The head of the Texas Charter Schools Association sent a letter to Dr. M. Annette Cluff, Varnett’s superintendent, congratulating her and the district for meeting and exceeding STAAR testing standards.
“On behalf of TCSA, I would like to congratulate you and the...campuses in your district for being one of 759 schools across Texas (out of approximately 3,600 campuses) that not only Met Standard but also earned distinction designations in all three potential areas."
The areas are:
- Top 25 Percent Student Progress
- Academic Achievement in Reading/English language arts
- Academic Achievement in Mathematics
“Thank you for continuing to meet and exceed the expectations for great schools that put children first. Public charter schools like yours set a high standard for quality across Texas and we applaud you and your staff for your dedication and hard work," said the letter, which was signed by David Dunn, executive director of the Texas Charter Schools Association.
Varnett, a Houston charter school district, and each of its three campuses met and exceeded accountability standards in student achievement, student progress and in closing performance gaps, according to results from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) tests administered to 3rd through 5th graders.
In the STAAR testing, the district posted performance index scores of 76 in student achievement, 43 in student progress and 77 in closing the performance gaps involving economically disadvantaged students. The target scores were 50, 43 and 55, respectively. In addition, the Southwest and East campuses earned “distinction designations.”
Under the rating system, school districts and individual schools were designated “met standard” or “improvement required,” in a system that replaced more distinct categories such as exemplary, recognized, acceptable and unacceptable. The latter standard is expected to return for individual schools by 2016-17, while districts will be given grades ranging from A to F.
For individual campuses, the target scores were 50 in student achievement, 30 in student progress and 55 in closing performance gaps. Southwest scored 79, 46 and 81, respectively; East 95, 54 and 98 and Northeast 67, 35 and 67.
“I want to thank the Texas Charter Schools Association for taking the time to acknowledge the achievement of our students,” Dr. Cluff said. “It’s nice to be recognized by an organization that represents our peers.”
TCSA represents about 110,000 students in 460 charter schools with a mission to “accelerate student achievement in Texas by empowering a diverse set of effective and quality-driven charter schools,” according to its website.
Pictured: David Dunn