COVID and algebra

COVID halved Black students' algebra proficiency. It hasn't come back.

Six years on, no group in Texas is close to its 2019 level on the state's universal Algebra I test.

Before the pandemic, 40% of Black students in Texas met grade level on the Algebra I state test. In 2021 it was 20%. By 2025 it had climbed back only to 26%.

Met grade level on Algebra I, statewide

The gap in each line is 2020, when tests were cancelled. STAAR is taken by nearly all students, so this is not a who-chose-to-test artifact.

Every group cratered. Hispanic students fell 24 points, Asian students 21, White students 15, and nobody has recovered: White students' rate has regained zero points (57 before, 42 after, 42 now).

This matters more than any entrance-exam number. Algebra is the gateway course for everything technical, and the students tested in 2021 are reaching graduation age now.

Next finding

28 points by the first test