Dallas-Fort Worth public institutions and community groups have increasingly gotten involved to fill gaps in public school education.
Between falling student attendance rates, regression in math and reading skills among students, an ongoing shortage of educators, and political controversies over books and curricula, the state’s public education system faces mounting challenges.
For instance, Dallas ISD has been struggling to overcome the educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its corresponding shutdowns, as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
Its student achievement scores show only 41% of students scoring at grade level on the 2021-2022 STAAR exams and almost 20% of the Class of 2022 failing to graduate in four years, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) accountability report.
These scores remained lackluster in testing the following year, as The Dallas Express reported.
In response, public education organizations, museums, and non-profit institutions across the metroplex have developed programs targeting these shortfalls among young students.
Institutions such as the Dallas Arboretum Children’s Garden and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science’s Children’s Museum have developed specialized, immersive programming for young visitors.
Similarly, the Dallas Museum of Art is offering kids studio classes to broaden their sense of culture and creativity.
In addition to these institutions, community organizations are playing crucial roles in enriching students’ education in Texas.
For instance, Parent Shield Fort Worth held various literacy clinics this summer to assess children’s grade levels and provide guidance for parents.
The local Girl Scouts of America chapter saw to the creation of a STEM Center of Excellence at Camp Whispering Cedars in South Dallas last summer. This center equips young female students with both hard and soft skills essential for success in STEM fields, making their education applicable in collegiate and professional settings.
Moreover, roughly 100 students in Dallas ISD recently had the opportunity to learn how to code in an after-school program developed by the local nonprofit Bold Idea, as covered in The Dallas Express.
Most recently, the nonprofit Tarrant County Education Foundation, which strives to support students in STEM and arts education and careers, commissioned New Jersey-based artist Willie Cole to help with the massive upcycling project, dubbed the Giant Water Bottle Sculpture.
Of course, such initiatives among local youths have not been without controversy.
For instance, Dallas-based nonprofit Big Thought has been under some scrutiny for providing allegedly politically left-leaning academic programming to North Texas students through its arts education, “out-of-school time” programs, summer learning opportunities, and “juvenile justice” intervention services.
This past summer, Big Thought held a free three-week summer camp for about 700 students at nine Dallas ISD campuses.