Student Performance Summary  

Texas Public schools have demonstrated over time the ability to radically improve the performance of all students on rigorous state standards. We have had a story of success with fundamental school reform and overall school improvement that has been recognized at the national level. The Princeton Review rated Texas as having the second best assessment program in the nation. Achieve, Inc., a non-partisan organization, reported in July 2002 that Texas is a model of reform for other states. Texas educators have the vision and the will to continue this story, this history of success, but success has a price.

With the increased demands of this information economy, the growth of this state, and the changing demographics, Texans cannot afford not to appropriately and significantly fund public education. Without the appropriate resources, student performance and student learning in Texas will be negatively impacted. The future of Texas public schools is in the hands of the Texas Legislature and the citizens of this state. The Coalition to Invest in Texas Schools urges the Legislature to make public education funding their highest priority.

• Over a nine-year period, student performance measured by the TAAS examination, improved dramatically. Results combined for all students show a 17-percentage point improvement from 74% to 91% of the students meeting the state standard. African American students meeting expectations rose from 58% in 1994 to 86% in 2002. Hispanic student performance rose from 63% to 87% during this time, and low-income student performance rose from 61% to 86%. Limited English proficient students posted a 30-percentage-point gain over this period as well (Texas Education Agency).

• Most recently, Texas third-grade students showed improvement on a new and harder reading test, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). In 2003, 81% of students met the test passing standard set by a panel of national experts. In 2004, 88% met the standard on the first administration of the test. In 2004, over one-third of students scored so well that they were awarded “commended performance” designation (Texas Education Agency).

• During the decade of the 1990s, Texas students posted the second-largest improvement on a national test called the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). North Carolina was the only state with more improvement (RAND Corporation, What Do Test Scores in Texas Tell Us?).

• Independent analysis by the RAND Corporation reports that, within racial/ethnic groups, average performance of Texas students tends to be about six percentage points higher than the national average. According RAND, an evaluation of raw NAEP scores from 1999-2000 shows Texas to rank 27 out of 47 states. When the results are controlled for family variables, Texas ranks 1st out of 47 states for scores for students from similar families (RAND Corporation, Assessing NAEP Achievement in Texas: Good News and Bad News).