AUSTIN, Texas — Austin ISD is reporting a slight increase in students who are reading and doing math at grade level.
According to AISD, this year, economically disadvantaged middle school African American and white students read at their grade level 1% higher than the year before. Plus, there was a 2% increase in special education students reading at grade level. And African American students improved in math by 2%.
President of Education Austin Ken Zarifis looked back at his journey with his son in elementary school, remembering how much he was struggling because of virtual learning.
"It was just, he wasn’t reading. There was no fluency whatsoever, he was decoding some words," he said. "I have to say, I felt a bit like a failure. It was hard for me. It’s not his fault. He’s just trying to do the best he can."
Right now, according to the district, only 16% of economically disadvantaged kids in middle school are reading and doing math at grade level, which is less than the state’s number of 26%.
“We have to remember, this was a year out of school. It’s going to take more than a few months to catch kids up,” said Zarifis.
But in this year alone, Zarifis has seen improvements in his son’s learning, and he attributes it to great teachers and learning in-person.
“I’ve just seen, over the last couple of months, his reading skills have just, every sign we go across, he’s reading a sign. He’s reading as we pass by in the car,” he said.
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