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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles announced that the 2024 STAAR results show significant academic growth, marking one of the best years in the district’s history.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Miles praised the performance of HISD students and teachers, noting impressive achievements in the third through eighth grade STAAR exams and end-of-course exams in high school. “Our kids did great. Our teachers did great,” Miles said. “They achieved one of the best academic growth years that the district has ever experienced. The NES schools (New Education System) posted even higher gains than the district.”
Miles highlighted that NES schools outperformed non-NES schools, and the district surpassed state averages, which will be officially released on Friday. He emphasized that while the district still has a significant achievement gap, there has been notable progress in narrowing it, especially among minority students.
“The gap is still large. We have a huge achievement gap in our district, but we’re narrowing it, which is really good,” he said. “The whole district did well, but our minority students did even better in closing the gap. These results far exceed expectations for year one growth. I knew we would get results, but this level of growth even I didn’t expect.”
Miles showcased the success of Wainwright Elementary, an F-rated school converted to the NES model. In 2023, 17% of the school’s third-grade students met or exceeded expectations in reading, which increased to 46% in 2024. Similarly, fifth-grade math scores improved from 11% to 54%.
Addressing critics of the changes, Miles expressed hope that the conversation would shift from skepticism to understanding why NES is effective. He noted that NES schools achieved the largest single-year increase in reading and math scores of any urban district in Texas.
“Our kids stepped up, and our teachers stepped up. They rose to the challenge. There’s no question it was a tough year with all the changes,” Miles said.
For the 2024-25 school year, an additional 45 schools will transition to the NES model, bringing the total to 130. Miles believes the strong test results justify expanding the program and sees even greater potential for improvement in the upcoming school year.
“We will start on August 12 running,” Miles said. “It won’t take three or four weeks to get used to engagement strategies, the NES model, what does it even mean, this or that. We won’t have that.”