A-F Accountability

The TEA has announced expected significant changes to the A–F accountability process that will begin to impact students, schools and districts in 2023.

What is A–F?

The A–F Accountability System is a statewide rating system established by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that allows them to evaluate the academic performance of Texas public schools and assign a letter grade (A–F) to districts and campuses.

The A–F Accountability overall measures what students are learning in each grade and whether or not they are ready for the next grade. It also shows how well a school prepares their students for success after high school - in college, the workforce or the military.

A-F Accountabilty Three Domains Image The accountability ratings evaluate three domains:

Student Achievement – Student Achievement measures whether students met expectations on the state standardized (STAAR/End of Course) tests. It also measures graduation rates and how prepared students are for success after high school.
School Progress – School Progress shows how students perform over time and how the school's performance compares to other schools with similar economically disadvantaged student populations.
Closing the Gaps – Closing the Gaps tells us how well a school or district is ensuring all student groups are successful.

How Does Mansfield ISD Rank?

Mansfield ISD received a “B” rating for the 2021-2022 school year. During the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, ratings were paused due to disruptions associated with COVID-19. Before the disruptions, Mansfield ISD received an "A" rating for the 2018-2019 and the 2017-2018 school years.

Mansfield ISD Ratings Chart

For more detailed information on MISD’s district and campus ratings, visit TXSchools.gov.

Proposed Changes to the A–F Accountability Ratings

The TEA has announced expected significant changes to the A–F accountability process that will begin to impact students, schools and districts in 2023. While the changes are still preliminary, districts across the state are preparing staff and the community for the changes, which are expected to be finalized in summer 2023.

Some of the proposed changes include:

STAAR Testing Changes

State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Testing Changes – The STAAR redesign is a result of House Bill (HB) 3906 passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019. The redesign will be implemented in the state summative assessments administered in the 2022–2023 school year. The STAAR redesign, is being done to more closely align the text with the classroom experience, includes several components:

Online Testing and Accommodations: All STAAR tests will be taken online to provide robust accommodations for students with specific learning needs.
New Question Types: New Question Types will be added, including non-multiple-choice questions that are more consistent with the types of questions teachers ask in class.

The maximum number of multiple-choice questions on a test is 75%. This means the other 25% of the test will be made up of open-ended questions, graphs, number lines, free response questions and more. This is different than what students are used to.
Cross-curricular Passages: Writing will be added to the reading test as early as third grade, where students were previously assessed only on multiple choice questions. There will be an increase in the number of cross-curricular informational passages that reference content aligned to the TEKS for other subject areas (e.g., social studies, science, mathematics, fine arts, etc.). While the questions will include topics from other subject areas, the questions will only assess a student's reading and language arts performance, students will not be scored on their understanding of the other subject areas.
Evidence-based Writing: Beginning with the 2022–2023 school year, RLA assessments will assess both reading and writing (grades 3–8 English, grades 3–5 Spanish, and English I and II End-of-Course) and will include new question types and an extended constructed response, or essay, at every grade level.

A lot of the questions now will also have multiple answers. Instead of just picking A, B, C or D, students could be asked to choose the two or three best answers. There could also be multiple parts to a question. For example, what you answer in part A of a question determines what you answer in part B.

College, Career & Military Readiness Evaluation Changes

Closing the Gaps Changes

Closing the Gaps Changes - This is the domain that measures the performance of various different student groups. In the past, you needed at least 25 students in a group for that group's performance to count towards your accountability rating. The number of students has now decreased to 10. This truly puts a focus on all students, and in MISD when we talk about students, all means all.

District Rating Changes

District Rating Changes - The way campus grades are averaged together to create the district’s overall rating will change. Previously, campuses, no matter what size, were averaged together in the same way. Now, campus grades will count for more or less of the district’s rating based on the campus’s size. This proportional weighting will have a significant impact on all districts across the state.

Timeline for A–F Accountability Rating Changes

Spring 2023 – STAAR Testing window for students with new changes incorporated
May/June 2023 – Preliminary Assessment Reports with raw scores only available
Summer 2023 – All A-F Accountability changes finalized and final 2023 manual for districts and the public will be published.
August 2023 – Families receive final STAAR results
Fall 2023 – Districts and campuses will receive A-F Accountability Ratings

Frequently Asked Questions

What do some of the proposed changes include? These questions and more are answered in a short video series of frequently asked questions. Watch the videos below to learn more about the rating system.

Why are the tests changing and how?

What changes are on the STAAR Test?

How are campuses rated?

How is MISD making students ready beyond high school?

For more information, visit the TEA A-F Accountability page.

Our Schools

In This Section