While Texas's overall graduation rate barely moved over five years, holding in a narrow band between 93.9% and 94.4%, one subgroup was quietly posting the largest improvement in the state.

Students classified as English learners climbed from 87.1% (Class of 2020) to 91.3% (Class of 2024), a gain of 4.2 percentage points. The gap between English learner graduation rates and the rate for all students narrowed from 7.3 points to 3.1 points, a reduction of more than half. Texas enrolls one of the largest emergent bilingual populations in the country, so a gain of this size moves a lot of students across the stage.

The acceleration

The improvement was not gradual. For the first two years, English learner graduation rates actually slipped, dropping from 87.1% to 86.8% for the Class of 2021 before recovering to 87.4% for the Class of 2022. Then something shifted.

The Class of 2023 brought a 2.0-point jump to 89.4%, the single largest year-over-year gain for any subgroup in the dataset. The Class of 2024 added another 1.8 points. In two years, English learners gained almost as much ground as they had lost in the first two.

Whatever drove the improvement, it accelerated after 2022. Possible explanations include the maturation of dual-language programs that Texas has expanded aggressively over the past decade, the return of face-to-face instruction that is especially critical for language learners, and targeted intervention programs funded through pandemic-era federal relief dollars.

Leading the pack

No other subgroup came close. Multiracial students and students in special education each gained 1.7 points over the same period. Students identified as at-risk gained 0.6 points. Hispanic students, who overlap significantly with the English learner population, gained just 0.2 points.

The divergence between English learners (+4.2 points) and Hispanic students (+0.2 points) is notable because the populations overlap. Many English learners are Hispanic, but the reverse is not true. Not all Hispanic students are English learners. The fact that English learners outpaced the broader Hispanic population suggests the improvement is driven by something specific to language programs or bilingual support, not a demographic tide lifting all boats.

White students and female students both declined slightly, losing 0.3 points each. Asian students gained 0.4 points. The overall state rate was essentially flat at zero.

The district picture

At the district level, the English learner improvements were dramatic in mid-size districts across the state. San Marcos CISD saw its English learner graduation rate jump from 61.3% to 86.9%, a gain of 25.6 points. Anna ISD climbed from 71.4% to 96.8%. Somerset ISD went from 62.5% to 87.8%.

Many of the largest gains came in districts outside the major metros, in places where small English learner populations can produce large percentage swings. But the trend held in larger districts too, most notably in Dallas ISD, where the English learner rate rose from 71.6% to 82.5%, a gain of 10.9 points.

What 3.1 points means

A graduation gap of 3.1 percentage points between English learners and all students is small. The gap for English learners is often among the widest in a state's data, sometimes running to double digits. Texas's gap was already modest at 7.3 points in 2020. At 3.1 points in 2024, English learners are graduating at rates that approach parity with the overall student body.

Whether the gap continues to close depends on whether the forces driving the 2023-2024 acceleration are sustainable. Federal relief dollars are running out. Dual-language programs take years to show graduation effects. And the Class of 2025 will be the first cohort to have spent their entire high school career in the post-COVID era.

The Texas Education Agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.