DISD STUDENTS MAKE TAKS GAINS IN MATH, WRITING, SCIENCE

19 May 2006

DISD Students Make Gains in 23 of 26 Subject-by-grade Comparisons, With Gains Of 16.8 Percentage Points in 10^th Grade Reading, 13.8 Percentage Points in 11^th Grade Math

DALLAS—Dallas Independent School District students continued to make gains on the state's Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests, with all grades in the district seeing gains in math, writing and science. In grades 3-11, 81 percent of the tested areas showed improvement and gains as high as 16.8 percentage points in tenth grade reading, and 13.8 percentage points in eleventh grade math.

In figures that exclude Wilmer-Hutchins ISD students and Katrina/Rita students, the district scores dropped only in seventh and eleventh grade reading, and tenth grade social studies, and showed gains in 88 percent of the areas or 23 of the 26 areas. Eighth grade reading held steady with no gains. In all other grades, improvements ranged from 0.5 percentage points in eighth grade social studies, to the 16.8 percentage point gain in tenth grade reading/English language arts.

"The results of the TAKS test in DISD for this past year are highly encouraging," Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said Wednesday. "These scores still leave a lot of room for improvement; however, it appears that the message that we are serious about improving the quality of education provided in our district is being heard and having a positive impact on teaching and learning."

The DISD Board of Trustees has adopted high challenging targets for student performance in all tested areas. Preliminary analysis of these results when compared to the performance targets indicate that we are on track to meet all goals. Over 60 percent of the TAKS goals were met with more test results to come.

All five student groups in DISD met the 2006 state accountability standards for each of the five subjects.

2006 English TAKS by Student Group

Note: Shaded cells indicate negative growth for the student group.

The scores for students in the district, excluding the Wilmer-Hutchins students, are listed below:

2006 English TAKS by Grade - Without W-H and Katrina/Rita Students

The scores for students in the district, including Wilmer-Hutchins and Katrina/Rita students are included below:

2006 English TAKS by Grade

All passing standards are at Panel Recommendation.

"Obviously, we are encouraged by these results, but we have a lot of work to do through our Dallas Achieves! transformation process," Hinojosa said. "We can do better and we must do better faster. By meeting our targets, we can still achieve our goal of becoming an exemplary-rated school district in 2010."

The superintendent also noted that 15 percent, or 1,125 DISD seniors, have not passed the exit TAKS required by state law in order to graduate. Of those who failed, 44 percent failed at least two tests. Although, the students are seniors, they may not have earned the necessary credits for graduation. A table is included below showing the percentages of those who failed the tests.

The district also noted that Hispanic students represented the highest percentage of seniors who did not pass TAKS.

"The number of seniors not meeting the passing standards is troubling and an issue that is being addressed through Dallas Achieves!, by board policy and the administration's insistence next year to enforce our bilingual staffing plan in the district," Hinojosa said.

Percent of Seniors Who Have Not

Passed Exit TAKS

April 2006 Administration

Percent of Seniors Who Have Not Passed Exit TAKS

By Student Group