Dax Gonzalez, the governmental relations division director at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), said that state-mandated accelerated instruction helped improve test scores initially, but recent data shows a plateau in student performance, partly due to changes in the assessment system. Gonzalez was a guest on a recent episode of the Texas Talks Podcast.

“One of the things that was required by the state was accelerated instruction for students who didn't perform well on state tests," said Gonzalez in a recent edition of the Texas Talks Podcast. “You had to have a kid, and if they didn't score well, you had to pull them into a one-teacher-to-three-student ratio tutoring to help them catch back up. There was like, I think last year, well, last year's ratings, so that would be like the prior year's test scores did start trending upwards again. But I think we saw a plateau with this. I think we're seeing a plateau with the most recent scores.”

“Part of that really is the accountability system, the assessment system, I think you'll hear a lot of districts say has not remained the same; it has not been consistent over that time," said Gonzalez. “Every year or whatever, you have to start to try to start a test, the end-of-course test, the test that the state gives to measure student performance."

Gonzalez is the governmental relations division director at the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), a nonprofit organization supporting Texas school boards. Founded in 1949, TASB provides services and advocacy to promote educational excellence for the state's public schoolchildren.

Texas Talks podcast is hosted by Brad Swail. The weekly show is focused on public policy in the state of Texas, with insights from the people and organizations that influence it.

The podcast is available on Simple Cast and YouTube.