Dominic Anthony Walsh
According to preliminary standardized test results, Houston ISD high schoolers proficiently grew over the first year of the state’s takeover of Texas’s largest school district.
State-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles touted improved STAAR test results during a press conference on Wednesday, the last day of the school year. He said early data shows that students in New Education System schools surpassed the scores received by non-NES students, but students across the district showed overall improvement.
“The students and teachers did great, really good job,” Miles said. “It’s one of the highest years of academic growth the district has ever experienced.”
Early data shows that students’ test scores increased across all five subjects of the assessment. Closer to pre-pandemic levels, students scoring at or above grade level improved Algebra 1 test results by five points from last year.
English 1 test results projected a three-point increase, and English II results showed a five-point score improvement, according to preliminary data.
Houston Independent School District
Biology test results showed a 14 point score increase from last year, while U.S. History results remained flat.
“It’s only been a year, you can not close a 35 point gap, or 40 point gap in some cases overnight,” Miles said.
The state’s takeover of Houston ISD was, in part, motivated by low test scores at one campus. The state-appointed school board wants to significantly increase the percentage of students who meet grade-level standards on the exam.
“The STAAR exams are valid and reliable assessment but they are only given once a year,” he said. “So it’s a snapshot of how our kids are doing on proficiency. We also use other data to determine how well our kids are doing.”
Starting on Friday, STAAR test results will be available through the Texas Assessment portal, according to the Texas Education Agency.
“The overwhelming majority of our kids had a good experience academically, and the overwhelming majority of our teachers and principals and students stepped up and engaged the process and came in with some of the highest scores the district has ever seen, despite that changes,” Miles said.
Miles’ salute to district educators comes just weeks after the superintendent confirmed widespread department reductions are imminent and necessary to accost a $500 million budget shortfall.
The district hasn’t specified the number of teachers that will not have their contracts renewed next year, but said principals are assessing data, not just anecdotal information, to make decisions on which teachers should return.
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“Next week we will be talking about 3rd grade through 8th grade results, and you will see results in those grades in reading and math, that’s probably the highest growth of any urban district in the history of Texas,” Miles said on Wednesday.
