The Houston region saw 176,000 more students attend an A- or B- rated school in 2026 in comparison to 2023. This positive shift was a result of various efforts across Houston school districts including: Spring ISD significantly reducing its number of underperforming campuses in one year, Houston ISD reducing the number of D- or F- rated campuses from 116 schools in 2023 to 13 in 2026, and Aldine ISD expanding ACE, its school turnaround program that pairs struggling campuses with strong staffing and additional student support into middle schools. Collectively, these milestones are a glimpse into the Houston region’s trend toward improved outcomes.
Who’s Benefiting From This Progress
Region-wide gains in A-F accountability ratings are not distributed by chance, nor limited to one specific student group. Between 2023 and 2026, the percentage of Black students attending a D- or F-rated campus across the Houston region fell from 42% to 11%, while the percentage attending an A- or B-rated campus rose from 34% to 66%, nearly doubling. Hispanic students saw a similar shift, with attendance at a D- or F- rated campus decreasing from 34% to 8%, and an increase at A- or B-rated campuses from 40% to 70%. In total, the Houston region saw nearly 154,000 more Black and Hispanic students enrolled at A- or B- rated campuses in comparison to 2023. Additionally, economically disadvantaged and emergent bilingual student groups, both often overrepresented at lower-rated schools, saw similar shifts in the share of students attending a D- or F-rated campus from 37% to below 10%, while doubling the rate of students at A- or B-rated campuses. Below, we take a closer look at the districts driving this progress and show what these gains look like on the ground.
Nearly 2x as many Black, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and emergent bilingual students attended A/B-rated schools in 2026 than in 2023.
A Closer Look at the Districts Leading the Way
Houston-area school districts are collectively focusing their efforts on improving their student outcomes and early A-F accountability results indicate that their efforts show strong promise for our students.
Spring ISD’s Policy-Driven Turnaround
After a year of deliberate work to strengthen curriculum, provide support to educators, and expand access to high quality instruction, Spring ISD nearly cut its number of underperforming campuses in half, dropping from 19 D- or F- rated campuses in 2025 to 11 in 2026. As a result, eight Spring ISD campuses are no longer at risk of state intervention. Now, around 11,000 more Spring ISD students attend campuses that are no longer rated unacceptable and are on a path to accelerated academic progress. This year’s accountability ratings mark a turnaround from a district low point in 2023, when 60% of Spring ISD campuses, or 24 campuses total, were rated a D or F. In 2026, that share of campuses decreased to 28%, with 36% of campuses now rated A or B, the highest percentage since 2023.
This significant growth is associated with Spring ISD’s adoption of evidence-based strategies, such as standardized lesson plans, strategic staffing changes, and use of high-quality instructional materials.
These positive changes in accountability ratings followed the district’s academic gains during STAAR testing season, where Spring ISD students’ growth outpaced the state by four percentage points in grades 3-8 math, five points in Algebra I, and three points in both English I and II.
New Heights for Houston ISD
HISD’s turnaround gains, including moving from 54 F-rated campuses in 2023 to four in 2026 and student achievement growth in Algebra I and English I/II which outperformed statewide growth, show progress worth protecting. As of this year, over 141,000 HISD students, or 77%, attended an A- or B- rated campus.
When quantifying this into campuses, 195 HISD schools earned an A- or B- rating this year, more than double 2023’s 87 campuses. The drop from 116 D- or F-rated campuses in 2023, down to 13 as of this year, has come from the patient, measured work of teachers, principals, and district leadership implementing proven, evidence-based approaches into practice day after day. Four HISD campuses currently carry one year of consecutive unacceptable ratings. HISD cannot fully regain local control until there are no campuses that carry a D- or F-rating over consecutive years, which reinforces the importance of maintaining this year’s momentum.
In HISD, the patterns we saw in the rate of all students were mirrored across many student groups. Specifically, for Black students, the share of students who attended a D- or F-rated campus decreased from 60% in 2023 to 6% in 2026, while the share of Hispanic students shifted from 45% to 3%. By 2026, the share of Hispanic students attending A- or B-rated campuses mirrors the districtwide average, while Black students have made gains as well, with just a five-percentage-point difference remaining.
Aldine Accelerates Progress through ACE
This school year, Aldine ISD is expanding its ACE (Accelerating Campus Excellence) Restart Model to several middle schools, Stovall Middle School, alongside Kujawa Elementary. The model, which combines extended school days, strategic staffing practices, and additional support to accelerate student growth, has been utilized at Goodman and Worsham Elementaries since 2019-20, with the addition of Caraway Elementary in 2025-26. The results at these campuses offer a preview of what Stovall and Kujawa can expect as they join the model this school year.
- Caraway saw significant turnaround since the introduction of ACE, receiving multiple years of unacceptable ratings, climbing to a D-rating, and most recently, a B-rating.
- Goodman and Worsham, the original Aldine ACE cohorts, have held steady ratings within the B and C range.
- In 2026, Kujawa climbed from a D-rating to a B, placing the campus in a prime position for success before officially starting the ACE program this school year.
- Stovall posted F-ratings from 2023 through 2025, with slight rating growth to a D-rating in 2026, showing promise for improvement before beginning the ACE model this year.
- Both the Kujawa and Stovall campuses will remain neighborhood schools as they join the ACE model, meaning students zoned to these campuses will continue attending their same school without interruption.
The expansion of ACE aligns with a broader pattern of school improvement within Aldine as a whole. After 71% of Aldine ISD students attended D- or F-rated campuses in 2023, that share of students decreased to 25% in 2026, with 46% of students attending an A- or B-rated campus, three times more than 2023.
Sustained Work, Regional Progress
Overall, Spring, Houston, and Aldine ISDs tell similar stories from three different points of view: sustained, intentional, and iterative work propels student achievement and campuses into high performance. That work is now translating into large-scale movement rating growth across the region. Now, three out of every four Houston students attend an A- or B-rated campus, across 174 more A- or B-rated schools than three years ago. Gains are reaching students who have historically had less access to high-quality schools, with the rate of Black, Hispanic, economically disadvantaged, and emergent bilingual students attending D- or F-rated campuses cut by more than half since 2023.
This year’s improvement in accountability ratings is a starting point, not a finish line. As Good Reason Houston continues working with policymakers, district leaders, and communities to keep this momentum going, the goal isn’t the rating itself. It’s making sure every student is on a path to success and eventually, a high-wage future.
