Texas children's overall well-being ranks low, even amid education gains
Texas ranks 34th in a state-by-state study of child well-being, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Still, students in the Lone Star State performed above the national average on several academic assessments, and Hidalgo County topped many of the statewide averages.
In its Kids Count Data Book released Tuesday, the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore said increasing rates of child poverty, infant mortality, single-parent households and low birth weight put the state at 34.
But Texas, and Hidalgo County in particular, fared better than average when it came to education, with improvement reflected in the percent of students achieving various state benchmarks.
“The increases are not really surprising,” said Craig Verley, spokesman for the Mission school district. “Education is a priority in this region and I think that shows in the achievements of our students across the board.”
Verley said Texas shifted more attention to math as media reports showed the nation trailing other countries in the subject.
“The economy is tending toward math and science skills as necessary now,” he said. “If our students are going to be competitive in the world market, they’ll need these skills.”
Texas also outscored the nation on fourth-grade writing proficiency, with 29 percent of the state’s fourth-graders deemed at or above proficiency compared to 27 percent nationwide, based on data from 2002.
Though the report’s national comparisons were limited, the study’s analysis showed evident gains in the results of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the state’s battery of standardized tests.
More students passed the math portion of the TAKS in 2008-2009 than in 2004-2005.
In addition, Hidalgo County’s math increases stood above the state’s improvements in all but two grades.
For writing, science and social studies, Hidalgo County students similarly beat state average increases in each tested grade.
While the improvements were encouraging, they might not last long, said Frances Deviney, director of the Texas Kids Count program at the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities.
“Kids have probably been receiving the brunt of negative outcomes for this recession,” Deviney said. “I don’t think (Texas) legislators are targeting kids per se, but there’s pressure to address the budget gaps.”
Texas leaders are cutting 5 percent from the budgets of all state agencies, including education agencies, for the next fiscal year, then 10 percent more the year after that.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency eliminated the Optional Extended Year Program, which Deviney said provided a necessary summer program for students who might be held back a year.
The program’s elimination comes just as Kids Count reported a state- and county-wide 3 percent increase in students getting to 12th grade on time.
“When you start making cuts across the board, kids will inevitably be hurt more than any other group,” Deviney said.
In reading, Texas children are already hurting, with fourth- and eighth-graders trailing the national averages by at least 3 percentage points.
Verley said it’s hard to fix those numbers with smaller budgets.
“A student can’t learn unless they’re reading,” he said. “I’m hoping cuts aren’t going to impact student performance.
“Sometimes it’s more difficult to figure out how to maintain services with a little less money.”
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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956)683-4472.
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GETTING SCHOOLED
At or above proficiency in fourth-grade math
>> United States: 38 percent
>> Texas: 38 percent
At or above proficiency in eighth-grade math
>> United States: 33 percent
>> Texas: 36 percent
At or above proficiency in fourth-grade reading
>> United States: 32 percent
>> Texas: 28 percent
At or above proficiency in eighth-grade reading
>> United States: 30 percent
>> Texas: 27 percent
At or above proficiency in eighth-grade science (2005)
>> United States: 27 percent
>> Texas: 23 percent
At or above proficiency in fourth-grade writing (2002)
>> United States: 27 percent
>> Texas: 29 percent
Source: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Center, datacenter.kidscount.org.
