The Texas Education Agency recently released 2023 STAAR testing data for grades 3-8. A local education nonprofit found that students are still recovering from learning loss during the pandemic, with math scores rebounding more slowly than reading scores.
On the redesigned STAAR test, which was taken completely online for the first time this year, Houston-area school districts generally saw slight to moderate improvements in third grade reading and math. On average, 44 percent of third graders met or exceeded grade-level expectations for reading, while 38 percent met or exceeded expectations for math.
Similarly, 46 percent of eighth graders met or exceeded grade-level expectations for reading, while 33 percent met or exceeded expectations for math.
"Most Houston-area districts improved in math scores for third graders from 2022 to 2023," said Patrick Gill, data and analytics manager for education nonprofit Good Reason Houston. "However, only Spring Branch ISD, of the 9 Houston-area districts we looked at, met or exceeded pre-pandemic levels."
Good Reason Houston looked specifically at what percentage of students scored at "meets grade-level" or "exceeds grade-level" according to the state's standards, even though students who are categorized as "approaches grade-level," are still considered to be passing.
Gill said, while he cannot be completely sure why students' scores are improving more quickly in reading than in math, it may be that the pandemic posed more disruptions to math learning than it did reading.
"This isn't just Houston – this is a national trend, that reading recovered much faster than math and that the declines in math were much more significant than the declines in reading," said Gill. "When schools shut down and stuff is happening at home, kids continue to read at home, right, with their families. They continue to read on their own, whereas students are not probably continuing to do algebra outside of the academic context."
Meanwhile, many local educators and organizations like the Houston Federation of Teachers do not put much stock in standardized test scores as accurate measures of learning. Many fear that the new leadership of HISD will put too much emphasis on test scores, causing teachers to "teach to the test" rather than teach what they believe will most benefit student learning. Just last month, Houston Public Media obtained a document indicating HISD's new state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles has plans to overhaul the district's compensation model, moving completely to a "pay-for-performance" system by 2025, wherein teachers' salaries will largely be based on standardized test scores.
