Is Houston ISD’s NES a Model for America’s Schools?

HISD: A District in Crisis

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the eighth-largest public school system in the United States, serving more than 180,000 students across 274 campuses. For years, HISD had been under scrutiny because of a small but stubborn group of chronically failing schools. Some campuses had gone nearly a decade without improving, leaving thousands of children without access to a high-quality education.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA), which oversees accountability for all Texas schools, has the legal authority to intervene in cases where districts fail to meet basic standards. After years of warnings, legal battles, and missed improvement targets, the state formally took over HISD in 2023. The school board was stripped of power, and the TEA appointed a state-selected superintendent to lead the district. This was a highly controversial move and most Houstonians were not in favor of it. The public outcry was swift and is ongoing.

Enter Mike Miles

To carry out the turnaround, TEA chose Mike Miles, a former Army Ranger, diplomat, and school administrator. Miles is no stranger to controversy. He first gained national attention as superintendent of Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) from 2012–2015, where he introduced rigorous evaluation systems and central control over struggling schools.

After Dallas, he founded a small charter school network in Colorado called Third Future Schools, which prioritized fast-paced instruction, frequent checks for understanding, and centralized curriculum. Third Future Schools’ Academy of Advanced Learning is a top-performing school for student academic growth and has received a Colorado Succeeds Prize. Students at the Academy are reportedly achieving approximately one year of growth in half the time, outperforming the national average in reading and math at every grade level, especially in mid-year

His charter network’s model of structured lessons, real-time data, and heavy coaching provided the playbook Miles brought to Houston. In many ways, the New Education System (NES) in HISD is an attempt to apply charter-style reforms to one of the largest public school districts in the country.

What Is the New Education System (NES)?

The New Education System (NES) is HISD’s strategy for rapidly improving low-performing schools. In plain terms, it is a way to make every classroom run on the same rhythm and identify student needs at the time of learning:

Scripted lessons. Teachers use centrally created lessons in math, reading, and other subjects. These are delivered on slide decks, timed to the minute, so that every child in every NES school is exposed to the same high-quality material.
Demonstrations of Learning (DOLs). At the end of each lesson—about 40 to 45 minutes in—students complete a short, five-question quiz. The DOL checks whether they understood the day’s main goal.
Immediate regrouping. Students who struggled on the DOL are pulled into small groups for reteaching, where the teacher reviews the concept in simpler steps. Students who mastered the skill move onto enrichment activities in Team Centers, where they apply their learning in more complex ways.
Coaching and apprentices. Teachers in NES schools are supported by frequent coaching sessions and, in many schools, by teaching apprentices who assist with small groups and classroom management.

In essence, NES tries to make classrooms operate more like high-performing charter schools: tight pacing, consistent lessons, constant checks for understanding, and fast intervention when students fall behind.

The Research Behind the Model

Although some of the practices feel new to HISD, the research supporting them goes back decades:

Instructional coaching. A 2018 study by Kraft, Blazar, and Hogan found that coaching improved teaching practices by nearly half a standard deviation (0.49 SD), which is considered a very large effect in education research, and boosted student achievement by 0.18 SD, also meaningful. (A standard deviation is a statistical measure of how spread out results are; in education research, an effect size above 0.20 SD is usually considered significant. So 0.49 SD is large.) [9][10]
Formative assessment. Black and Wiliam’s landmark 1998 study showed that frequent short assessments with immediate feedback can significantly improve student learning. Daily DOLs are exactly this idea, applied every day. [11][12]

Coherent curriculum. Instead of each teacher creating their own lessons, research shows that centrally designed, aligned curriculum materials reduce gaps and raise overall achievement. Mississippi’s statewide literacy reforms paired strong materials with coaching, producing the fastest growth in Grade 4 reading scores in the nation from 2013 to 2019. [13][14][15]

What Do HISD Results Show So Far?

