Pflugerville’s STAAR passing rates slip
Superintendent: District still surpasses statewide results, reflecting its performance.
State standardized test results from the Pflugerville school district this year show passing rates decreasing nearly across the board when compared with prior years of testing.
Results from students in grades 3 through 8 who took the Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness in the spring showed rates for passing students falling by as much as 8 percent from last year and as much as 9 percent from 2012, when the test was first implemented.
Pflugerville students fared better in math, where the passing rates remained close to those of last year. The only outlier was seventh-grade math, where 4 percent fewer Pflugerville students passed the test.
Despite the dip in scores, Pflugerville students performed better in every category except three when compared with statewide scores. Among the three categories were seventh-grade math, where 59 percent of Pflugerville students passed the test compared with 68 percent statewide.
Pflugerville schools Superintendent Doug Killian noted his district’s passing rates as consistently surpassing statewide results and said they are just one of many indicators of district performance.
“We will use these and other indicators to continuously improve our instructional practices and prepare our students for long-term success,” he said in a statement. “(The School District) has instilled a culture of working tirelessly to help every student reach his or her potential.”
Pflugerville school board President Vernagene Mott said attendance could have affected STAAR testing, specifically during the Day Without Immigrants rally on Feb. 16. The district reported 4,421 student absences that day, which Mott said can have a detrimental effect on education.
“That had a huge impact on our district,” she said. “You may think one day doesn’t matter, but the disruption of just one day was critical.”
According to data from the Texas Education Agency, students statewide on average did worse on STAAR this year on all subjects except for math.
The percentages of students in Texas who passed in the spring were lower in most subjects compared with last year’s results. Students struggled the most on reading and English tests, with the statewide passing rate for fourth-graders dropping seven7 percentage points to 70 percent.
Sandy Kress, a policy consultant who was a senior education adviser to President George W. Bush, said a primary reason for the lackluster test scores in Texas is an inconsistent school accountability system that undergoes changes nearly every year. Since the STAAR test was implemented five years ago, the number of mandated tests has been cut back, and the state has changed the method by which it grades school districts.