At the Jan. 18 Cy-Fair ISD board meeting, trustee Natalie Blasingame highlighted the district's performance and said she is looking forward to the opportunity to improve the marks in 2024 under new Superintendent Doug Killian.
“I think third grade reading is such an important barometer of the health of a school system,” she said. “And our third grade reading, ... we're always above the region. We're above the state and how we perform, so we celebrate our strengths. ... We have 81% of our third graders in the district being at the approaches [grade] level [and] 56% of our third graders at the meets [grade] level of reading.”
The overview
The Texas Academic Performance Report highlights student performance in each school and district in Texas each year, according to the TEA website.
Performance data mainly includes State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness results and is separated out by student groups, including ethnicity and socioeconomic status. The reports also provide extensive information on school and district staff and programs.
By the numbers
In addition to scoring each grade level by the state standards, the report breaks down district academic achievement by subpopulations.
For example, here are the 2022-23 third grade STAAR passage rates Blasingame referenced as a leading indicator of achievement levels:
- State: 76%
- Education Service Center Region 4: 77%
- CFISD: 81%
- African American: 73%
- Hispanic: 77%
- White: 90%
- American Indian: 69%
- Asian: 91%
- Pacific Islander: 100%
- Two or more races: 85%
- 82% for CFISD students
- 78% for Region 4 districts
- 78% for Texas districts
- 74% for CFISD students
- 71% for Region 4 districts
- 72% for Texas districts
Blasingame expressed a sense of duty to improve the standing of the district and the achievements of the district in the latest report.
“[There are] some areas of challenge that I'll note because we need to know where we are to know where we're going,” she said.
The list of areas she identified as needing closer scrutiny and additional district efforts included:
- Subpopulation gaps compared to overall district scores
- Bilingual education scores
- English as a second language programs
- Ensuring student attendance