Heights - River Oaks - Montrose Edition | August 2023

EDUCATION

2023 EDUCATION EDITION

MEETING STANDARDS FOR READING Based on the most recent data available from the 2021-22 school year, roughly 48% of Houston ISD students in grades 3-8 met reading requirements for their grade level, up from pre-pandemic scores. Meets grade level for grades 3-8, Houston ISD Breakdown by school type in Heights, River Oaks and Montrose area

Approaches (spring 2019)

Meets (spring 2019)

Meets (spring 2022)

Approaches (spring 2022)

Meets

Approaches

100%

75%

50%

25%

Spring 2019 Spring 2022

MIDDLE

ELEMENTARY

SOURCES: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY, HOUSTON ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

BELOW THE BAR

Low literacy levels target of Houston ISD under TEA

Every year, the U.S. Department of Education releases the National Assessment of Educational Progress— also known as the Nation’s Report Card—as a standardized way to measure academic progress across the country. Houston’s scores for 2022 were below the national average.

BY LEAH FOREMAN

superintendent of HISD in June as a part of the TEA’s intervention into the district, said he has plans to address literacy through a multi- pronged approach. In addition to targeting the achievement gap, Miles also plans to alter teacher salaries to a performance-based model, which he said will ultimately lead to language arts teachers earning more for their “value,” according to a July 20 HISD presentation. Another part of Miles’s plan includes implementing a “science of reading” curriculum, which he said works on word recognition, decoding and phonological awareness. “One of the things—besides nding really eective teachers [and] coach- ing them well—is providing the right curriculum,” Miles said. “We’re going to not just provide the curriculum, but also good lesson plans so that we don’t leave it to chance.” In his presentation, Miles noted in 2003 18% of fourth graders and 14% of eighth graders in HISD were read- ing at or above grade level, compared to 19% of fourth graders and 18% of eighth graders in 2022, according to the Nation’s Report Card, released annually by the U.S. Department of Education. The slow improvement was one of the reasons Miles said the district needs overhaul. But the state of Texas isn’t much better overall. Only 30% of fourth

in Houston. “That’s when we decided to actually create Reading With a Rapper, where our goal is to teach kids … how to read and write through socially conscious lyrics, content and technology,” he said. Appealing to dierent learning styles is just one piece of the puzzle, Tilford said. “I often tell my families that learn- ing at school for eight hours is one thing, but applying it into practicing at home during the weekends with our family and friends is another thing,” Tilford said. “That’s where a student learns and will master these particular skills.” Houston also established the Mayor’s Oce of Adult Literacy in 2019. The oce is the rst of its kind in the nation, Director Federico Salas-Isnardi said. “If we don’t intervene and don’t work together, your third grader having trouble reading today will be an adult with low literacy 10 years from now,” he said. In 2021, the oce released the Blueprint for Literacy Innovation, a 15-year plan to target low literacy levels in the city. Elements of the plan include addressing inequities in digital technology and advocating for legislation in support of adult learners, among others. Miles, who was appointed

As a new Houston ISD takes shape—spearheaded by state-ap- pointed Superintendent Mike Miles— improving literacy among students is a top priority in Houston. But experts argue a x is not as simple as reading to children. Around 72% of HISD students from grades 3-8 approach learning stan- dards for reading their grade level, while 48% meet the requirements, according to data from the Texas Education Agency from the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR tests, for the 2021-22 school year. “I think where we missed the mark sometimes is understanding how to approach this method with our particular students, because students learn dierent[ly],” said Wendy Tilford, an academic advisor and owner of a Houston-area Huntington Learning Center location, which oers tutoring services and test prep. During the 2022-23 school year, one of the new ways the city of Houston began engaging students to read was through a newly introduced program called Reading With a Rapper, which was founded by Jarren Small. The program launched at seven HISD schools in the spring, catering to grades 3-12. Small said the idea came about in 2018 after he noticed how literacy “wasn’t being talked about”

Houston Chicago

National 2022 average New York City

300

250

200

150

100

Grade 4

Grade 8

SOURCES: INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES, NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS NAEP, NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONCOMMUNITY IMPACT

graders and 23% of eighth graders across the state were reading at or above grade level in 2022, per the Nation’s Report Card. Tilford said she believes more can be done to improve literacy in Houston and in the state. “These skills don’t x themselves,” she said. “They just build over time.”

HEIGHTS RIVER OAKS MONTROSE EDITION • AUGUST 2023