by Nicole Bradford
Math is continuing to be an issue across the board in state testing, and Pearland ISD school board members noted it during a review of the most recent STAAR results.
Overall, PISD scored 19 percent above the state average in students meeting grade level in English language arts and 20 percent above in mathematics.
Still, seventh-grade math scores have dipped in the last two years, staff reported, possibly a result of advanced seventh graders switching to taking the eighth-grade test. In addition, a decline in math scores was also noted among third-graders.
“Those students were in kindergarten — or not — during COVID, so we have a learning loss,” Superintendent Larry Berger said. “Math has not recovered for us or the state, but (reading language arts) has.”
Areas of concern are addressed through individual learning plans, curriculum, intervention and tutoring, Berger said.
“We are not resting on the fact that we are pleased with these scores,” he said. “Math was an issue across the board for every state, region and district. So we are getting together to figure out how an we close these gaps.”
The STAAR is used to measure state-mandated educational standards for each grade level.
“All year we get allegations of the teachers just teach to the test,” Trustee Kris Schoeffler said regarding the STAAR. “We’d like to point out this is how we benchmark ourselves and how we are successful. This does have a lot of value; this helps direct our educational efforts. Yes, we’re teaching to the test — because it tests what they are supposed to learn.”
A breakdown of test results in academic areas and grade levels is available on the district website, pearlandisd.org.
