These San Antonio-area schools received F's in TEA accountability ratings

SAN ANTONIO – More than 60 schools in the San Antonio area received an overall letter grade of F in the latest Texas Education Agency accountability ratings, which were released Friday.

The TEA, which oversees Texas public schools and public charter schools, grades campuses and districts based on student achievement, school progress and how well each school "closes the gaps." The schools are graded on an A-F scale, with A being exemplary performance, C acceptable performance and F unacceptable performance.

RELATED: What grade did your school get from Texas Education Agency? 

"Districts or schools earn an F (below 60) for unacceptable performance when they serve only a small number of students well," the TEA's TXSchools website states. "Most students in these districts need far more academic support to be ready for eventual success in college, a career or the military."

 

Fifteen schools within the San Antonio Independent School District received F's.

Ogden Academy is one SAISD campus that has consistently underperformed in TEA rankings. According to TEA data, Ogden Academy has received an F letter grade or has been noted as a campus where improvement is required for the past six years. Data shows that 96.9% of the students at Ogden Academy are economically disadvantaged. The school received an overall score of 59 for the 2017-18 school year and scored five points lower in the 2018-19 school year.

Longfellow Middle School is another school that has either failed or where improvement was required for the past three years. According to the TXSchools website, the campus noticed a slight improvement from the previous school year, scoring a 59 -- six points higher overall in 2018-19, but still missing the mark for a D letter grade by one point. 

Longfellow Middle School serves grades six through eight and 90.8% of students at the school are economically disadvantaged, data shows. 

Ten schools within the Edgewood Independent School District received an overall rating of F for the 2018-19 school year. 

Three schools appeared on the TEA's list of schools that scored an F or where improvement was required for two consecutive years. 

Schools in North East, Judson, East Central and South Side independent school districts also appeared on the list. 

A study cited by the TEA's 2018 accountability report stated that "pressure on schools to avoid a low performance rating led low-scoring students to score significantly higher on a high-stakes math exam in 10th grade.

"These students were also more likely to accumulate significantly more math credits and to graduate from high school on time. Later in life, they were more likely to attend and graduate from a four-year college, and they had higher earnings at age 25."

A comprehensive report on each school, regardless of its performance, is available on the TXSchools website.

Editor's note: The data set featured in this article has been updated to exclude the School of Science and Technology - Excellence. Data from the Texas Education Agency released last week indicated the campus is in Bexar County. However, the campus is in Harris County.