Texas
Texas children are still struggling with math after the pandemic. Some schools are trying a new approach.
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DALLAS — In Eran McGowan’s math class, students try to teach each other.
If a student is brave enough to share how they solved a math problem, they stand up in front of the other third graders and say, “All eyes on me.” The classroom responds, “All eyes on you,” and the student explains how they did it.
This collaborative method of learning math is part of a new curriculum, named Eureka Math, that was launched in the Dallas Independent School District this school year. It emphasizes helping students better grasp mathematical concepts instead of their performance on the state’s standardized test. The new curriculum is described as a step away from memorization.
The new curriculum “moves away from using tests as a way to measure success,” said McGowan, who teaches at the Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy. “It’s more focused on the kids understanding the concept, and in turn, that will help a child pass assessments.”
While the teaching approach is different, the intent ultimately continues to be helping students do better on the math portion of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. Last summer’s results showed that Texas students have still not caught up to the math scores they had in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Forty-five percent of students who took math in third through eighth grade or Algebra I last year passed the STAAR test. While their math scores represent a slight increase from last year, they are still 7 percentage points behind the state average in 2019.
What’s more, the number of students who went above and beyond and “mastered” the subject has not recovered since the pandemic. In 2023, 19% of all Texas students mastered math at their grade level, down from 26% in 2019. While Texas students’ overall math scores last year were four points higher than the national average, the percentage of students who master math in the state is significantly behind the national average of 38%, according to the Nation’s Report Card, which samples fourth- and eighth-grade students’ reading and math grades across the country.
Policymakers and educators worry that the low number of students who master math will mean not enough Texans will have the skills to meet the demands of the most lucrative, in-demand jobs in the next few decades. They fear Texas will not be able to produce its own workforce and will be forced to look for talent elsewhere. According to a Stanford University study, students who do not bring their math scores back up to pre-pandemic levels will earn 5.6% less over the course of their lives than students with better grades just before the pandemic hit.
“Is our inability to get kids back towards this increased level of mastery — for math — going to limit them in the long run for the types of jobs that you’re going to be able to access, or even feel like they can access, in the future?” said Gabe Grantham, a K-12 policy analyst at Texas 2036, a public policy think tank. “If we don’t do anything about this at the state level in 2025, we’re going to be behind the ball.”
Texas won’t know how well Eureka Math is working until later in the year, when the next STAAR results are released, but there is optimism. About 400 other Texas school districts, both private and public, are using the curriculum. Across the country, districts that have adopted the curriculum have seen scores improve. Dallas ISD piloted the program at Anson Jones Elementary before adopting it districtwide and found that students’ math scores and confidence in their handling of the subject went up.
The Texas Legislature has also taken steps to make it easier for students to advance in their math studies. Lawmakers last year passed Senate Bill 2124, which automatically promotes middle schoolers to a higher math class if they do well at a lower level.
The law’s author, state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said having students perform at a high level in math will increase their lifetime earnings and contribute to a healthy Texas economy. Lawmakers, policy analysts and public education officials are looking for other ways to help students bring up their math scores ahead of the 2025 legislative session, he said.
Grantham said Texas is behind other states when it comes to math reform at the legislative level, but it’s better to design policies based on data and a careful review of what’s working and what’s not.
“We don’t want to throw things at the wall and see what sticks,” he said. “Everyone wants the same silver bullet, but we’re trying to parse out what that actually looks like.”
For now, Texas is betting on laws passed over the last couple of years to help struggling students, such as mandated tutoring and, more recently, a law that makes it easier for teachers and districts to have access to “high-quality” instructional materials. Texas education experts and school administrators believe both policies are promising, though they say staffing shortages have made it difficult to comply with mandatory tutoring.
Teaching challenges
When the pandemic forced Texas schools to close and shift to virtual learning, STAAR scores plummeted to lows not seen in a decade.
Schools and families weren’t ready for the change. Some children didn’t have internet access or computers at home; others were completely absent. Academic achievement in both reading and math took a hit.
Four years later, reading scores have surpassed pre-pandemic levels but students are still struggling with math.
“The pandemic was just such a large-scale interruption, one that our system didn’t really know how to engage with,” said Carlos Nicolas Gómez, an assistant professor of STEM Education at UT-Austin. “And due to that, even coming back, we’re still dealing with the interruption.”
Gómez and Grantham said the reason why students have recovered faster in reading is because they can practice it at home much easier than math.
“Reading, it’s a lot easier for parents to read to their kids at home,” Grantham said. “Math is going to take a lot more direct instruction. That was just lost when kids were out of school.”
When kids came back to the classroom, many didn’t have a grasp of mathematical concepts they should’ve learned in previous years, said Umoja Turner, principal of the Eddie Bernice Johnson STEM Academy.
