Here’s yet more evidence that - tragically - Texas is stagnant now in educational results for students.
We've seen flat-to-down NAEP scores for the past four years. We've seen a slowdown in the growth of completion rates in higher education for the past two years. Now we see flatness in STAAR results for four straight years despite the fact that the Commissioner has kept the passing bar on these tests at pitifully low levels.
The sad fact that is missing in the public discussion of this huge problem is that Texas was universally seen as one of the best improving states from 1993-2009. Rand labeled Texas and North Carolina as the best improvers in the 1990s. No state had a better trajectory up on NAEP through the mid-late 2000s than Texas. We were achieving double digit increases in postsecondary credentials for several years until the past couple of years.
Texas is on the wrong track, and its policies are now getting worse year after year. One hopes for the sake of our students and our future that the public wakes up to this waywardness and drives our leaders to change direction before more damage is done.