Fort Worth ISD third-graders still haven’t caught up after pandemic, STAAR scores show
More than two years after Texas schools reopened, Fort Worth students’ academic performance continues to lag behind pre-pandemic norms, according to state test scores released Friday.
The new data underscores the uphill battle for students and teachers attempting to rebound from the impacts of the pandemic while the Texas Education Agency has added changes to State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, including the use of artificial intelligence to grade written answers that was rolled out this spring and a new format that launched in spring 2023.
Across all grade levels and subjects, 35% of Fort Worth students performed on grade level on last spring’s state test, according to an analysis of test data by the nonprofit Fort Worth Education Partnership. That figure represents a one-point decline from last year’s results and a four-point drop from the spring of 2019, the last round of testing before the pandemic began. Those figures include students in all public schools in the Fort Worth city limits, including those in the 14 school districts that cover parts of the city, as well as public charter schools.
In the Fort Worth Independent School District, 33% of third-graders met grade level in reading, the same percentage who met that threshold in 2019 and a one-point uptick over last year. But 40% of third-graders didn’t meet or approach grade level in reading this year, compared to 36% in 2019.
Education researchers and school leaders often say third grade is a pivotal time in a child’s education career, as it is the time where students stop learning to read and start reading to learn. Students who can’t read proficiently by third grade often struggle with literacy for the rest of their time in school.
Across all grades and subject areas, about a quarter of students in Fort Worth ISD scored on grade level, according to the analysis. That’s about the same result as last year. Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Angélica Ramsey says the overall scores are lagging behind where she wants them to be, but they show promise compared to statewide scores, which declined compared to last year.
For example, the percentage of third-graders in the district who met grade level for math increased by 2%. The percentage of students approaching grade level dropped by 1% and those who mastered grade level stayed the same. Statewide, the percentage of third-graders meeting grade level for math fell by 2% while the percentage of students approaching grade level fell by 3% and those who mastered grade level fell by 4%.
A somewhat similar trend appeared in reading for third-graders. In Fort Worth, there was a 1% increase in students meeting grade level and mastering grade level while the percentage of students approaching grade level stayed the same. The percentage of students across the state dipped 2% for approaching grade level and 1% for meeting grade level. There was a 1% increase in those who mastered the subject.
“I feel very confident in that what we’re doing, and being very intentional with our academic support, that we are outpacing the state as a whole when we serve a very large percentage of students who are free-reduced lunch, a very large percentage of students who are emerging bilingual and a very large percentage of students with disabilities,” Ramsey told the Star-Telegram.
Texas students still lag in math, scores show
Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath said the results were an indication that students across the state still struggle in math. While celebrating the hard work of teachers and school staff and progress in other areas, Morath said the state needs to do more to make sure students have the math skills they need to succeed.
“Pandemic-induced disruptions to learning exacerbated students’ difficulties in mastering fundamental math concepts,” he said. “As a result, we must keep our foot on the gas to intensify efforts in providing targeted interventions and research-based education strategies to ensure that students obtain necessary foundational skills and concepts and achieve the desired academic outcomes not only in math but across all subject areas.”
John Romig, a professor in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Arlington, said the fact that there was so little change in scores statewide can be read as good news or bad news: The good news is that scores didn’t get substantially worse. The bad news is that about half of the students in the state still don’t meet grade level expectations in reading. He noted that the picture is even bleaker in Fort Worth schools, where nearly 70% of students tested below grade level in reading.
But while he said the standard was nothing to celebrate, Romig acknowledged that Texas students have returned close to pre-pandemic norms in reading. While he said there’s no empirical evidence to explain why math scores remain stubbornly low, Romig theorized that the difference could have to do with the way students encounter reading and math in their lives outside of school. Kids encounter text on signs, labels and even in video games, he said, and most parents who might not feel equipped to help their kids in math are happy to read a book with them. By contrast, most kids aren’t called upon to do math problems outside of school, he said.
An ongoing debate about the best way to teach math might also play into the lack of momentum, Romig said. In reading, a debate raged for years between proponents of a phonics-based approach to reading instruction and advocates for an approach that discouraged students from paying too much attention to individual letters and instead focused on understanding the meaning of the words. While the debate in reading is largely a settled issue, there’s no similar consensus in math, he said.
Over the past few years, many districts, including Fort Worth ISD, have adopted math curricula that focus on conceptual understanding of math operations rather than memorization of things like formulas and multiplication tables. Advocates said the new model would help students understand not only how to solve problems, but why they might need to. But Romig argued that focusing on conceptual understanding without first giving students a basic understanding of how math operations work could put them at a disadvantage. He said there’s a way to teach those basic operations without returning to the old drill-and-kill model of math instruction that was widely unpopular with teachers and students alike.
FWISD looks to focus on math, reading
In Fort Worth ISD, the district plans to hone in on math and reading by continuing additional online learning programs, DreamBox for math and Lexia for reading, that were introduced through federal COVID relief funding, according to Ramsey. Officials attributed these programs to the gains seen in the mid-year MAP exam scores for the 2023-24 school year. MAP is a national exam that Fort Worth ISD students take three times a year to measure their individual growth while the STAAR exam is taken at the end of the school year to see how well students are prepared to move on to the next grade.
District staff is also creating a strategic plan intended to outline a road map with various ways the district can continue to fill gaps seen in both test scores and other measurements of student performance and success, where disparities between certain student groups are apparent. The percentage of third-grade students in Fort Worth ISD who identify as Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, or Black or African American and are meeting grade level in reading ranges from 20-41%, according to the Friday STAAR results. When looking at the white student population, 59% are meeting grade level in reading. Additionally, only 26% of economically disadvantaged students are meeting this metric.
“As we’re starting to dig into our data, we always look at our student groups. Our focus has been on African American students, students with disabilities and emergent bilinguals,” Ramsey said. “We are seeing that the things we’re putting in place — and having those specific focus areas that will be a part of the strategic plan that will come to the board in July — is assisting our students.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 8:00 AM.
