Houston schools report reading and assessment gains; district to submit literacy plan to state

District site leaders presented year-end assessment data showing gains across multiple sites and student groups.

Elementary and middle sites: presenters reported that 93.4% of elementary students showed growth on FastBridge reading assessments this year. Officials said a midyear pilot curriculum change had not prevented year-end improvements and noted testing challenges in online settings.

MNBA High School: Tracy reported the high school exceeded its site goal (target 70% improvement from fall to spring), achieving a 72% improvement for students who took both administrations. Staff noted many students were already at grade level in fall and said incentives were used to increase participation.

ALP and summit: Shelley Gates said the alternative learning program and summit students exceeded the goal for identified at-risk students: 66% showed midyear growth and 78% showed end-of-year growth among the target group.

Preschool and elementary: presenters reported preschool gains tied to the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, with AM and PM preschool showing 88% and 85% respectively meeting target drawing/writing benchmarks. Elementary sites exceeded a stretch reading-growth goal (14% growth) and reported 61% of students meeting grade-level reading benchmarks.

District literacy plan: staff said the district will submit a literacy plan to the state of Minnesota in July; the state will review and issue required actions. The plan was described as provided for board review but not yet formally approved by the board.

What this means: administrators characterized the results as evidence that interventions and consistent staffing were improving student outcomes; presenters urged continued attention to testing participation and the upcoming change to statewide reading assessments in grades 4–12.