Leander ISD officials presented data on student reading competencies at the district’s board of trustees meeting Nov. 2. The information served as baseline data for LISD’s Superintendent Performance Goal 1.3, which aims to increase the number of students in grades K-8 reading at or above grade level by 2 percent by the end of the 2017-18 school year. The goals are targets for student performance, district finances and workplace environment set for Superintendent Dan Troxell by the district's board of trustees, according to the district's board briefs. Results will be measured by comparing the percentage of students reading at grade level in grades K-5 at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year to the end of the year, according to the meeting agenda packet. Jennifer Collins, LISD executive director for elementary curriculum, said reading level is evaluated using a computer-administered program called Istation. The number of students in grades 3-8 who passed the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STARR, reading test in the 2016-17 academic year will be compared to the number who passed in 2017-18 as well, Area Superintendent Sarah Grissom said. STARR and Istation data may not match because of differences in what the assessments focus on, Grissom said. “What we know about STARR is that it is primarily a comprehension test with some vocabulary embedded,” Grissom said. “When you look at Istation, it is assessing even more beyond that, including fluency and word usage.”