The scores recently released are from the Math assessment. And Superintendent Terry Grier says Houston was at or near the top in both grade levels.
"We did quite well. We were very pleased with the progress we have made. The district has shown steady progress since 2003."
While other tests may tell you how students are doing in certain subjects, this test allows the district to compare itself with similar districts across the country.
"We were compared with Texas school districts such as: Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and districts across the country like New York City, districts like Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston. We did quite well."
Some of the other subjects that are tested periodically include science, history, writing, geography and the arts. Doctor Grier says it's not just math that HISD has done well in.
"Well, we've been number one in a number of categories at a number of grade levels and we did and we were very pleased with that, but we've got a lot more work to do. We need to increase the number of our students scoring proficient—at grade level or above."
What he means is, just because HISD scored better than other large districts doesn't mean most students in Houston actually had high scores...it just means they did better than other districts who may be struggling themselves. That's why Superintendent Grier says there's still a lot of work to be done.