Texas high school test scores show gains post-pandemic, math challenges

Students across Texas struggled more with Algebra I than nonmath subjects this year compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic, but they seem to have made up ground in several other courses, according to Texas Education Agency end-of-course assessment data.

The data, released Friday, are the first glimpse at how students fared using a newly redesigned version of the state standardized test that’s fully online. The data also peek into where students landed in what many educators are calling the first fully normal year after the drastic disruptions caused by the pandemic.

Statewide, 78% of students passed the Algebra I State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test, compared with 84% before the pandemic.

In English, at least 71% of students passed their grade-level STAAR test, an increase from before the pandemic. Students also improved in biology, which 89% passed, and U.S. history, which 95% passed.

However, far fewer students performed at or above their appropriate grade level overall on the STAAR tests.

Only 45% of students statewide met grade-level standards for Algebra I, compared with 62% in 2019. On two English tests, at least 54% of students performed on grade level.

These end-of-course exams are high school-level tests. The TEA won’t release scores for elementary and middle school students Aug. 16, later than typical, because the STAAR underwent major revisions in spring.

Students took the test entirely online this spring, a significant change, and 25% of the questions required short answers rather than multiple choice selections.

State officials hoped the changes would more closely align the test with what’s being taught in classrooms.

Not much about the scores is surprising, said David DeMatthews, a University of Texas associate professor of educational leadership and policy.

Students are recovering, even if it’s slower in some areas, he said.

“The 2019 kids taking the EOC exams didn't go through the pandemic,” DeMatthews said. “The 2022 and 2023 kids did. The more time from the bigger disruption, it's more likely to see kids are making a recovery.”

Math scores remaining low makes some sense because algebra requires foundational skills many students might not have gotten during the pandemic, said Tam Jones, assistant dean and associate professor of educational leadership at Texas A&M University-Central Texas.

“I think the scores where they are is a huge tribute to our teachers,” Jones said.

The Austin school district followed a trend similar to the statewide data.

Only 70% of Austin students passed the Algebra I test this year, compared with 89% in 2019, according to the data. Forty percent of students met grade-level standards, compared with 69% in 2019.

The high school scores don’t necessarily predict achievement for students of other ages, especially because younger students might have more challenges with online testing, DeMatthews said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pandemic recovery: Texas high school test scores mostly show gains