Education

Texas’ State Highlights

January 03, 2006 2 min read
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Vital Statistics
Public schools 7,843
Public school teachers 289,481
Pre-K-12 students 4,331,751
Annual pre-K-12 expenditures $30.4 billion
Minority students 61.3%
Children in poverty 23%
Students with disabilities 11.8%
English-language learners 15.3%

Summary of Grades

Texas scores at or below the average state in all four graded policy categories in Quality Counts.

Standards and accountability is the only category where Texas reaches the national average. The state scores well on measures of school accountability, but lags behind on academic standards. Math is the only core subject area where its standards have been rated clear, specific, and grounded in content at all grade spans by the American Federation of Teachers.

Texas receives a below-average mark in teacher quality. There is room for improvement in all areas within this category. In particular, the state has very weak measures in place for the professional support and training of teachers. Texas lacks written professional development standards and neither requires nor funds professional development for teachers. In addition, it does not mandate or finance mentoring for all new teachers.

The lower-than-average school climate grade benefits from a strong showing on class-size and school safety indicators. But Texas does not fare as well on measures of student engagement, parent involvement, or school size. Compared to the nation as a whole, fewer students in Texas attend smaller schools.

Texas ranks a bit below average in resource equity. Like most states, its wealth-neutrality score indicates that poorer districts tend to have lower per-pupil funding levels than wealthier ones.

State Policy Report Card
Texas Avg. State Score
Standards and accountability B- B-
Efforts to improve teacher quality C- C+
School climate C C+
Resource equity C- C
Overall Grade C C+
Quality Counts Grading Breakdown
Standards and accountability Points awardedPoints possible
Standards 29.58 40
Assessment 23.3 30
School accountability 27 30
80 100
Efforts to improve teacher quality Points awardedPoints possible
Teacher education and qualifications 25.38 35
Teacher assessment 24 30
Professional support and training 10 20
Accountability for teacher quality 12 15
71 100
School climate Points awardedPoints possible
Engagement 9.67 15
School safety 17.5 20
Parent involvement 9 15
Choice and autonomy 16 20
School size 10 10
Class size 6 10
School facilities 7.5 10
76 100
Resource equity Points awardedPoints possible
Wealth-neutrality score 22.67 33.3
McLoone Index 25 33.3
Coefficient of variation 24 33.3
72 100

Note: Details may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Related Tags:

Grading Curve A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59)

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