In 2025, HISD announced that for the first time in modern history, the district had no F-rated schools. [16] Independent analysis showed that in 2023, 84% of NES campuses were rated D; by 2025, only 5% were. NES schools were also eight times more likely to earn an A or B compared to two years earlier. [17]

But the story is complex. Many of those higher ratings were earned through growth scores, a TEA-defined measure of how much students improved compared to peers with similar past test scores. It is not a rating of proficiency levels as measured by the state STAAR test. That means a school might earn an A for growth even if only half its students are on grade level. The Houston Chronicle editorial board argued this nuance needs to be communicated more clearly to parents. [18]

Criticisms of the HISD NES Model

Rigid pacing and morale. Teachers have described the system as overly rigid, with timers dictating every part of the lesson. Some say it leaves little room for creativity or adapting to student needs. [21]
Libraries converted to “Team Centers.” HISD converted many libraries into Team Centers, where enrichment and discipline activities take place. Critics argue this strips students of traditional library access, while supporters say it makes better use of space for intervention. [5][6][7]
Enrollment and staffing. HISD lost about 7,400 students in 2024–25, with steeper losses at NES schools. Teacher turnover rose to 32%, well above the Texas state average of 19%. [22][23][24]

How NES Compares to Other Models

HISD is not the first to try a true data-driven instruction playbook:

Success Academy (New York City). A charter network that uses scripted lessons, frequent quizzes, and strong data use. Success Academy’s students post 90–96% proficiency on state exams, far above city averages. [25][26]
Uncommon Schools (Northeast). Known for the “Driven by Data” model, which relies on constant assessment and reteach cycles. Independent studies find strong achievement impacts in Newark and other cities. [27]
KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program). The nation’s largest charter network has employed rigorous Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) that have shown large gains in middle school achievement. Long-term college outcomes are more mixed. [28][29][30]
Mississippi Literacy Reforms. At a state level, Mississippi proved that centralized curriculum, coaching, and progress monitoring could lift outcomes dramatically. [13][14][15]

These examples reinforce that the core ideas of NES– structured lessons, frequent checks, and immediate reteach, are supported by evidence and have worked elsewhere.

Can NES Be Scaled?

This is the million-dollar question. If HISD, the eighth-largest district in the U.S., can transform its lowest-performing schools, can others follow?

The challenge has always been logistics. Daily checks for understanding are easy to promise but hard to deliver when teachers must grade paper quizzes, input data, and group students in real time. (This is why some schools resorted to using scantron machines in libraries, sparking controversy in HISD.)

The solution lies in technology. 1:1 devices and modern formative assessment platforms can help. Newer classroom-first platforms like Classwork.com eliminate the bottlenecks:

Digital exit tickets are autograded instantly, with results available in reporting dashboards within moments of students completing them. Administrator views allow for systemwide coordination.
Standards and Psychometric Metadata – AI-applied to every Classwork.com activity
AI-driven grouping recommends reteach or enrichment groups automatically, saving teachers time and reducing the need for additional staff.
Interactive items mimic state test formats (drag-and-drop, multi-select, text evidence highlighting), meaning every day is rigorous and authentic practice—no extra “test prep packets” needed.
District libraries allow central curriculum teams to upload and distribute lessons, exit tickets, and enrichment tasks digitally and directly to teachers in their classrooms, ensuring consistency and equity across schools.
Easy-to-Use User Interfaces reduce the operational friction caused by older software that wasn’t built for classroom use.

In short, where Success Academy or Uncommon Schools had to build custom systems to manage daily data, any district today can plug into a platform like Classwork.com and make the NES-style model workable without exhausting teachers or sacrificing libraries. And because it bypasses paper and autogrades student work in real time, fewer staff members are needed to execute the playbook.

Final Takeaway

Houston ISD’s New Education System is bold, controversial, and promising. The early results suggest real momentum, though mostly in growth measures. The criticisms of the implementation and communication of results are also real.

But one fact is clear: The core NES playbook aligns with decades of educational research and proven case studies. If logistical barriers like grading, data analysis, and regrouping can be overcome through modern instructional platforms, then what is happening in Houston may not just be possible in HISD— it could be scalable nationwide.

NES as currently implemented may not be the perfect model for America. But its DNA of coherent curriculum, daily formative checks, and rapid reteach offers a blueprint for any school or district that wants to improve student achievement and offer a more effective model for teaching and learning.

