Spring STAAR test scores show gains for FWISD as possible state takeover looms
As the Fort Worth Independent School District faces the possibility of a state takeover, its latest state test scores show promise for a district fighting against the clock to improve its academic performance.
Test scores for grades 3-8 on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam showed gains across almost every grade level and subject — including reading, math, science and social studies — for students meeting grade level.
The spring 2025 scores — released on Tuesday, June 17 by the Texas Education Agency — showed that a dip in performance was seen only in fifth-grade math, where 34% of students were meeting grade level compared to 36% in 2024. Performance in seventh-grade math remained static compared to last year with just 5% of students meeting grade level. The gains seen in other subjects at this performance level ranged from 1-10 percentage points. Fourth-graders who took the reading test in Spanish saw the 10-point increase; the test scores showed 23% of those students meeting grade level this year.
Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Karen Molinar presented preliminary 3-8 STAAR data at last week’s school board meeting, which was largely aligned with Tuesday’s official state results. She acknowledged the district is still not performing at the level it should be, but she applauded the academic progress shown in the test results. The gains were a reflection of the changes made in the 2024-2025 school year, Molinar said, which included sending central office staffers into schools to offer extra help to struggling students.
Molinar also summarized STAAR results for high school students who took Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II and U.S. History. The full scope of data for these subjects was released by TEA last Tuesday morning before the school board meeting convened in the evening. Fort Worth students improved in Biology and Algebra I but saw performance declines in English I, English II and U.S. History.
Miguel Solis, president of the Dallas-based Commit Partnership, said the scores in Fort Worth ISD appear to show the beginnings of a turnaround in its academic performance. There were notable examples of growth, or the increase in the percentage of students meeting grade level compared to 2024, happening at a faster pace for Fort Worth ISD compared to the district’s peers statewide. This was seen in third- and fourth-grade math and reading.
“The amount of students meeting grade level standards in third-grade reading grew by seven percentage points, which is more than double the state average. That is significant because of the predictive power third-grade reading has for the kids’ future academic outcomes, then correlated to economic mobility and lifetime outcomes,” Solis said.
Solis noted Fort Worth ISD officials were deliberate with the academic strategies and investments that came forward in the 2024-25 school year, which included utilizing high-quality instructional materials, focusing on data in professional learning communities among teachers and implementing “an ethos of intentional, student-centered choices.”
“It’s encouraging because of where we know Fort Worth has been over the past few years from an academic achievement standpoint,” Solis said of the STAAR scores.
Fort Worth ISD’s overall performance, though, still pales in comparison to Texas’ statewide performance across the board. For example, there were 41% of Fort Worth ISD third-graders reading on grade level in spring 2025; Statewide, 49% of Texas students were meeting this metric.
TEA officials said in a news release that statewide scores showed students surpassing pre-pandemic levels in reading with improvements seen across almost all grade levels.
“These results are encouraging and reflect the impact of the strategic supports we’ve implemented in recent years,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. “With RLA (reading language arts) scores now surpassing pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing meaningful signs of academic recovery and progress. While this year also saw some improvements in math, clearly more work is needed.”
Potential state takeover looms amid stagnant test scores
Fort Worth ISD’s test scores have been stagnant for at least a decade. In 2015, just 28% of the district’s third-graders scored on grade level in reading. Last year, that number had only improved two points, climbing to 30%. Both figures include both English and Spanish test-takers.
That lack of progress has drawn attention from Fort Worth city leaders and state education officials. Last year, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker spoke at a school board meeting, saying the district’s lack of progress was hampering its students’ ability to succeed after graduation. A month later, the board approved a resignation agreement with Superintendent Angelica Ramsey. Molinar replaced Ramsey, first as interim superintendent, then as the district’s permanent chief.
Then, last month, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath notified Fort Worth ISD that it’s at risk of a state takeover after one campus, the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Sixth Grade, received a failure rating for five consecutive years. The fifth F rating came as a part of the state’s 2023 A-F ratings, which were released this year after being tied up in court for two years.
When a campus receives five consecutive failure ratings, state law requires the education commissioner to do one of two things: Close that campus or take over the entire district, replacing its elected school board with a state-appointed board of managers. Fort Worth ISD closed Forest Oak Sixth last year, merging it with the Leadership Academy at Forest Oak Middle School. But Morath said the fact that the school was already closed didn’t eliminate the possibility of state takeover, or the legal requirement that he intervene.
All A-F scores are considered preliminary until they’re finalized in August, and Fort Worth ISD officials have said they plan to appeal the rating. Morath isn’t expected to make a decision until after the scores are finalized.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
