The details
NAEP exams, sometimes referred to as the Nation’s Report Card, measures national student proficiency in fourth- and eighth-grade math and reading. The exams are administered every two years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
While test results show HISD students have improved their scores in two of the four subjects from 2022 to 2024, the district’s students are still trailing state and national averages for all four test subjects.
Miles, who was appointed to the lead the district by the Texas Education Agency in 2023, touted the results in a Jan. 29 news conference.
"The summary is that we reversed the trend, which was a downward slope," Miles said. "Now we’re moving up and we did much better as far as our increases in scores relative to large cities, relative to Texas, relative to the nation."
A closer look
According to the NCES, student performance on NAEP exams are recorded on a scale of zero to 500, with a higher score representing a greater grasp of the material.
While HISD's average exam scores fell behind the state and national averages, test results show HISD students saw more growth in the percentage of students who achieved '"proficient" ratings in each of the four subject areas.
HISD fourth graders also showed improvement on the math exam, raising their average score from 226 in 2022 to 233 in 2024. Test results show the statewide average for fourth-grade math fell at 241, while the national average fell at 237.
HISD eighth-grade students saw their math exam scores drop slightly from an average of 265 in 2022 to 264 in 2024. Similarly, statewide exam averages dropped from 273 in 2022 to 269 in 2024 and national exam averages dropped from 273 in 2022 to 272 in 2024.
For eighth-grade reading, HISD students’ exam scores remained flat with an average score of 247 in both 2022 and 2024, test results show. Statewide, eighth-grade reading exam averages dropped from 255 in 2022 to 252 in 2024. Nationally, exam averages dropped from 259 in 2022 to 257 in 2024.
Also of note
Miles noted economically disadvantaged students showed more academic growth compared to their peers, with HISD’s African American population showing an 8-point gain in fourth-grade reading from 2022 to 2024.
Additionally, Miles said students with disabilities also showed greater growth compared to their peers in eighth-grade reading with exam averages rising 10 points from 2022 to 2024.
