At a Feb. 21 meeting, the board of trustees adopted goals to increase students’ performance by 10 percentage points on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness as well as college, career and military readiness criteria. Additionally, the district set goals to improve students’ end-of-year performance in math and reading.
A closer look
The performance goals come in response to House Bill 3, which requires districts to adopt math and literacy proficiency plans as well as goals for college, career and military readiness measures, said Kathy Burbank, LTISD director of accountability and assessment.
The board adopted HB 3 goals for the next five years through 2028 as the district's most recent performance data is from 2023, she said. The district will monitor its progress annually through public hearings.
The recently adopted goals include raising the percentage of third grade students meeting grade level or above on the STAAR test to 71% in math and 75% in reading by 2028—a 10 percentage point increase from the district’s 2023 scores in third grade, according to district documents.
The district is also seeking to raise the amount of graduates meeting college, career and military readiness criteria by 10 percentage points to 88% by 2028 with the class of 2027. Seventy-eight percent of the class of 2023 met the criteria, which can include taking dual-credit and Advanced Placement courses, and earning industry-based certifications.
The state recently raised the threshold for districts to receive an A rating in college, career and military readiness to 88%, Burbank said.
Also of note
Further goals include increasing the percentage of kindergarten through second grade students performing at or above benchmark in reading and in the 50th percentile or above in math at the end of each school year.
In both subjects, the district will look to maintain the same scores for kindergarten students each year while striving to increase performance in first and second grade by one percentage point each year.
