(Ericka Mellon, Houston Chronicle)
Houston ISD students performed better in math than those in other large cities this year but their reading skills lagged behind in middle school.
Results from a national exam released Wednesday show that the Houston Independent School District has not made significant progress since students last took the test two years ago. Since 2003, however, HISD has made bigger gains than the state in both reading and math on the test, called the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
“I think you have a story of some long-term improvement but certainly not a lot of change in the recent two years,” said Jack Buckley, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, the federal agency overseeing the exam.
The test, also called the Nation’s Report Card, is given to a sample of fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide, allowing for comparisons within Texas and across state lines.
Despite the district’s stagnant scores this year, HISD has exceeded the national average in some cases. The district’s black and Hispanic students surpassed their peers nationwide in math and in elementary school reading. (Read the full story here)
Related: The Danger of Using Tests to Measure Success (GOOD Magazine)
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