It fell on teachers to come up with learning plans that incorporated the concepts students are supposed to learn at each grade level, plus fill out the gaps in learning caused by the pandemic.
But Michelle Rinehart, superintendent of the Alpine Independent School District, said the state’s teacher shortage crisis and the departure of experienced teachers from schools have made it difficult to help students catch up. Only two out of her seven math teachers in grades 3-8 have taught math before, she said.
Experienced teachers lead to increased student achievement, according to the Learning Policy Institute, an education policy think tank. But during the last school year, 28% of new teachers hired in Texas did not have a certification or permit to teach, and 13% of all teachers left the profession. Both figures represented historic highs.
“That is a really high challenge right now,” Rinehart said.
The teaching shortage is especially hard for rural districts compared to their urban counterparts. For starters, Rinehart said, small districts like Alpine can’t pay teachers as much and usually have far fewer resources.
A new way to learn
Before Eureka Math was introduced in Dallas and Alpine ISDs, teachers could use a variety of different curricula, mostly geared toward passing the STAAR and memorizing how to solve equations.
This led to differences in how students across the state learned math. Turner said this sometimes causes students who move to a different campus to struggle when adapting to a new teaching method.
With Eureka Math now being widely adopted across Dallas ISD, students have a more consistent way of learning math, which hopefully will result in better test scores, he said.
McGowan said the curriculum he used in the past heavily emphasized passing the STAAR.
“With previous curriculums, it was just, ‘we have an equation, we solve it,’ but the kids cannot explain the process well,” he said.
Brittany duPont with Great Minds, the company that designed Eureka Math, has been helping Dallas teachers adopt the new curriculum. She said it’s been a huge shift in math teaching, and some veteran teachers have pushed back.
But duPont said the teaching tactics that Eureka Math proposes are needed to help kids catch up with their math studies after the pandemic. They’re also timely because the recently redesigned STAAR test now focuses more on how a child solves a math problem, she added.
Kids are more excited to learn and master concepts with Eureka Math, McGowan said. Another upside of the new curriculum is that it gives teachers room to test kids’ knowledge on a topic before each lesson, making it easier for teachers to collaborate on ways to help students catch up, he said.
The new curriculum also emphasizes collaboration. McGowan lets his students debate concepts with each other and figure out how they got to certain conclusions. The process allows them to gain a deeper understanding of mathematics.
Moving to a new curriculum always poses a bit of a risk and challenge, especially when it’s easier to stick to what you know, but McGowan said he’s seen kids enjoy learning math in a way he never has in his 18-year career.
“It’s about trusting the process. Trusting that the kids will learn,” he said. “But we have to be consistent.”
Disclosure: Texas 2036 has been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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One of the two victims in the Austin bar shooting early Sunday has been identified as a Texas Tech University student, according to social media posts from his siblings and from a local politician.
Ryder Harrington, 19, was killed in the shooting that unfolded just outside of a popular beer garden in downtown Austin that also left 14 others injured. The suspect, who was fatally shot by officers, had a history of mental illness, sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News.
“Ryder was the best mix of all the Harrington crew,” his brother, Reed Harrington, wrote on Facebook in a post confirming his death. He said the entire family appreciates the condolences they have received.
Authorities have not yet publicly identified the other victims and are still working to determine a motive in the shooting, including whether it was an act of terrorism. The Austin Police Department is set to have a press conference this afternoon.
“It is unfair, to say the least, that my little brother was only given 19 years on this earth,” Reed Harrington wrote. “Watching the man he had become, and seeing all the lives he touched, leaves me certain that this world was robbed of a great future.”
The brother added, “I don’t think life will ever feel normal again. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do, but I know you will always be there to guide me and be my mentor.”
Harrington’s sister, Reagan Harrington, called him her “best friend” in an Instagram post memorializing him, adding, “I can’t believe you aren’t with me right now.”
“Nothing would be enough to express how special you are to me,” Reagan Harrington wrote. “I’m not sure how we’re meant to work through this — all I can think about is seeing you again.”
Ryan Harrington, the fourth of the siblings, also posted about Harrington’s death on Instagram.
“I’m gonna miss my brother,” Ryan Harrington wrote.
Harrington’s death was also confirmed by his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi. According to the chapter’s Instagram post, Harrington was a part of the Fall 2024 pledge class.
“From the moment he joined our brotherhood, he brought a light that was impossible to ignore,” the Beta Theta Pi post read. “Ryder had a rare ability to truly enjoy life to make people laugh, to make moments feel bigger, and to make ordinary days unforgettable.”
Beta Theta Pi will be hosting a candlelight vigil to honor their brother on Monday at 8 p.m., the post said. The chapter also started a GoFundMe to support Harrington’s family.
Speaker of the Texas state House Dustin Burrows posted about Harrington’s passing on X and said that the teen is the brother-in-law of one of his team members.
