Texas elementary and middle schoolers are continuing to struggle with math across all grade levels following the COVID-19 pandemic according to the latest test results released by the Texas Education Agency on Friday.
Every grade level had a decline in passing rates for math, the highest a 4% decline among eighth-graders, according to the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness results. English results were mixed.
Dallas ISD students’ performance resembles statewide trends: significant drops in math in every grade, while performance in reading-language arts varied by grade level. Fewer than half of the district’s students are at a grade level in math.
The results come as schools continue to grapple with lingering and new challenges, including the impact of the pandemic’s disruptions on learning, budget constraints, chronic absenteeism and a growing number of uncertified educators and teacher vacancies.
For students in grades 3-8, STAAR measures academic performance based on state standards in math and reading-language arts. For 8th graders only, the STAAR includes science and social studies.
Results for high school students were released June 7. STAAR results generally are used by families to assess their own children’s performance and to judge whether a school or district is performing well.
This year’s results for elementary and middle school students lay bare the “significant gaps in mathematics achievement across our schools,” Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said in a statement.
“Math performance is not where students need it to be for success after graduation,” he said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated their difficulty to master fundamental math concepts.
The STAAR test measures how well students are mastering the knowledge and skills Texas has identified as critical for their future success, said Miguel Solis, chief of staff at advocacy nonprofit The Commit Partnership.
“It’s our best shot at understanding whether we think our kids are on a path to success, at least here in the state of Texas,” Solis said.
Students don’t need to meet grade level to pass the exams. Each student falls under one of four STAAR categories: “did not meet,” “approaches,” “meets” and “masters,” with the last three being passing grades.
Those who fall under “approaches” did not meet but are approaching grade level. That often means they need tutoring or additional support but still are passing.
The “meets” results include those who are at grade level and those who exceeded grade level.
“With fewer than half of our students meeting grade-level standards on math, science and social studies, these results are not what we’d hope for our county and state,” Bridget Worley, Commit’s chief state impact officer, said in a statement.
This year’s test marks the second round of a STAAR redesign that was a result of a House bill passed in 2019. Most students now take the tests online, except for those who require certain accommodations, and no more than 75% of points can come from multiple-choice questions.
This is the first year the state widely used computers to score essay questions on STAAR. Roughly three-quarters of written responses were expected to be scored by an “automated scoring engine,” officials have previously said.
The results impact schools’ A-F academic accountability grades that are expected to be released later this year. The state’s rating system was paused last year after some districts — including Dallas ISD — sued the state over changes to accountability grades they said would have “arbitrarily” lowered their performance ratings despite improvements.
Texas 2036 policy adviser Gabe Grantham voiced concerns for the results’ impact on the workforce.
“These fields are critical to the state’s ability to continue to recruit businesses and create jobs,” Grantham said in a statement. “Without improvement in these scores, we should expect to see more and more corporations decide to take their jobs elsewhere.”
Parents and families can find their child’s individual results by visiting their school district’s family portal or TexasAssessment.gov and using the unique access code provided by their child’s campus.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
