Helping to raise awareness about the mismatch between local job openings and student aspirations is one of the goals of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce's annual Education Progress Reports, said Kimberly Reeves, vice president of talent alignment with the chamber.
On April 3 the chamber released its 2013 reports, which include K–12 student performance data from the 2011–12 school year as well 2013 STAAR results and highlight key factors such as graduation rates and college readiness.
The chamber has partnered with school districts and other Central Texas chambers for the past nine years to put together the reports. This year the reports cover 12 school districts in Central Texas including Austin ISD, Hays CISD, Hutto ISD, Leander ISD, Pflugerville ISD, Round Rock ISD and San Marcos CISD. Lake Travis ISD and Eanes ISD were not included in the report.
The reports examine the number of students who say they intend to attend college, how many students applied for financial aid, and the percentage of a school district's graduating class that is deemed college- and career-ready, a classification based on state performance measures. Additionally the reports include direct-to-college enrollment rates—the percentage of high school students who actually went on to enroll in a university, community college or technical school immediately after graduating.
In Leander ISD, 70 percent of the students in the class of 2012 were considered college- or career-ready in both reading and math. A total of 68 percent of 2012 graduates enrolled in college by the fall after graduation, according to the report.
Districts statewide are continuing their transition to the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exams. The reports include information on how fifth- and eighth-graders performed on STAAR exams in math, reading, science and social studies. Fifth-graders are preparing to enter middle school, while eighth-graders are preparing to enter high school.
"All fifth- and eighth-graders who do not meet Level II Satisfactory Performance on the first administration of STAAR receive targeted, accelerated instruction ... one-on-one and/or [in a] small group before, during and/or after school," said Veronica Sopher, LISD senior executive director of community and school relations. "An individualized plan is developed for each student based upon their areas of strengths and needs."
Overall the reports provide business owners, educators and parents with an overview of what is happening in local school districts, Reeves said.
"Even in the face of budget cuts, [school districts] are doing a good job meeting the standards," she said. "Now the standards are going to change and they are probably going to be even more challenging."
The full reports can be accessed at www.austinchamber.com/edureports.
Additional reporting by Emilie Lutostanski
