Pearland ISD outperformed its region’s average and the state average in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness.
The gist
STAAR scores came out Aug. 16, and Pearland ISD had more students pass every exam across third to eighth grades, not including the Spanish-based tests, compared to both the region and state averages. In many instances, it also saw more students pass in several exams compared to last year.
PISD sits in Region 4, which is composed of nearly 50 school districts, according to the region’s website.
Along with this past school year being the first official one to incorporate the state’s redesign of the test—courtesy of House Bill 3906 passed in 2019—districts will also be receiving a new accountability score in September.
Due to both being new, the test scores and the accountability grades are coming out later than previous years, according to timelines from the Texas Education Agency.
PISD also had a higher percentage of students pass the five end-of-course exams, which include Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II and U.S. History.
A closer look
Compared to last year, PISD’s results were more mixed, according to the data. It scored nearly identically on each math exam with one significant difference in seventh-grade math, which saw 66% of students pass compared to 81% last year.
The story is similar for the district’s reading scores, according to the data.
For its end-of-course exams, PISD had more students pass each of them in 2023 compared to 2022, the data shows.
In an Aug. 16 news release, the TEA noted the state’s results for reading and math remain unchanged compared to last year and noted “significant effects of the pandemic still linger” in math. More emergent bilingual students passed in both subjects.
What they’re saying
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said he recommended parents look at the STAAR report card for their individual children.
“Teachers across Texas continue to work with passion and skill to help students learn,” Morath said in the release. “This year’s results show the efforts of our educators continue to deliver improved results for students.”
