AUSTIN, Texas — Even as Texas students showed statewide gains in math and social studies on the Spring 2026 STAAR exams, newly released campus-level data show that most students at three Austin ISD middle schools fighting to avoid a state takeover did not meet grade-level expectations in math, reading or social studies.

The Texas Education Agency reported Tuesday that grades 3-8 STAAR results improved or held steady across most of the state.

But data from TEA’s Texas Assessment Research Portal show a different picture at Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools, which are on the verge of a fifth consecutive failing accountability rating.

At Dobie Middle School, 89% of seventh-graders did not meet grade level on the math exam, with just 2% reaching the “Meets Grade Level” standard or higher. Eighty-six percent of Dobie eighth-graders fell short of grade level on the social studies test.

Burnet Middle School posted similar results, with 86% of seventh-graders failing to meet grade level in math and 72% of eighth-graders missing the mark in social studies. At Webb Middle School, 79% of sixth-graders did not meet grade level in reading, and the same share of eighth-graders, 79%, fell short in social studies.

In every grade and subject tested across the three campuses, no fewer than 49% of students (and in some cases as many as 89%) did not meet grade-level expectations, according to the data.

The results arrive less than three weeks after TEA rejected an Austin ISD proposal to pair the three campuses with an outside group, the Texas Council for International Studies, that would have helped the district avoid potential state intervention. In a letter to Superintendent Matias Segura, the agency said TCIS had not demonstrated a consistent record of turning around struggling schools.

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All three campuses have received unacceptable or “Not Rated” accountability grades for four straight years, according to TEA. If any receives a fifth consecutive failing grade when ratings are released in August, state law gives Commissioner Mike Morath several options, including replacing the district’s school board or superintendent or closing the campuses, said David DeMatthews, an education professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

“If any of those three schools receives an F this August when scores are released, the state may look for other options moving forward, which could include a state takeover,” DeMatthews said after the TCIS rejection.

Segura said in a statement that the district remains confident in TCIS’s ability to improve outcomes at the schools and noted that TEA’s denial does not prevent Austin ISD from continuing its contract with the organization.

The middle school numbers come almost a week after TEA reported gains on all five high school end-of-course exams.