References & Notes

[1] HISD. “What is NES?” District overview. https://www.houstonisd.org/schools-academics/what-is-nes
[2] CASE (Harris County DOE). “A Deep Dive into NES Curriculum.” https://www.houstoncase.org/case-report-a-deep-dive-into-nes-curriculum
[3] Houston Chronicle. “Inside NES classrooms with timers and scripted lessons.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/hisd/article/hisd-classroom-strategies-students-19962973.php
[4] Parker Elementary PTO. “Parent info on DOL timing and regrouping.” https://parkerpto.membershiptoolkit.com/parentinfo
[5] Houston Chronicle. “Libraries as Team Centers.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-libraries-discipline-areas-mike-miles-reforms-18209051.php
[6] Houston Chronicle. “State weighs in on Team Centers.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/tea-mike-morath-hisd-discipline-centers-18338286.php
[7] Houston Chronicle. “HISD ends traditional library services at NES schools.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/hisd-end-library-services-19520286.php
[8] Click2Houston (KPRC). “Inside an NES classroom.” https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/10/26/inside-an-nes-classroom-how-this-fleming-ms-teacher-used-the-instruction-model-to-raise-her-students-grades-in-3-weeks/
[9] Kraft, Blazar, & Hogan (2018). “The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement.” Review of Educational Research. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mkraft/files/kraft_blazar_hogan_2018_teacher_coaching.pdf
[10] Education Next. “Taking Teacher Coaching to Scale.” https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/mkraft/files/kraft_blazar_2018_taking_teacher_coaching_to_scale_ednext.pdf
[11] Black & Wiliam (1998). “Assessment and Classroom Learning.” Assessment in Education. https://assess.ucr.edu/sites/default/files/2019-02/blackwiliam_1998.pdf
[12] Publisher abstract for Black & Wiliam (1998). https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969595980050102
[13] Mississippi DOE. Literacy-Based Promotion Act outcomes. https://www.mdek12.org/sites/default/files/Offices/MDE/OAE/OEER/Literacy/ms.gatewaytosuccess.022819.final.pdf
[14] NAEP (NCES). 2019 Reading Snapshot—Mississippi. https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2019/pdf/2020014MS4.pdf
[15] Mississippi First. “The truth about Mississippi’s NAEP gains.” https://www.mississippifirst.org/the-truth-about-mississippis-naep-gains/
[16] Axios Houston. “HISD reports no F-rated schools for first time.” https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2025/08/05/hisd-reports-no-f-rated-schools-tea-accountability-score
[17] Good Reason Houston. “NES campuses see dramatic ratings gains.” https://goodreasonhouston.org/the-abcs-of-a-f-houston-isd-school-ratings-show-dramatic-improvement-in-2025/
[18] Houston Chronicle Editorial Board. “Mike Miles is touting big A–F gains. Read the fine print.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/hisd-mike-miles-a-f-school-ratings-21054922.php
[19] TEA. A–F Accountability Manual (2025). https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/performance-reporting/2025-accountability-manual
[20] TEA. A–F Accountability Family Resources. https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/accountability/academic-accountability/a-f-accountability
[21] Click2Houston (KPRC). “Teachers rehearse and receive in-the-moment coaching.” https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2023/10/27/in-the-moment-coaching-fleming-middle-school-teachers-see-improvements-after-attending-weekly-lesson-plan-rehearsals/
[22] Houston Chronicle. “HISD student enrollment loss.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/hisd/article/hisd-student-enrollment-loss-data-20187692.php
[23] Houston Chronicle. “Enrollment declines sharper at NES schools.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/hisd/article/enrollment-declines-state-takeover-20298726.php
[24] Houston Chronicle. “Teacher turnover hits 32%.” https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/hisd/article/teacher-turnover-rate-tea-data-20815827.php
[25] Success Academy. Results page. https://www.successacademies.org/results/
[26] New York Post. “SA students’ test scores nearly double NYC peers.” https://nypost.com/2025/08/14/us-news/success-academy-charter-students-test-scores-were-nearly-double-those-of-nyc-public-school-peers-data/
[27] ERIC. “Evaluation of Uncommon Schools in Newark.” https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED628817.pdf
[28] Mathematica. “KIPP Middle Schools: Impacts on Achievement.” https://www.mathematica.org/publications/kipp-middle-schools-impacts-on-achievement-and-other-outcomes-full-report
[29] KIPP/Mathematica. “Going to Scale” fact sheet. https://www.kipp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2015Mathematica_GoingtoScale_FactSheet.pdf
[30] Mathematica. “Long-term impacts of KIPP on college outcomes.” https://www.mathematica.org/publications/long-term-impacts-of-kipp-middle-and-high-schools-on-college-enrollment-persistence-and-attainment