Austin chamber releases Education Progress Reports for local districts

As school counselors throughout Central Texas help students transition to new Foundation High School Program graduation plans initiated under House Bill 5, part of the message the chamber wants to convey is what opportunities are available for students, Reeves said.

"We are in one of the fastest-growing communities in the country with a lot of high-demand jobs and a lot of mismatch between the jobs that we have and what kids think they want to do," she said.

The report shows computer- and math-related jobs make up 19 percent of Central Texas job openings, while in the regional class of 2013, computer jobs make up

4 percent of student aspirations, and science and math careers make up 6 percent.

AISD school board trustee Amber Elenz said hearing that local businesses want to help connect students with potential career paths is encouraging.

"That is going to be so important as we move into the HB 5 new endorsement routes," she said. "It's critical that [businesses] are partnering with all the school districts."

AISD's direct-to-college enrollment rate—the percentage of high school students who actually enrolled in a university, community college or technical school immediately after graduating—was 60 percent for the class of 2012.

"I think being flat is sobering a little bit because you know the work that goes into it," Elenz said. "But yet, when you look at the realities of the changing demographics, really we didn't stay flat. We took some kids who have really, really struggled and brought them up. It's just masked in the overall data."

The report examines test results of fifth- and eighth-graders, as those students are about to make the transition from elementary to middle and from middle to high school, Reeves explained. Results from the report show AISD fifth- and eighth-graders improved on the STAAR exams, but standards will become even more rigorous in 2016, Reeves said.

AISD Chief Academic Officer Pauline Dow said AISD strategies for STAAR improvement include professional development, holding meetings about instruction best practices and using a framework for curriculum design intended to help students gain a deep conceptual understanding of materials.

"The office of academics and the assessment department collaboratively create benchmarks to measure student mastery of the taught curriculum mid-year, in time for teachers to analyze the assessment data to improve teaching and learning and student achievement," she said.

Overall the reports give business owners, educators, parents and the community 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," Reeves said. "Now the standards are going to change, and they are probably going to be even more challenging. We have to be even more strategic with our decisions when it comes to budgets and programs and policies."

The reports can be accessed online at www.austinchamber.com/edureports.