DISD Fifth-grade Math TAKS Improvements Surpass State Gains

22 Apr 2005

DISD Interim Superintendent Hails Improvements, Cites Need To Continue Focus On Achievement

DALLAS—Evidence of the hard work being done to improve student TAKS scores was released Friday when the Dallas Independent School District announced fifth-grade math scores overall had improved by nine percentage points, surpassing the state average improvement of six percentage points, and further showing that the district is getting closer to meeting the state’s expectations.

The district’s passing rate showed an improvement of 15 percent from 2004 to 2005. In 76 percent of the district’s 136 elementary schools, nearly one-half of the schools had a double-digit gain in their passing rates from the same time period.

Gains in achievement among Hispanic, Anglo, economically disadvantaged and limited English-proficient students surpassed state gains while African American students kept pace with their counterparts statewide.

"This is great news for the Dallas Independent School District’s fifth grade students, parents and teachers. We are seeing double-digit gains in almost half of our elementary schools," said Interim Superintendent Larry Groppel. "We are by no means where we want to be but the trend lines all are headed in the right direction."

Overall, two out of every three or 68 percent of all DISD fifth-graders passed the fifth-grade
math test. However, this was below the state average of 79 percent. State gains on the fifth-grade math test were up only six percentage points while the district’s gains were up by 9 percentage points overall. The difference between the district’s scores and the state’s was 11 percent.

The passing percentages of the three ethnic subgroups varied from 60 percent for African American students, 70 percent for Hispanic students, and 84 percent for Anglo students. The difference between most of the DISD and state subgroup results was between four and five percentage points.

LEP students passing scores averaged seven points below the state average and special education student scores were 25 percentage points below the state’s average.

Groppel said that the district’s math department already has identified campuses where there were significant decreases in performance on the test and already has outlined intervention plans for students who failed the exam.

"We continue to take these failures quite seriously and already have plans of action in place to address those students who did not pass," Groppel said. "We will meet with their campus leadership to address these results and determine what we can do to prevent similar results in the future."