“From all accounts, Ryder was exactly the kind of young man who made a difference without even trying — full of life, loyal to his friends, proud to be a Red Raider and a Texan, and someone who showed up for the people around him,” Burrows wrote.
He added that he is praying for the Harrington family and “everyone who loved Ryder — the number appears to be countless.”
Two killed in early Sunday shooting
Harrington was one of two victims killed in the shooting that broke out early Sunday morning outside of Buford’s, a popular beer garden in downtown Austin. The other victim has not yet been identified.
Of the 14 injured, three were taken to the hospital in critical condition, said Robert Luckritz, chief of the county’s emergency medical services. Their conditions were not immediately available as of Monday.
The shooter has been identified as 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne. Officers shot and killed him shortly after the attack, police said.
Diagne was a Senegalese national and a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Pflugerville, Texas, four law enforcement officials told NBC News. At the time of the shooting, he wore a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah,” and a shirt underneath bearing an Iranian-flag theme.
Diagne appeared to have acted alone and had no ties to the state, according to sources who emphasized that the investigation is in its preliminary stages.
A Homeland Security official told NBC News that Diagne first entered the U.S. on March 13, 2000, on a B-2 tourist visa. He became a lawful permanent resident in 2006 based on marriage to a U.S. citizen and a naturalized citizen in 2013, the official said. He was arrested in 2022 in Texas for a collision with vehicle damage, the official said.
On Sunday, Alex Doran, a special agent with the San Antonio FBI field office, said, “There were indicators that on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism,” but noted that it is “still too early to make a determination on that.”
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference Sunday that Diagne may have circled Buford’s in his car before rolling his window down, striking patrons on the bar’s front patio using a pistol.
He then parked the car, got out holding a rifle, and shot people who were walking by, Davis said. Officers encountered the man along West Sixth Street, which is when they shot him.
Buford’s is 2 miles from the heart of the University of Texas at Austin campus and less than a mile from the Texas Capitol Building.
Other Texas officials offered their prayers and condolences for the victims, including Gov. Greg Abbott, who warned anyone who “thinks about using the current conflict in the Middle East to threaten Texans.”
He appeared to be talking about the joint military operations of the U.S. and Israeli governments against Iran, which killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Texas elected officials and candidates’ response to the deadly shooting in downtown Austin on Sunday quickly turned political, as Republicans sharply criticized the country’s naturalization process and Democrats called for stricter gun reform laws.
Republicans’ rebukes of the immigration system came after media outlets identified the gunman, whom police killed within a minute of arriving at the scene, as a naturalized citizen from Senegal. The Department of Homeland Security said the man entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2000, became a lawful permanent resident by marrying a U.S. citizen in 2006 and was naturalized in 2013.
Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, the gunman killed two people and injured 14 others at a bar that sits among several popular nightlife venues on West 6th Street.
Many Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, suggested the gunman wasn’t properly backgrounded before he was granted U.S. citizenship, but did not provide details of what should have prevented his naturalization. When asked about his criminal history, DHS only said the man was arrested in Texas in 2022, after he was a citizen, for “collision with vehicle damage,” a misdemeanor crime typically given when someone leaves the scene of a wreck.
The New York Post reported that gunman, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, was arrested for “illegal vending” in New York City in 2001. Citing unnamed sources, The Post said he was arrested in New York three other times between 2008 and 2016, but those cases are sealed. The Post did not report on whether he was convicted of any crimes.
At least one GOP candidate for attorney general has called for an audit into immigrants who are in the country legally.
“Audit all ‘legal’ immigrants’ papers and deport as many as possible,” Aaron Reitz said on X.
Reitz and others also voiced their opposition to Islam, which has become a key campaign pillar for some Texas Republicans competing in Tuesday’s GOP primary. The gunman wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Property of Allah” and a shirt with a design of the Iranian flag, according to the Associated Press. The shooting happened after the United States and Israel bombed Iran.
Austin police did not disclose a motive for the shooting, but the FBI is investigating it as a potential act of terrorism, the Associated Press reported late Sunday.
The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an American Muslim civil rights group, condemned the attack in a statement Sunday and rejected any efforts to blame the whole community based on one individual’s action.
“We encourage elected officials, law enforcement, faith leaders, and community members to come together to support the families of the victims and reaffirm our shared commitment to public safety,” the organization’s statement said.
Abbott and state Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat running for U.S. Senate, quarreled on X about the shooting. Abbott said that “allowing unvetted immigrants who are hostile to America, who are loyal to our adversaries like Iran, must end. This was an act of terror, James.”
“The way to end it is to end the current open immigration policies,” he continued. “You and your immigration policies would make America less safe.”
