District says Data is not Up-to-Date; misses recent improvements
By Gilbert Hoffman
A recent published article on the Houston Landing website has called out the Aldine ISD District as failing to achieve any meaningful progress in Academic benchmarks, since the beginning of Superintendent LaTonya Goffney’s appointment in 2018. The study is part of a project that Houston Landing is undertaking with its team of education reporters. Houston Landing is a well funded independent news source covering matters in the Houston region.
As part of the research for their article, HL assembled data from the State Texas Education Agency, and compared it to districts that were similar in size and demographics. Pasadena and Alief were used as comparisons, as well as Fort Worth and Irving. The article focused on Aldine because it ranked lowest in improvement among similar districts.
Specifically, HL cited the following problems in the Aldine District:
• 30% teacher turnover, 20% teachers without experience
• 50% of new teachers uncertified
• Only 80% of students graduate on time, among the lowest rate in Texas, and little improvement during Goffney’s tenure
• Only 50% of graduates ready for college or career
• Test scores in Math and Reading are lower than comparable districts, and rate of improvement is lower.
However, Aldine administration stated that the article did not take into account STAAR test scores for 2024, where reading and math scores improved by as much as 4%.
When questioned about why Aldine District has lack of improvement and lower test scores, the administration points to several factors:
• COVID occurred in the middle of the six-year period under the study, and schools were closed for several months.
• During the COVID closures, students studied on-line, which was not as good as in person, and put them behind in learning.
• Teacher shortages, both locally and statewide make recruiting and retention more difficult. Superintendent Goffney was quoted as saying, “If we don’t have the best teachers… we will continue to struggle.”
• Goffney claims that at the start of her tenure, the students were not as prepared as she expected, and therefore they had more learning required to catch up.
The Aldine administration is working on a number of Initiatives to deal with these problems, and to bring up the test results in these categories, according to a meeting that this newspaper held with the administration. These include:
• A new approach to Literacy (reading)
• The overhaul of two of the lowest performing schools with the ACE program (best teachers, longer hours)
• Joined a System of Great Schools state program
• A New campus for immigrants (La Promesa)
• A Health Academy at Nimitz
• Young Woman’s Academy, All Boys School
• Avalos P-Tech high school
• Collaboration with Lone Star College, Rice, and University of Houston
• Longer school year and 30 more school days
In addition, teacher recruitment has been successful and schools are now 95% staffed, they said. Newer teachers are mentored and coached on all campuses. To be competitive, starting salaries had been raised to compare favorably with other districts.
Spokesperson for the District Sheila Adams pointed out that the HL article did not include data from the most recent year, and therefore did not reflect some improvements. Cited were a drop in absenteeism by 7%, and improvement in reading and math scores, and graduation rates, although these gains have been slight.
One example of an Initiative and improvement is Victory Early College High School, with a 100% graduation rate, and 66% of its graduates going on to college. This compares with MacArthur, where only 83% graduated, and 33% went on to college.
The Aldine community, and especially the parents, seem satisfied with the district and its performance, according to interviews that HL had with parents. The School Board has rated Goffney highly, and continued her contract. Board president Kimberly Booker said that Goffney brings “excitement” and “innovation” to the district, and notes she has a high reputation in the educational field in the state. However, State Representative Armando Walle, a MacArthur graduate, noted that the statistics “speak for themselves” and could be better. Pct. 2 County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said that “Aldine ISD must rethink its approach.”
Superintendent Goffney has said that due to the factors such as COVID and the teacher shortage, she needs more time for her Initiatives to show their effectiveness to bring improvements in the scores. She is quoted as saying, “God knows… we are not where we want to be, but we are working hard to get there.”
The District is now implementing a new five year improvement plan, entitled “Accelerate.” This plan sets goals of about 10% improvement in 3rd and 8th grade math and reading scores, and 12% increase in CCMR, or College and Career and Military readiness after graduation.
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