Cy-Fair ISD is using new tools to track the progress of students in first through fifth grades who did not meet the reading standards during the 2023-24 school year.

CFISD Chief Academic Officer Linda Macias said during the Dec. 5 board meeting the district is tracking student performance using formative assessments and Amira, a reading support program, is a part of CFISD’s new strategic plan.

“It’s our first time to use Amira in this depth,” Macias said during the meeting. “We’ve had it, but it is now part of our curriculum, and now we’re pulling a cohort of students and monitoring to make sure that they are where they need to be.”

In a nutshell

Amira requires students to read aloud into a headset, and the interactive software analyzes their work.

“I saw the Amira program in flight,” CFISD trustee Lucas Scanlon said during the Dec. 5 meeting. “It was interesting to watch the students as they read and then the program would confirm the words that they used and would challenge them if there was something that wasn't quite right. ... I thought overall it’s helpful.”

Along with Amira, the school district uses formative assessments to monitor student learning, identify learning gaps and provide feedback to teachers, who tailor instruction to meet those needs.

CFISD set goals at the beginning of the year to target reading improvement among students who didn’t meet standards the year prior using formative assessments to determine how students’ performance aligns with their grade-level expectations.

Breaking it down

One of the goals focuses on getting at least 90% of first through fifth grade students who fell short of academic targets the previous year to meet the 50% Amira Reading Mastery score by 2029. A 50% ARM score represents a student performing at the typical level for their grade, according to Amira’s website.

The first report, which includes data from this school year through September, shows:

• Of the 3,121 first graders monitored, 41% are still reading below their recommended grade level, while 59% have either reached or exceeded the average.
• In the second grade, CFISD is monitoring 3,708 students, of which 32% are below the suggested ARM compared to 68% at or surpassing the average mark.
• CFISD is monitoring 3,190 third graders, and 39% are reading below grade level, while 61% have reached or exceeded it.
• Of the 1,405 fourth graders in this group, 88% are reading below grade level, while only 11% have reached or exceeded the suggested ARM score.
• In fifth grade, 90% of the 1,095 students are below the mark.

"In this report, some might say, 'Wow, this is very low,' ... but it's not surprising because we're talking about a group of students who were our struggling students this past year," Macias said. "It's our very first time to address it, so you're going to see a growth as we continue to look at the targets for Amira."

What happens next?

Macias said the next report will show the students’ growth patterns from August to November. There will be three total updates throughout the school year.