It is easy to feel discouraged after the mixed results in the latest STAAR data set. Last month, the Texas Education Agency released scores showing that progress has slowed and the percentage of students meeting standards declined by one percentage point in Dallas County and across the state.

While this stagnation in reading and math scores in state academic assessments signals that pandemic learning losses linger, a closer look at Dallas County school districts shows that some are defying the trend.

One such outlier is Cedar Hill ISD, and its above-average performance is worth examining. In this district, the number of students meeting state standards in fourth-grade reading and math grew by more than five percentage points year to year. In sixth grade, the number of students who met reading and math standards grew by over 10 percentage points, the Commit Partnership reported. The district has consistently improved its academic performance over the years.

What is Cedar Hill ISD doing? The answer points to a mix of practical academic strategies, consistency in school leadership, parental involvement and accountability. The old saying rings true: It takes a village. The progress is remarkable for a school district where two-thirds of the student body are economically disadvantaged.

Amber Shields, managing director from Early Matters Dallas in Commit, underscored several strategies implemented by the district of about 7,000 students. This includes early intervention for students at risk of failing a subject, professional development for a younger teacher workforce and high-quality instructional materials. The district has also enhanced how it engages with parents. Cedar Hill ISD conducts workshops to keep families informed and provide them with resources and materials for at-home support.

“This means that these students are on a path to living wage attainment. … It begins with our students meeting these important benchmarks in school,” Shields told us.

Most important, the district has had consistent leadership. Gerald Hudson in Cedar Hill is one of three superintendents in Dallas County with a tenure of five years or more. The other two are Ricardo López in Garland ISD and Magda Hernandez in Irving ISD.

Cedar Hill is not the only bright spot: DeSoto, Irving, Lancaster and Mesquite school districts are also exceeding the average statewide growth in performance, according to Commit.

Across Texas, the overall picture is grim, with only 40% of eighth-grade students scoring at grade level or above in math. There is an urgency to change this picture. The state’s economic momentum and innovation need a strong local talent pipeline.

While parents in other Dallas County districts may be disappointed in those districts’ results, there is a silver lining: Many districts are employing the right strategies to raise student scores, Shields said. But results take time.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was out of the lineup for the second straight game Tuesday night since getting hit by a pitch on his left wrist.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Seager took some swings before the series opener at home against San Diego, and was doing better since getting hit Saturday night. The shortstop went to the ground before getting up and walking off the field after getting struck on a check swing in Baltimore.

Initial X-rays revealed no broken bone, and that was confirmed by an MRI on Monday after the Rangers got home from the trip.

While the Rangers hope to get Seager back soon, third baseman Josh Jung hasn’t swung a bat since his last rehabilitation game June 20. He is coming back from a fractured right wrist that occurred when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth game of the season on April 1. He had surgery the next day.

Jung has been dealing with inflammation and soreness in the tendon of his wrist after 17 at-bats in four rehab games.

“Just trying to get this thing to calm down. That’s really all we’re doing,” Jung said Tuesday in the Rangers clubhouse.

Outfielder Evan Carter, who has missed 31 games with a lumbar sprain, has been taking some swings at the team’s complex in Arizona, and Bochy said he should be facing live pitching within a few days. Carter is still considered a rookie even after his debut at the end of last season and his standout play through the playoffs as the Rangers won the World Series.

Right-hander Tyler Mahle was making his first rehab start Tuesday night for Double-A Frisco, about 13 1/2 months after he had Tommy John surgery in May 2023. The Rangers signed him to a $22 million, two-year contract during the winter, knowing he would be out for much of this season. If all goes well, he could join the team in early August.

Jung was voted by fans as the American League starter in last year’s All-Star Game when he was a rookie. He said he is trying to keep his legs fresh and in shape. He does some stuff in the batting cage trying to see pitches and can go through some fielding work without throwing the ball.

“Not a whole lot baseball activity-wise,” he said. “I try to do everything I can to stay as ready as I can. … I’m not really able to do a whole lot right night, so just do everything I can to stay ready in my mind.”

Bochy said Jung had a significant injury, and the manager expressed that he’s “not surprised there’s been a hiccup or two along the way.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, became the first elected Democrat to call on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, saying “too much is at stake.”

Acknowledging Biden’s accomplishments for his party, Doggett said in a Tuesday statement that “many Americans have indicated dissatisfaction with their choices in this election.”

“President Biden has continued to run substantially behind Democratic senators in key states and in most polls has trailed Donald Trump. I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trump’s many lies,” Doggett said.

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“Our overriding consideration must be who has the best hope of saving our democracy from an authoritarian takeover by a criminal and his gang,” he continued. “Too much is at stake to risk a Trump victory — too great a risk to assume that what could not be turned around in a year, what was not turned around in the debate, can be turned around now.”

“President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020. He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024,” he added.

Amid his call for Biden to withdraw, Doggett reflected on the “painful” decision made by former President Lyndon Johnson not to seek re-election to the White House in 1968.

“I represent the heart of a congressional district once represented by Lyndon Johnson. Under very different circumstances, he made the painful decision to withdraw. President Biden should do the same,” the Texas lawmaker said. “While much of his work has been transformational, he pledged to be transitional.”

Doggett claimed Biden “has the opportunity to encourage a new generation of leaders from whom a nominee can be chosen to unite our country through an open, democratic process.”

“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved. Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so,” he concluded.

This is a developing story.