Most Tarrant County students aren’t at grade level. This new campaign wants to change that

Students placed in the care of Christ’s Haven for Children are often found to be academically performing below grade level.

The Keller nonprofit provides a trauma-informed, family model of care for displaced children, teens and young adults across Tarrant County. Operating out of single-family homes in a row of similar houses, the organization employs two adults to a home in which they live with up to eight previously displaced children.

Christ’s Haven CEO Cassie McQuitty said low-grade level performance could be attributed to attendance issues, homelessness, undiagnosed learning differences or familial issues.

Whatever the case, more often than not, parents or guardians had no idea of their students’ true standing.

A new countywide initiative wants to change that. The Sid W. Richardson Foundation, Parent Pass and The Miles Foundation are launching Go Beyond Grades, a campaign that wants to better inform parents about their students’ academic standing and equip them with resources to help.

Too many parents think their children are succeeding in school because their report cards have A’s and B’s, said Brent Beasley, executive director of the Fort Worth Education Partnership. The reality is far from that.

More than 90% of Tarrant County parents think their children are at grade level, according to data from Go Beyond Grades.

Only half of the children in the county are.

“There’s this big disconnect and parents aren’t alerted to it because they seem to be doing OK,” Beasley said. “As we were coming to that, we learned about the Go Beyond Grades campaign, which has come to a similar conclusion.”

Go Beyond Grades is in several cities, including Houston, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. The Tarrant County campaign is among first to cover an area larger than a single city, according to officials.

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Pete Geren, president and CEO of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, wants the campaign to reach as many parents as possible. Having more parents know about their students’ grade-level standing, Geren said, will translate to their children performing better — and the state of education in Tarrant County will improve.

“Go Beyond Grades has the potential to reach a critical mass,” Geren said.

More than 50 billboards will be displayed throughout Tarrant County. The campaign will have two sites: one filled with resources for parents and teachers and another detailing the academic performance of each of the county’s 20 school districts and their campuses, as well as charter schools.

Other cities have had a handful of sponsors, Geren said. The Tarrant County effort has nearly 80.

“That’s really the key to longevity for the movement,” he said.

Sponsors range from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County and the United Way of Tarrant County to Parent Shield Fort Worth and AB Christian Learning Center. Each group will inform parents about how they can check to see whether their children are at grade level. Some will offer free tutoring.

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At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County’s multiple locations, all parents walking through the doors will be told that report cards can’t tell the whole story of their child’s education.

“I think a lot of the time we look at a report card and we think, ‘My kids aren’t getting bad grades, they’re getting good grades,’” said CEO Daphne Barlow Stigliano. “There may not even be the sense there is a problem at all.”

Go Beyond Grades, with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County on its side, aims to knock that sense into parents ever-so-lightly.

“I think the first step is really just being curious. Asking, ‘Is my kid on grade level?’” Barlow Stigliano said. “The second step is being educated on what other questions we can be asking. What types of questions do I ask to address this?”

To aid in that second step, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County plans to push parents and students to enroll in summer programs.

“Making sure your kids are active in a program is an important part of making sure that their minds are engaged when they aren’t in school,” Barlow Stigliano said. “A program can really help you not lose that knowledge.”

Parent Shield, a parental advocacy and empowerment group, wants to equip mothers and fathers with the resources they need to make informed decisions about their children. Trenace Dorsey-Hollins, Parent Shield’s executive director, called Go Beyond Grades a perfect match with her group’s mission.

She highlighted some of Go Beyond Grade’s parent-focused resources:

• Assessments to determine children’s reading level
• Resources to find tutoring and support for their children
• Assistance in receiving individualized learning plans for children with special needs

“There’s an abundance of information that parents need,” said Dorsey-Hollins, who described the resources as easy to understand. “To really see this push come to our city for our parents, I couldn’t be happier.”

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Leah King, United Way president and CEO, sees Go Beyond Grades as uniting the Tarrant County community with a shared goal: helping students.

“It really brings all sectors all together, marking in the same direction and saying we need to provide information and resources and tools to our teachers and to our parents so that — together — they can map out the best game plan for students,” King said.

The patterns noticed by Go Beyond Grades are prevalent in Tarrant County’s largest school district, Fort Worth ISD, which had 26% of students meet grade level during the 2022-23 school year.

Superintendent Angélica Ramsey agrees that when parents, teachers and students come together, a child receives a more holistic education.

“When parents are involved, children’s academic performance and test scores tend to improve,” Ramsey said. “Engaged parents also prioritize regular school attendance. Positive parenting at school tends to lead to better social skills and behavior in students.”

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For now, the district will push parents toward summer programs and Parent Pass, as Ramsey said engagement in those two areas could influence attendance, behavior and academic performance.

In the future, the district plans a shift toward a new report card that will emphasize how elementary students are performing relative to state standards rather than relying on raw percentages, Ramsey said.

That change aims to create a positive shift in how parents perceive their child’s progress, she said.

“By focusing on standards and deeper understanding, parents can advocate effectively for their children’s success,” Ramsey said.

That change may not be seen within the district until the new report cards are rolled out in two to three years.

In the meantime, Go Beyond Grades plans to fill the gap.

Disclosure: The Sid W. Richardson Foundation, the Miles Foundation, Texas Wesleyan University, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, Amon G. Carter Foundation, North Texas Community Foundation and Kleinheinz Family Foundation have been financial supporters of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions at the Fort Worth Report are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Jacob Sanchez is an enterprise journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. 

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @MatthewSgroi1.

This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.