Today, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released the Family & Research Portals for parents and community members to view passage rates for End-of-Course exams (EOCs) in school systems across the state for the 2023-24 school year. Notably, preliminary data show growth across all high school grades and subjects for 7 of the county’s 14 traditional public school districts. This means, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, over half of Dallas County students across all districts and charters are meeting state standards across all EOCs.
EOC results allow school leaders, the community, and policymakers to understand how many high school students are meeting state standards in important core curricular subjects such as math, English and history. In particular, analysis from the E3 Alliance and UT Austin Education Research Center suggests the Algebra I EOC is predictive of future success in later grades and postsecondary education. 7 Dallas County school districts grew the number of students meeting state standards in Algebra I from last year to this one while the state remained flat.
DeSoto ISD experienced an over 5 percentage point increase in students meeting state standards on this important academic milestone. Dallas, Duncanville, Garland, Grand Prairie and Richardson also saw gains in this critical subject of at least one percentage point. Elsewhere, Garland and Cedar Hill ISDs saw over 5 points of growth in Biology, and Mesquite ISD grew over 3 points in US History in spite of a statewide decline of over 2 points.
“We are heartened to see students in Dallas County improving, particularly in core foundational subjects like Algebra 1,” says Commit Chief State Impact Officer Bridget Worley. “However, proficiency rates continue to signal that more focus is needed on accelerated instruction, including high impact tutoring. The health of our county and our state depends on our ability to improve academic outcomes and see more students on the path to college or a great career.”
Assessment data provides an excellent opportunity to gauge the effectiveness of our current educational practices. More importantly, it allows us to applaud and learn from school systems and campuses that are exceeding expectations and experiencing remarkable growth. For this reason, we’re thankful the TEA has made this information available earlier than in previous years.
The Commit Partnership holds itself accountable, in part, to growth on EOCs in all grades and subjects in Dallas County as part of its true north goal to increase living wage attainment for young people in the region. We will offer more in-depth analysis of trends in Dallas County and across the state in the coming weeks and months as more information becomes available.
