The Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced individual school ratings, which could mean the addition of up to 40 new school campuses to Superintendent Mike Miles’ overhaul program in the 2024-25 school year, the school district announced this week.
These schools will now join the 85 schools that are already part of the New Education System (NES) that Miles introduced in 2023, among changes that triggered a public outcry. The recently announced school ratings will be used to determine which schools will join the district’s NES system in the coming school year.
Unlike last year, HISD will not distinguish between NES and NES-aligned schools. However, there will be two kinds of campus distinctions:
- NES (comprising existing NES, NES-Aligned, and new NES schools), and
- Non-NES schools.
Twenty-six low-performing schools will join Miles’ NES overhaul program in the coming school year. Source: HISD
The district termed this arrangement “the largest and most significant effort to transform K-12 education in the United States,” a wholesale, systemic reform to “dramatically improve academic performance, close achievement gaps, and ensure Houston’s students graduate prepared for the modern workplace and world.”
Here is a quick look back at what happened last year at HISD
HISD launched the NES schools at 28 “underperforming campuses” in the fall of 2023. The Black-majority high schools included Worthing, Yates, Madison, Sterling, Wheatley, Kashmere, Jones Future Academy, and Booker T. Washington High Schools.
Additionally, 57 schools were added to the list as NES-Aligned campuses.
The expansion of NES is a testament to the district’s shift from a decentralized model, where campuses could exercise autonomy in staffing and instruction to an extent. In the coming school year, around 40% of the schools in HISD will have to conform to centralized schedules, standardized curricula, and pre-prepared lesson plans, among other changes.
In a press release, HISD enlisted a “better work-life harmony” for teachers, salary increments based on the subject taught and scores on evaluations, a curriculum to improve academic performance “dramatically,” critical thinking courses, a Dyad and magnet programs, and “free trips” for students.
HISD has undergone a slew of other changes since the TEA takeover, especially in NES schools located mainly in Black and Brown neighborhoods of Houston. Teachers, staff members, and principals in these schools had to reapply for their positions and were offered a higher salary. Miles had earlier expressed plans to encompass 150 campuses under this system by 2030. He had also implemented the Dyad program, where students would be taught ‘enrichment skills’ like photography, guitar, golf, yoga, etc.
“Preliminary data from our mid-year exams this year indicate that achievement is improving,” Miles said. “Additionally, the data from mid-year exams indicate that NES and NES-aligned campuses experienced higher academic growth than our non-NES campuses. This is especially important because, on the whole, our NES and NES-aligned schools are further behind academically. HISD won’t turn things around overnight, but we are on the right path.”
The new school ratings: What do they say?
The new ratings are based on state accountability data for the 2022-2023 school year.
Due to an ongoing litigation, where several school districts sued the Texas Education Agency (TEA) last fall to halt changes to the state’s accountability system to minimize the repercussions of stricter rules on districts, the TEA has not issued statewide accountability ratings.
The agency appealed the decision and the trial, which were postponed. Ratings on school performances will be released once the case proceedings are concluded.
“While there were bright spots, the ratings generally show declining achievement,” Miles said. “The good news, though, is that this school year, we are seeing encouraging signs of progress.”
However, the TEA gave school districts the data and methodology to do their own calculations. Using this information and the state data HISD had requested, the district’s Assessment, Accountability, and Compliance Department performed the calculations.
HISD used the previous year’s STAAR scores to decide which schools need to be added to the NES system — a score the schools would have received from TEA if the agency had released the grades themselves.
According to these calculations, HISD has:
- 35 A-rated schools,
- 58 B-rated schools,
- 52 C-rated schools,
- 65 D-rated schools, and
- 58 F-rated schools.
Schools that received an F (rating of 59 or below). Source: HISD
Six schools that received a rating of “D” [score of 60-64] and 20 schools that were rated “F” [>59] based on last year’s tests, which were not a part of NES or NES-aligned campuses, have to join the NES group in fall 2024.
Schools that received a low D (rating of 60 to 64). Source: HISD
Therefore, these 26 low-performing schools, which include Black majority schools like Thomas Middle School and Wesley Elementary School, will join Miles’ overhaul program
Moreover, an additional 24 schools with a high “D” rating [65-69] can choose to be considered for the NES. For this, the principals of these schools will need to consult their staff, families, and members of their respective decision-making committees and inform the district of their decision by Feb. 7.
HISD estimates that it will be able to accept up to 14 high-D campuses for the NES in the coming school year and will select them by Feb. 9.
What happens to the staff?
The new NES schools will take a highly criticized performance evaluation, in which teachers will receive a rating based on their students’ standardized test scores and assessments from principals, among other factors. These ratings will decide where in the seven levels of effectiveness they fall under.
Should they receive the lowest ratings of “Unsatisfactory” and “Progressing I,” they will be removed, and the fates of those who receive a “Progressing II” will be in the school principal’s hands.
According to HISD, NES staffers receive higher salaries than their non-NES counterparts, where their salaries are differentiated on the basis of the subject taught and teacher evaluations.
Houston ISD teachers took to social media to vent their grievances about longer hours, workload, and deteriorating mental health in primarily NES schools. In its statement, HISD promised a “range of resources,” like a team that creates customizable daily lessons and coaching for teachers to avail, and the experience of teaching alongside certified teachers for teacher apprentices pursuing their teacher certifications.
