Aldine ISD students and staff are falling behind under the leadership of Superintendent LaTonya Goffney, whose administration doesn’t have many answers for its struggles, a Houston Landing investigation has found.

Stagnant academic results, climbing teacher turnover and increased hiring of inexperienced teachers have marked Goffney’s tenure, which dates back to 2018. At the same time, more Aldine students are less prepared for life after high school than students across Texas, state data shows.

Below are the top takeaways from the Landing’s deep dive, which was published Monday, into the Houston area’s sixth-largest district. 

Aldine hasn’t made up ground since Goffney’s hire

Children in Aldine, one of the lowest-income large districts in Texas, already lagged well behind students across Texas. With Goffney at the helm, academic data show Aldine is falling even further behind districts serving similar student populations:

• Aldine’s graduation rate, already among the lowest in Texas at roughly 80 percent, has not budged since 2018. 

• Standardized math test scores have plummeted, more so than in similar districts. 

• Similar districts have seen a bigger rebound in reading test scores post-COVID than Aldine. 

• Roughly half of seniors in the last five years have been considered prepared for college or a career after graduating, the lowest rate among large Texas districts. 

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Teacher staff is increasingly inexperienced

Aldine has had trouble hiring experienced, certified teachers in the past few years. They’ve relied more on the type of educators who, on average, have less impact on students’ learning, research has shown.

In the most recent year with available state data:

• Nearly one-in-five teachers had no prior classroom experience in 2022-23. 

• Nearly half of their new teacher hires lacked teaching certification in 2023-24.

• Teaching turnover reached 27 percent, among the highest in Texas, in 2022-23. 

District leaders say these trends are a major reason why they aren’t seeing academic results. They have not, however, detailed plans for combating their high turnover rate, and administrators said they generally depend on teachers to “fall in love” with the district enough to stick around.

“If they come to Aldine, they’ll see what we have to offer and they’ll see the community we have and they will stay,” Chief Academic Officer Faviola Cantú said. “That’s been our approach to all of this.”

Leaders still searching for solutions

The lackluster academic results mystify Goffney. But her administration isn’t rushing to change their approach.

Instead, district leaders are hoping plans put in place over the past several years will finally lead to improvements. They include overhauling their approach to literacy; launching a campus turnaround model at two schools; and joining the state-sponsored System of Great Schools program. 

Some community leaders have questioned this strategy. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, whose precinct includes large parts of Aldine, said the district needs to “rethink its approach” and perhaps make some more dramatic, “disruptive” changes.

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Administration largely blame outside factors

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Aldine particularly hard during Goffney’s second year in the role, sending students online for months. About 40 percent of students spent more than a full school year in virtual classes.

Aldine leaders say that’s the main reason why the district is falling further behind today. 

However, COVID doesn’t fully explain the district’s difficulties. Some similar districts saw slightly worse COVID impacts but have bounced back academically in a way Aldine ISD has not. 

Aldine leaders also point to several reasons beyond their control when it comes to their teacher staffing issues: a statewide teacher shortage and an unflattering reputation in Aldine that leaves teachers unwilling to go there.

Goffney said she could have made much more progress in five years without those challenges.

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Despite challenges, families happy with schools

The Landing spoke to roughly 20 parents, community members and students throughout our reporting process. Most weren’t familiar with district-level leadership, such as the superintendent or school board, but many gave glowing reviews of their own schools.

Here’s what community members had to say:

• Benito Garza, grandparent of a first-grader: “The school system has been good — great, I would say. … I hope she has the same experience as her mom as she did when she went there, or even a better one.” 

• Charish Jackson, senior at Davis High School: “Coming to Davis (from Conroe ISD) was really a big transformation, but I think it was really good. It was for the best, honestly. It’s opened up a lot of opportunities for me. Like now I’m in … a fashion class. … I definitely think that they are preparing us (for college) in the best way that they can.”

• Ana Diez, parent of students at Orange Grove Elementary School and Young Women’s Leadership Academy: “It has been great (in Aldine). My kids, they’re doing so good in school, they’re all A’s. … I’ve also subbed for their SPED department, and the teachers are great there, too.”

Support for Goffney still strong

Though the data will show she hasn’t delivered major academic improvements, Aldine Board President Kimberly Booker said the board — which hired Goffney — is generally satisfied with her leadership. 

Goffney just entered her seventh school year in the district. Normally, Booker and Goffney said, a superintendent deserves three to five years to get results in a school district. But since pandemic threw a wrench into Goffney’s first several years, they agree she deserves a bit more time.

“I couldn’t show up every day, I couldn’t wake up and look at myself in the mirror if I didn’t believe in the work,” Goffney said.

The post 6 takeaways from Houston Landing investigation into Aldine ISD’s recent performance appeared first on Houston Landing.