According to district officials, Texas House Bill 3 requires school boards to adopt detailed plans for student performance goals in third-grade reading and third-grade math as well as college, career and military readiness, or CCMR. District staff provided the board with data regarding the learning gap caused by the pandemic and how it affects RISD students as a whole.
“These [goals] are just three ways that we are measuring the growth and the outcomes for our students,” RISD Superintendent Tabitha Branum said.
Under the approved benchmarks, RISD hopes to increase students in the third grade who score at "meets level" or above on the STAAR reading test from 49% to 60% by June 2027. For third-grade mathematics, the district approved its goal to grow from 43% to 55% of students by June 2027 to the meets level or above.
According to the Texas Education Agency’s website, CCMR is a measure of how Texas high school students are able to access pathways into a career and/or college. According to Branum, RISD will look to increase the percentage of graduates that meet CCMR criteria from 55% to 70% by June 2027.
In addition to its board goals, RISD also approved the district and campus improvement plans. Both of these plans were proposed and discussed during a Sept. 29 board of trustees meeting. One of the major goals of the district improvement plan is to ensure diversity. Branum said during the Sept. 29 meeting that RISD is hoping to use programs and learning opportunities so the district meets the unique needs of all students.
An updated district improvement plan will help shape the campus improvement planning process that is designed to support resources at each campus in the district, according to RISD officials.
The approved district improvement plan goals include guaranteeing that all students will perform at or above grade level; recruiting, retaining and rewarding teachers and staff; actively pursuing creative funding sources; responsibly managing current resources; and ensuring district facilities and infrastructure adapt over time.
Campus improvement plans have also been developed for each of the four RISD learning communities, which include each of the district’s high schools. A full collection of the campus improvement plans can be found here.
