Richardson ISD outpaces national averages, academic growth results show

The data collected by the exams—which were administered in September—shows growth compared to the beginning of the 2024 school year in all assessed areas, including Reading English, Reading Spanish and Mathematics.

In addition, most grade levels performed above national norms on the Reading Spanish and Mathematics exams, with only fifth and eighth grades falling a few points below, respectively.

These referential “norms” are provided to the district by the Northwest Evaluation Association, which recently adjusted its normative data for the first time since 2020 to reflect changes in national student demographics and post-pandemic shifts in student performance.

The discussion

Gina Ortiz, executive director of the district’s accountability team, attributed the assessment’s success to RISD’s instructional priorities, which include:

• Data-driven instruction
• Observation and feedback
• Lesson internalization
• Professional learning communities

Additionally, Branum highlighted several factors contributing to the district’s strong start to the year, including new support plans shared with parents to foster summer learning, over 6,000 students participating in summer school programs and a clearly defined curriculum for the first few weeks of school.

“I think one of the differences that I felt this year is because we had clarity on our instructional priorities,” Branum said. “Really, our campuses could focus [from] day one [on] just high-quality instruction.”

Some context

MAP Growth is an assessment tool created by NWEA to measure academic progress. The test is administered three times a year and produces an individualized scale that tracks each student’s progress throughout the school year and across K-12 grades.

According to Branum, MAP results are not a predictor for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, but there are some correlations.

Along with its 2025 adjustment of normative data, NWEA also released a new enhanced algorithm that aligns MAP items to each state’s standards, making each student’s data more relevant to the State of Texas and STAAR examinations.