DISD Can't Close Achievement Gaps Overnight, But It's Moving in the Right Direction

The percentage of Dallas ISD students on track for success after high school lags behind the rates for Dallas County and the state overall.But this isn't an editorial beating up on DISD. Instead, we're here to show a picture that those raw numbers hide: DISD is making strides on this important post-secondary standard, and its growth has actually outpaced that in the county and state over the last four years. What's more, thousands fewer DISD students are being educated on Improvement Required campuses compared with other urban Texas districts.Those are encouraging signs in a district that has worked for years to close the achievement gap. Experts say it takes steady gains year over year to turn around large districts. That's especially true in DISD, where 90 percent of its 157,000 students are poor.An analysis by the nonprofit Commit shows that from 2012 to 2016, DISD's postsecondary proficiency improved by 9 percentage points, from 24 to 33 percent. Over the same period, Dallas County improved 7 points, to 39 percent; the state, 7 points, to 44 percent.  Continue reading...