FAST Results
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FAST is updated with the latest data when it becomes available from the Texas Education Agency.
The Comptroller’s Financial Allocation Study for Texas (FAST) examines both academic progress and spending at Texas’ school districts and individual school campuses.
Each district and campus is assigned a FAST rating of one to five stars, indicating its success in combining cost-effective spending with the achievement of measurable student academic progress. Five stars reflects the strongest relative progress combined with the lowest relative spending.
Explore the methodology and calculations used to produce the FAST ratings.
Five-Star Districts – September 2011
FAST identifies districts that have improved student achievement while keeping expenditures relatively low. The five-star districts for 2011 are:
| Allen ISD | Katy ISD∗ |
| Angleton ISD∗ | Keller ISD∗ |
| Anna ISD∗ | Lake Dallas ISD |
| Aubrey ISD∗ | Liberty Hill ISD |
| AW Brown-Fellowship Leadership Academy† |
McDade ISD |
| Caddo Mills ISD | Mesquite ISD∗ |
| Celina ISD | Midlothian ISD |
| Children First Academy Of Dallas∗† | Mount Vernon ISD |
| Children First Academy Of Houston∗† | Mumford ISD∗ |
| China Spring ISD | Needville ISD |
| Clifton ISD | North Hills Preparatory School∗† |
| Conroe ISD∗ | Palmer ISD |
| Coppell ISD | Peak Preparatory School∗† |
| Crandall ISD | Pearland ISD∗ |
| Cypress-Fairbanks ISD∗ | Princeton ISD |
| Damon ISD | Ripley House Charter School∗† |
| Friendswood ISD∗ | Chaparral Star Academy∗† |
| Galena Park ISD | Sunnyvale ISD∗ |
| Garland ISD∗ | The Varnett Public School† |
| Gholson ISD | Tomball ISD |
| Harleton ISD∗ | Vanguard Academy∗† |
| Houston Gateway Academy Inc† | Wylie ISD∗ |
| Irving ISD∗ | Zoe Learning Academy† |
∗ Five-star district for two consecutive years.
† Denotes a charter operator. Like independent school districts, some charter operators run only one campus, while others run multiple campuses. All charter operators are considered school districts for the purposes of the FAST analysis.
The number of five-star charter and public school districts in Texas increased from 43 to 46 in 2011.
Of the 46 five-star districts, 23 held that rank last year as well.
District Ratings
View the complete School District Listing for 2011. (PDF, 3M)
For more information on any district(s):
- For a detailed profile of a district, use the Run a Report feature. District is automatically selected.
- Run a Report also lets you compare specific districts or find districts that have things in common.
The Help Section has tips and tutorials on how to use Run a Report.
Campus Ratings
View the 2011 listing for campuses (A-J). (PDF, 5M)
View the 2011 listing for campuses (K-Z). (PDF, 5M)
For more information on any campus(es):
- For a detailed profile of a campus, use the Run a Report feature. Select Campus on the left side of the page.
- Run a Report also lets you compare specific campuses or find campuses that have things in common.
The Help Section has tips and tutorials on how to use Run a Report.
Fiscal Peers
In light of the widely varying cost environments in which school districts function, direct financial comparisons among Texas districts would not be fair or appropriate. Instead, this study evaluates each district and campus against those identified as “fiscal peers,” districts and campuses that operate in a similar cost environment, are of similar size and serve similar students. Many factors influence the costs that a district faces:
- Cost of Living (Comparable Wage Index)
- School District Size
- Student Demographics
Read more about fiscal peers for 2011.
You can also download fiscal peers tables in .csv format.