Methods of instruction in Texas focus on improving the math portion of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Last year’s results reveal students have continued to improve since the COVID-19 pandemic, but more than half of them still need significant improvement in math and grade-level reading.
In 2023, results for reading-language arts proficiency among students in grades 3-8 remain largely unchanged from 2022. Meanwhile, in math, “the significant effects of the pandemic still linger,” according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). However, the results of 2023 suggest that the “intensive supports offered by Texas public school systems are working.” Per the results, all but the sixth graders showed an increase in the percentage of students that met grade level.
45% of students in grades 3-8 who took math or Algebra I last year passed the STAAR test. While their math scores increased slightly from last year, they are still seven percentage points behind the state average in 2019, reported the Texas Tribune. Moreover, the percentage of students who passed their grade level decreased from last year.
From the figure above, we can also see that the number of students who mastered their grade level math Algebra-I from grades 3-8 has been fluctuating since the pandemic. Before COVID-19 struck, 26% of all students in Texas mastered the subject. That percentage drastically decreased in 2021 to 17%, increased slightly to 20% in 2022, and then fell again in 2023 to 18%.
The states’ overall math scores in 2023 were four points higher than the national average, but the percentage of students who have mastered math is behind the national average.
Why is being good at math so important?
To some students, being good at math is quite a feat. It’s true that the subject is not everyone’s forte. However, it might be interesting to note that math can be treated as a yardstick to measure a nation’s capabilities on a global scale.
“America’s poor math performance is a threat to the nation’s global economic competitiveness and national security,” says an article titled “America’s Bad Math Scores Are a Problem, Experts Say.”
The U.S. Defense Department has called for an initiative to support science, technology, engineering, and math or STEM education, saying that China has eight times as many college graduates in these disciplines and Russia has four times as many engineers as in the United States. Moreover, jobs using math, like making calculations and analyzing data, will increase by 29% by 2031 or by more than 30,000 jobs per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What the state did to encourage students
The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 2124 last year, which requires school districts to develop an advanced math program for middle schoolers to enable them to enroll in Algebra I in the eighth grade.
Moreover, it automatically promotes middle school students who performed in the top 40% on the fifth-grade STAAR assessment to enroll in the program.
Sen. Brandon Creighton, who wrote the law, told the Texas Tribune that a student’s performance in high-level mathematics will contribute to their earnings as well as to a “healthy Texas economy.”
What are the challenges?
The COVID-19 pandemic came with its own set of challenges, from the shift to learning from home to a disproportionate access to internet and electronic devices.
These were exacerbated by the teacher shortage crisis across the state. Texas still had about 376,000 teachers during the 2021-22 school year, but 12% left their job that year. This denoted an increase of two percentage points from the previous year. Moreover, more than 8,500 teachers retired in 2021, about 1,000 more than in 2020.
Moreover, the state does not publish data on unfilled teacher positions. It has, however, report that 29,426 teachers were teaching a subject that fell outside their certified subject area in the 2021–22 school year. TEA also hired 8,435 teachers without a certification or permit, and 794 teachers with emergency permits for the 2021–22 school year. Thus, the proportion of student outcomes that is dependent on experienced teaching is affected.
What schools are doing
Around 400 school districts in Texas, both public and private, are implementing a new math curriculum called Eureka Math and Zearn, which aligns with state standards, includes learning for teachers, and provides grade-level content access to students.
Texas is yet to know if Eureka Math is effective, until the next STAAR results are released later this year. However, schools that have used this method have seen an improvement in scores.
