Community Impact previously reported slight year-over-year declines in test passage rates for CFISD students across most subjects in grades three through eight.
The details
Macias reported CFISD passage rates—students approaching grade level—exceeded the state and Region 4 Education Service Center district averages in grades three through eight and high school end-of-course exams.
The district is using the 2023 data as a benchmark for the redesigned STAAR and made adjustments to the curriculum to improve student outcomes, Macias told the board.
“Although we're still learning about the STAAR 2.0, we have made progress and we'll continue to learn about the new item types and the impact of technology on the assessment. You may recall that all students must take the test online,” Macias said.
Since 2023, the reading STAAR test has also incorporated grammar and writing.
“It really would be inaccurate to take all students who did not reach the approaches level on STAAR 2.0 reading language arts assessments and associate it with non-readers,” Macias said. “Because we don't really know if it's the reading part or if it's the language part and the grammar part that is really the concern. It's no longer just a reading test.”
In case you missed it
In 2019, House Bill 3906 mandated a redesign of the state standardized test, which was primarily administered online from that point forward. The updates also emphasized writing skills and included a larger variety of questions, according to the Texas Education Agency’s website.
The 2024 tests were graded almost exclusively by computers to save money and make the grading system more efficient, according to the TEA.
Looking ahead
Macias told the board they will receive the Texas Academic Performance Reports in January. The report will provide additional information on student performance broken down by demographics.
