So last spring, HISD officials changed the district's rating system to downgrade schools that exempt children from taking the state exam. Force schools to test more children even though overall scores might drop. Now, on the basis of a report released late last month, board members are realizing just what impact their new policy could have when it goes into effect this school year. All but 16 percent of HISD's 253 schools would have seen their district ratings fall had the new system been in place when the tests were given last spring. And Crespo, which exempted 49 percent of its students, would have plummeted from the highest possible rating to the lowest.
Ratings are important.
Consequently, schools are almost obsessed with TAAS scores, the main determinant of ratings. And it's not uncommon for children with language difficulties or special education problems to be exempted from taking the exam. In Crespo's case, most of the students who were exempted from the test were fourth-graders who were making the transition from Spanish to English and weren't yet proficient readers and writers in their new language. Principal Lynne Gibson said the children who didn't take the TAAS were given the Stanford Achievement Test, which is not linked to school ratings. Legally, the schools claiming high exemptions haven't done anything wrong.