While Houston ISD officials have celebrated receiving a B grade this year under the state’s academic accountability system, the district fell short of most of its own goals for 2018-19, including all of those aimed at closing achievement gaps between students.

An HISD report published this month shows the district met seven of its 19 performance targets for the previous school year, largely due to continued challenges educating students who historically have struggled in the classroom. Several groups of students already performing at below-average rates — including children living in poverty, receiving special education services and learning English as a second language — did not show significant progress in 2018-19, leading to several failed goals.

Trustees set performance targets at the outset of 2018-19 as part of the state’s governance framework, which encourages districts to create targets tailored to their priorities. The goals are expected to serve as a road map for district administrators as they carry out the school board’s vision. State officials do not punish districts for failing to meet these targets.

Trustee Anne Sung said the district has “a lot to celebrate” following 2018-19, including some jumps in reading scores, rising rates of postsecondary readiness and improvements at many Achieve 180 schools. Yet, she said, too many children continue to lag behind academically and enter high school unprepared for challenging courses.

“Our measures really only look at how we’re doing in the aggregate, so as a district, we can make overall progress while still fielding real challenges in some schools,” Sung said. “The growth tends to be happening at the schools that already have the strongest programs. We have to get top-quality academics at all of our schools, so that all students can take advantage of those opportunities.”

The district accomplished two of its top academic goals — improving writing performance on state and district assessments, and raising rates of readiness for life after high school — and succeeded in expanding its signature “wraparound” initiative, which involves pairing students with social service providers.

However, HISD narrowly missed its targets aimed at closing standardized test performance gaps in math and reading among students receiving special education services, as well as students whose primary language is not English. The district also saw gaps in math and reading test passage rates widen significantly — from 17 percent to 22 percent — between lower-income and higher-income students.

In addition, HISD fell slightly short of three goals centered on students completing more rigorous high school classes, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual credit, and career and technical education courses. Campuses that serve students from higher-poverty backgrounds, including those covered under the district’s signature Achieve 180 turnaround program, continue to have well-below-average rates of advanced course completion.

In a statement, HISD highlighted several district accomplishments that are not part of the school board’s goals, including recent reductions in schools receiving a failing grade.

“Over the last few years, the district has worked diligently to transform the academic outcomes of HISD students,” the statement said. “As a result, 92 percent of HISD schools earned a passing grade from the state this year. We have the lowest number of struggling schools since 2012.”

In many ways, HISD’s targets were more aggressive and wide-ranging than those established by the Texas Education Agency, which rates districts and schools annually based on standardized test scores, graduation rates, and college, career or military readiness metrics. HISD received an 88 out of 100 rating from the TEA this year, fractionally higher than the state average of 87.3, and better than most large, urban school districts.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Wheatley High’s failing grade overshadows HISD’s strong overall rating

HISD continues to perform slightly below state average on Texas’ standardized tests, known as STAAR, and reported average growth on the assessments in 2019. HISD scores high under the state’s academic accountability framework largely because it outperforms many districts with similar student poverty levels.

The district’s widening achievement gap among lower-income and higher-income students largely stemmed from more affluent students making significant test gains, while less affluent students remained stagnant.

Naomi Dvoretsky, president of Field Elementary School’s parent-teacher organization, said individualized plans for students crafted by a strong, consistent teaching staff have helped close gaps at the Greater Heights campus. Field Elementary’s economically disadvantaged students, who comprise about 70 percent of the school, perform at virtually identical rates on state tests as non-economically disadvantaged students.

“I think that’s what makes Field unique: they’re not leaving any child behind,” Dvoretsky said of the 450-student campus, which won a prestigious 2019 National Blue Ribbon Award last week. “Field definitely has very high standards for the students, and I’ve noticed that from kindergarten on.”

District trustees started using a goal-setting framework first established in 2017-18, which largely served as a baseline year. Board members can tweak their targets for 2019-20, though the district is expected to keep many of the same metrics in place.

Last Thursday, at an HISD school board candidate forum ahead of November’s elections, when four of nine board seats are on the ballot, several candidates said they would add targets tied to installing new programs at campuses, creating funding equity between schools and improving third-grade literacy rates.

“This is the signature issue: every child reads by third grade,” said Matt Barnes, one of four candidates to replace outgoing Trustee Jolanda Jones in District IV, which covers parts of downtown and southeastern Houston.

HISD’s elected board is expected to lose power in 2020 and be replaced by a state-appointed governance team due to chronically low performance at Wheatley High School. A state law passed in 2015 mandates that Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath close long-struggling campuses or sideline the elected board of trustees in any district with a school receiving five consecutive failing grades. Morath has not publicly stated which option he would employ, but it widely is expected he would replace HISD’s much-maligned governing board.

jacob.carpenter@chron.com