The latest state accountability ratings for North Texas schools, released Friday, show steady progress. The upward trend in area school districts is good news for our region, and it’s momentum we should celebrate.
It’s always worth pausing to reflect on the accountability ratings from the Texas Education Agency so that our schools can amplify success stories for lessons that can be shared across a district and across the region. It’s also helpful to drill down on challenges that keep schools from performing to their full potential.
Across Dallas County, there is an increase in schools with A- and B-rated campuses, while there is a decrease in D and F-rated campuses, said Miguel Solis, president of Dallas County Impact at Commit Partnership, an education think tank, and a Dallas Morning News contributing columnist. Since 2023, an additional 84,000 students now attend A or B campuses. This is a boost for North Texas families.
Behind the scores of better-performing school districts is a mix of policies and research that have helped guide this progress. These include high-quality instructional materials and a rigorous evaluation process for teachers, particularly in districts like Dallas and Garland participating in the Teacher Incentive Allotment. The state program gives schools money to reward their best teachers, improving teacher retention and encouraging strong teachers to work at campuses with a high proportion of low-income students.
Dallas ISD continues its improvement, rising two points to an overall score of 85, a B, with Garland ISD scoring slightly higher at 86. There was progress in other area school districts including Richardson ISD, Grand Prairie ISD and Mesquite ISD. TEA highlighted Lorenzo De Zavala Middle School in Irving ISD as an example of a high-poverty school that earned an A rating. The school earned distinctions in all seven categories available, showing remarkable improvement across the board after earning a C in the 2024-25 school year.
Not surprisingly, suburban districts like Frisco and Prosper are among the highest-performing, according to TEA. But even low-performing districts are showing improvement. Irving ISD, which scored a 72 in 2023, scored 78 in the latest TEA ratings.
The state is in the process of weighing indicators for future assessments that lead to better postsecondary outcomes, Solis told us. Right now, 87% of high school graduates statewide meet college, career and military readiness, but only about a quarter ultimately earn a college degree.
Socioeconomic gaps also remain. In Dallas County, 57% of economically disadvantaged students attended an A or B campus, compared with 77% of students from families with higher incomes.
TEA scores are not just for school administrators and teachers. They give parents a clearer picture of how their child’s school is performing, supplying them with information to ask the right questions.
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