Arlington ISD says TEA rescoring error raised student scores; district to appeal accountability results
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Summary
Superintendent Dr. Smith told the board that an error at the Texas Education Agency meant human rescoring of some STAAR and EOC answers was excluded from state accountability calculations; Arlington ISD will appeal and says rescoring raised scores for a portion of students.
Superintendent Dr. Smith told the Arlington ISD board Thursday that the district discovered a Texas Education Agency (TEA) backend problem that kept human rescoring results out of the agency—s accountability calculations and that the district will file an appeal. "Our plan is to appeal those TEA scores," Dr. Smith said, and she described the rescoring results the district received.
Why it matters: state accountability ratings affect public reporting and district oversight and can influence interventions, funding decisions and public perceptions. The board heard that rescoring can also affect individual students— outcomes, including summer graduation.
Details: Dr. Smith said district staff identified student tests for rescoring after concerns about computer- or AI-scored portions of STAAR (grades 3—8) and EOCs. Arlington ISD paid for rescoring and submitted materials in June; late in July TEA notified districts that a backend issue would exclude those rescores from the upcoming accountability release. Dr. Smith said TEA expedited EOC rescoring that was time-sensitive for summer graduation and that the district recently received rescored data for grades 3—8.
Dr. Smith told trustees that, in the grades 3—8 data returned so far, "25 percent of our students saw an increase in their performance" after human rescoring; she said EOC rescoring produced increases for a smaller share (about 16 percent, as reported to the board). She described the district—s concern that AI-driven scoring errors affected student results and school performance measures.
The board and district staff said they had raised the issue with TEA leadership and that the district will submit a formal appeal asking TEA to include the rescored results in accountability calculations. Dr. Smith said the district believes some campus performance measures will improve when the rescored results are counted.
What the board directed: trustees received the report, asked questions and did not take formal action during the meeting. Dr. Smith said the district will continue to pursue an appeal with TEA and will update the board.
Context: The rescoring work followed a rescoring effort the district previously used. The superintendent also noted that the district must pay for the rescoring opportunity. The board was briefed that teacher and staff leaders led the selection of tests sent for rescoring.