Talarico responded to Abbott by saying “dangerous people should not be allowed into the country. Dangerous people should not be allowed to get guns. Texans understand this — you apparently don’t.”
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock criticized Talarico on X for politicizing the incident.
“With all due respect sir – now is not the time. All of the information has not come out. How can policy be made on incomplete information?” he said. “The action that needed to happen did – officers heroically ended the violence.”
“This applies to all candidates and elected officials regardless of party,” he continued. ”Now is the time to focus on the victims and first responders impacted, not campaigns.”
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who is also running for the GOP nomination to be state attorney general, posted alleged details about the gunman’s immigration to America and naturalization. He said the gunman was granted legal residency during George W. Bush’s administration, “amid GOP celebration of the joys of ‘melting pot’ legal immigration.”
“This is why we are losing our country, our immigration system is a joke, and should PAUSE ALL immigration,” Roy said.
Naturalization is the legal process of becoming a citizen after meeting certain requirements.
Denise Gilman, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, said there has long been extensive vetting in the naturalization process, including criminal background checks. She also said immigrants can’t immediately become citizens without first going through prior steps, such as becoming a lawful permanent resident, that require scrutiny.
“Naturalization is just the last step of many steps that all require vetting,” she said.
Immigrants are eligible for naturalization if they are 18 years old or older and have been green card holders for at least five years (three years if they are married to a U.S. citizen). They also have to take tests proving they’re able to speak, read and write in English. As of last fall, the Trump administration added more requirements, such as a more rigorous civics test, and having to prove to an immigration officer that they are “a person of good moral character.”
When asked about Diagne’s reported arrests, Gilman said generally arrests can be considered when evaluating moral character or discretion but will not automatically bar green card status or naturalization. Certain convictions, however, may result in actual bars.
“It really depends on the nature of the crimes involved,” she said.
Around 818,500 people were naturalized in the fiscal year of 2024, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which has not published 2025 data yet — nearly 10% lived in Texas. The total was a 7% decrease from 2023, the agency said. From 2022 to 2024, the country has added more than 2.6 million new citizens through naturalization.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who is up for reelection this year, said on Fox News that the shooting underscores “the importance of vetting people before they come across the border,” and is an example of “what happens when people become radicalized.”
Cornyn blamed the Biden administration for having “open border policies that let who knows what into the country,” Cornyn said.
Texas Democrats, meanwhile, responded to the shooting by pushing for stronger gun laws, but did not provide specifics on what policies would have prevented the man from obtaining weapons. Austin police also did not release details on how the man obtained the two firearms they say he used in the shooting.
Republicans control both chambers of the Texas Legislature and have routinely loosened gun restrictions while Democrats’ bills to curb access gain little traction.
Austin-based U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett also denounced gun violence, but did not issue any specific policy proposals.
“We must end America’s gun violence epidemic,” Casar said in a post on X. “Americans should be able to have fun at a bar without it turning into an unspeakable nightmare like this one — and I will redouble my efforts in Congress to prevent the next tragedy like this.”
Doggett said: “Gun violence is preventable. This devastating loss of life was preventable. Until Republicans find the courage to say no to the [National Rifle Association] our country will be plagued with more tragedies.”
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
SAN ANTONIO — South Texas Blood & Tissue worked late last night and early this morning to prepare and send blood units to Austin in the wake of the mass shooting on 6th street early Sunday.
The Blood Emergency Readiness Corp (BERC) has been activated and an additional 140 units have been sent from various blood centers, including O negative and O positive.
The blood bank says community support is critical and community members are encouraged to donate at any local donor center.
3 dead, 14 injured in Austin mass shooting on 6th Street, suspect fatally shot by officers
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones shared her condolences, adding that commonsense gun reform may prevent such tragedies in the future.
I’m deeply saddened to hear of the mass shooting in Austin that killed and injured so many,” Mayor Jones said in a statement. “Let’s keep our neighbors to the north in our prayers, that those injured recover quickly and the families of the victims who were needlessly murdered are comforted. We must prevent such tragedies from happening through commonsense gun solutions. Thank you to the first responders who were at the scene and prevented further loss of life.
U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro condemned the country’s gun violence in an X post saying in part “Congress must continue to work to end the scourge of gun violence in our country.”
San Antonio’s FBI office is also assisting the Austin Police Department in their investigation, officials shared at a press briefing this morning.
Special Agent Alex Doran said the joint terrorism task force is helping investigate potential early indications of terrorism.
“We have members from our Evidence Response team as well as our many other specialty teams, including our digital forensics folks that are on scene, helping to address the scene and gather additional evidence,” Doran said. “Obviously, it’s still way too early in the process to determine an exact motivation, but there were indicators that on the subject and in his vehicle that indicate potential nexus to terrorism. Again, it’s still too early to make a determination on that.”
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