Houston ISD expands NES program to 26 more schools
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More than two dozen Houston ISD schools will be added to the district's New Education System in the upcoming school year.
Why it matters: It's the first major expansion of the program since it was introduced by state-appointed superintendent Mike Miles in 2023, after the Texas Education Agency (TEA) took over the district over years of failing test scores at Wheatley High School.
- By the beginning of the 2024-25 school year, more than 45% of Houston ISD's 274 schools will be under the NES umbrella. Currently, only 31% of schools are in the program.
Driving the news: The district crunched TEA data from the 2022-23 school year to identify 26 schools it will automatically integrate into the program starting in the fall.
- Of the 26 schools joining the NES program, 20 received an F rating based on the district's calculations of TEA data on standardized testing, graduation rates and more. The other six received a low D rating.
- There are 85 schools currently in the NES program.
Of note: An ongoing lawsuit is preventing the TEA from releasing ratings on school performance to the public.
- But state officials released their methodology and raw data to individual school districts, which is how HISD calculated its schools' scores.
Also, an additional 24 schools that scored a high D rating are eligible to join the NES program starting in the 2024-25 school year.
- Principals will gather input from staff members and families, and they have until Feb. 7 to decide if they want to join the program.
- Only 14 of those schools will be selected.
Catch up fast: NES schools see drastic changes to how classrooms are managed on a day-to-day basis.
- Schools in the program have more rigorous schedules, standardized curriculum and daily quizzes — as well as an implemented "hospital model" in which teachers focus on instruction and aides handle other tasks like grading papers.
What they're saying: "The ratings generally show declining achievement," Miles said in a press release. "The good news, though, is that this school year we are seeing encouraging signs of progress."
- Miles pointed to above-average growth in reading and math during midyear exams as a reason for optimism.
- Of HISD schools, those in the NES program saw bigger gains on the reading and math exams, the district said.
Context: Texas-based educational nonprofit Children at Risk rankings showed more than 75% of HISD schools performed worse in 2023 than in 2022, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis released Monday.
Flashback: Miles previously said he wants to expand the program to 150 schools by 2025.