Student Course Grades -- First Semester 2020-2021 and 2019-2020. Research Educational Program Report

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) moved to remote learning, which included distance learning, independent study, live online meetings, and completing assignments online or paper-based packets mailed to the home beginning on March 30, 2020. HISD extended remote learning through the end of the 2019-2020 school year, through the 2020 summer school session, and through the first six week grading cycle of the 2020-2021 school year. All students began the school year remotely on September 8, 2020. The option for face-to-face instruction began on October 19, 2020, and parents had the option to choose remote or face-to-face instruction for the fall semester or the entire school year. Students are living through the most disruptive school year of their lives because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are required to learn at home online or wear masks in classrooms without the benefit of their usual social, sports, and artistic outlets. It is important to understand how students enrolled in HISD are performing academically this school year, both as compared to the prior school year and as compared to different student groups within the district. This report analyzes the grades earned by students in the first semesters of the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 school years by grade level, instructional mode (remote and face-to-face), race/ethnicity, and special populations including English learners, gifted/talented, special education, and economically disadvantaged students.