One thing is clear about Nation’s Report Card: Texas is a state to watch
By Todd Williams, Dallas Morning News
December 26, 2023
Learning loss was comparatively less severe during COVID-19; research-backed strategies are working.
In Texas and across the country, the 2022 Nation’s Report Card or National Assessment of Educational Progress was a call to action. As expected, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was both broad and deep and will require innovation and strategic resourcing to sufficiently recover. But assessments like NAEP provide a unique opportunity to learn from states and districts where learning loss was comparatively less severe despite the COVID-19 headwinds. This year’s scores make one thing clear: Texas is a state to watch, leading the way with a robust combination of research-backed policies no other state has in place.
Since 2017, Texas’ relative national NAEP ranking has improved substantially for both students experiencing economic disadvantage and not, especially in early reading. In fourth grade reading alone, the ranking of Texas students experiencing economic instability jumped 21 spots since 2017. Texas now ranks in the top half of states in all but one tested subject, regardless of a student’s family income status. In a state where students experiencing economic insecurity make up 60% of the total enrollment, this is especially noteworthy.
It’s worth asking why. Why, in the wake of a global pandemic and unprecedented learning loss, are Texas students holding the line while other states have seen more dramatic losses? There is of course no single explanation. But Texas has been strategically identifying the root causes of our challenging outcomes, and then specifically enacting strong, data-driven requirements and financial incentives into law to combat them. Now, our NAEP scores are beginning to bear fruit.
In 2019, Texas House Bill 3 created a biennial appropriation of over $6 billion for its public schools and another $4 billion of potential annual funding, enacting a set of 31 recommendations emanating from a yearlong commission to strategically invest in research-based best practices. HB 3 provided unprecedented funding towards high-quality prekindergarten because research shows it is one of the most efficient means of improving student success. It also mandated that all elementary school teachers demonstrate literacy competence or complete a training on the science of teaching reading because we know the ability to read on grade level by third grade is a crucial milestone.
Thanks to HB 3, schools can now also extend school calendars for elementary school students through Additional Day School Year funding and pay their most effective teachers significantly higher salaries to not only stay in the classroom but teach at the underserved campuses that need them most through the Teacher Incentive Allotment. Finally, HB 3 created the nation’s largest equitable funding incentive ($3,000 to $7,000 per student) to reward school districts for students graduating post-secondary ready and then supporting them in their transition to college or the workforce.
Then, in 2021, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 4545, which replaced select high-stakes testing requirements with required high-impact tutoring delivered in small group settings for any student not demonstrating grade level proficiency.
With these five strategic policies — high-quality pre-K, science of reading teacher training, additional instructional time, strategic compensation and high-impact tutoring — now in place, you can start to see how Texas’ fourth graders could move up 21 spots since 2017. These strategies are now even being touted across the country as key recommendations for states to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Six states, including Arkansas, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee, are implementing three of these research-backed strategies. But the Lone Star State is the only one enacting all five.
If there’s anything to take away from Texas’ rise in relative performance, it’s that these strategies have begun to mutually reinforce one another in a virtuous cycle that is resulting in encouraging indicators. Texas has invested in the research-driven best practices that have the best shot at getting our students back on track. We have tested these proposals locally here in Dallas County, helped scale them across the state, and enacted supporting funding into law – and they are showing signs of promise. As the 88th Texas Legislature begins next month, it’s vital that our leaders continue to leverage data-driven solutions to support academic success. That’s how Texas — and our students — can ultimately lead the nation.