Diving in deeper
The Texas Education Agency released STAAR scores for school districts across Texas on Aug. 16, including HISD’s scores for students in third to eighth grades who were tested in English or Spanish in the core subjects of reading, math, science and social studies.
Public school students must perform to at least the “approaches grade level” standard to pass the test.
- Of the 22 total tested subject areas, HISD improved in four subjects from 2022 to 2023 and saw no change for four subjects.
- Eighth-grade reading and fifth-grade math students scored the highest with 73% approaching grade level, while the lowest-scoring group was fifth-grade Spanish science.
- Fifth-grade Spanish math saw the most improvement from 2022 to 2023 with scores jumping from 52% to 58% approaching grade level.
- Seventh-grade reading and fifth-grade Spanish reading students saw the largest drop in passing performance with students approaching grade level dropping by 7% in each category from the previous year.
Because the STAAR was redesigned in 2023, this year's scores cannot be directly compared to those of previous years. House Bill 3906 in 2019 mandated a redesign “to better align with classroom instruction,” officials said.
According to HB 3906, the STAAR was taken almost exclusively online for the first time this spring, and assessments this year emphasized writing skills. Students took the writing exam, which was not administered last year, as part of the reading and language arts assessment. Students requiring accommodations could still complete paper exams.
The redesign was a multiyear collaboration among the TEA, state educators, students, parents and community members, according to TEA officials.
Additional context
The TEA ousted former HISD Superintendent Millard House II and its elected board of trustees in June, replacing them with a new board of managers and superintendent.
HISD Superintendent Mike Miles, who formerly served as superintendent of Dallas ISD, was appointed by the TEA to help improve the district’s accountability ratings and board governance.
Miles said the district needs to improve its scores during an Aug. 17 news conference.
“We’ve improved one percentage point in 19 years in reading, fourth-grade reading,” Miles said. "That’s the percentage of students who are reading at that grade level. ... In math, we went down two percentage points in 19 years. ... Even if you look at eighth-grade reading, you noticed that we improved four points in 19 years, so that’s not cause for celebration. Yes, there’s improvement, but that is so slow.”
Zooming out
Statewide, students have recovered from reading and language arts learning loss due to the pandemic, according to the TEA. Meanwhile, schools are struggling to bring scores to prepandemic levels in math.
Families can view their child’s individual exam scores at www.texasassessment.gov.
