From the Dallas Morning News today come two items concerning DISD that together create a bit of a head-scratcher (as Louisa Meyer helpfully pointed out to me). The first item is a news story in the paper about the National Center for Educational Achievement has named the “higher performing” schools in Texas, and DISD has 54 such schools in the district. Hurray! Open the Champagne! Slaughter the calves, and prepare the feast! For the vegetarians, all the hummus they can stomach!
But hang on. Because on the Education Front blog, William McKenzie writes that it’s deplorable that not only does the district have 48 campuses that rank among the state’s worst, but 29 of those campuses are in southern part of Dallas. The news about the 48 “unacceptable” campuses came out Tuesday. Boo! Let’s begin fasting immediately. Put on your black clothes.
And here comes the head-scratcher: two schools, Tatum Elementary and Adamson High School, are on both lists. Huh. [furrowing brow, placing call to DISD spokeman Jon Dahlander]
Update: Here’s the deal. The list of “unacceptable” schools (the PEG list, as it’s known) is based on a three-year rolling average of sorts. Thing is, Adamson is a “recognized” school this year — even though it’s “unacceptable.” Is all this making sense to you? Bottom line: the NCEA uses more current data (or less old data). So when it comes to DISD, go with the NCEA over the TEA when it comes to PEG. And remember to spay or neuter your pets.
