FB ISD does support high standards and accountability measures for public education and for all children. As educators, we believe that it is vital for students to progress every year, but at the same time, we must allow for the differences in individual student learning rates and abilities. This district continues to believe that every child can learn and that each individual educational path should be valued equally.

October 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003