That's right. Good morning. This meeting is now convened. The time is 08:06 a. M. I would like to ask everyone to please silence their cell phones, Quorum of the Board, members present in the Board Auditorium. First order of business here from speakers in the agenda. However, we have no one registered, so we have no speakers. We'll begin the discussion about Category AF, accountability ratings to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and State Assessments. I'd like to invite Board Coach, Monica, who's here, to the microphone, it's right in front of her, to lead our discussion. Let's go. Thank you.
Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me here today. We're going to be starting our conversation on, the connection between A through F accountability ratings to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, and then the state assessment. Okay? So we're gonna spend, a little bit of time, discussing these three pieces. So our objective for today is to understand how learning, is measured in our public education. And by the end of our time together, we're gonna be able to answer, those three questions that we have on the screen.
First one is, what are the three domains that make up the accountability system? What component is included for the first time, in this current accountability system? And then the third one is, according to statute, how frequently must this a through f accountability system be refreshed? Like, we it it doesn't stay the same. We just went through a refresh, a little bit ago, and we need to set that expectation that every a certain amount of time, which we'll discuss in a little bit, it is going to be refreshed, as required by statute.
Okay? So, to get us started, may I have a volunteer who will read the vision that HISD, that you all adopted for your students at Houston ISD. Thank you, Marcos. The Houston Independent School District, HISD, empowers students to become critical thinkers, visionary leaders and active contributors in their community, fostering a pathway to success for limitless opportunities in a competitive global landscape. Thank you. So let's take a quick moment and with your partner, so,
Janet, we have these partners over here and then, right here, the two, Edgar and Michelle, Marcos and Angela. And then please these two, if you can just take a quick moment, what does this mean to you? What does this vision, mean to you? You and Yeah. Your partner over there. Thirty seconds. Go ahead and finish your thought. Thank you. That's what this, you know, raising my hand means, like, okay, you know, let's all come back. Great instructional practice. Not today. Alright, who will go first? Who will share with us what this vision means, for you?
Thank you, Marcos. One of the phrases that I first heard, I believe, in in a setting related to this and I actually think it may have been, the commissioner, who mentioned it. The the phrase is choice filled lives. Right? And and what it means to me is that kids get to choose the path they want and not have those paths dictated to them by the neighborhood they live in, their neighborhood school that they're assigned to,
But delivering a neighborhood school that opens up opportunities that may be high wage, high skill jobs in the trades, maybe college, maybe military, but whatever it is, they get to pursue it because they choose it, not because the other paths have been foreclosed because we as an education system have failed them. Yeah. It's a student having the opportunity to choose, the path that I want, not having someone choose that path for me. Thank you, Marcos. Who will go next? Marty? I think thinking is something that is critically important and learning how to think.
But I also mentioned that you can't learning how to think is critically important, but you have to have the basics, the reading, writing, math, the competitive. So, you've got to get to that level of competency in the basics, math, reading, levels of science and then turning that into a thinking process. I believe that the next ten or twenty years of available jobs and things that you're going to have to do are going to be much more challenging than the last twenty years, mainly because we've got the half life of where we're advancing in things like AI
and other areas, is going to keep everybody at a pace. And so being globally competitive is going to mean that coming out just doing those three reading writing isn't going to be enough. You're going to have to be able to think around that to make sure that you're keeping up with what is actually going on in the rest of the world. Yeah. Thank you, Marty. Michelle? So one of the things good morning. One of the things that my partner and I discussed, we clarified that this vision statement was crafted by the appointed board and said this was not something that was inherited by the elected board. And you touched on this,
we as a board did not list out, college or career or pathways It's important to let students define what those choices are for them and to your point, like, that critical thinking, is incredibly important, learning how to think and I will add that for me, it is important that students are active contributors because they must be a participant in their own future. This is not a place where you come and it's given to you. Thank you. And thank you for that reminder, right? This, vision was adopted by the appointed board.
This one was one of their first tasks. They, adopted the vision, for the district, and then they also adopted student outcome goals, the ones that you'll be monitoring every month along with those constraints. Thank you, Michelle. I'll join in. Kamala. I'll join in a little bit on a little bit on what Marco said earlier. So when I read this, for me, it's setting a strong foundation for our students to have an opportunity to be successful. I mean, the foundation is key. The critical thinking, I look at it from an employer standpoint these days as how these kids are
coming out of school and you give them a task and that's where they say, there's no if it doesn't work, well, we're done. Now what do we do, you know, to to understand what's next? What do I do to be successful? What do I do to make this work? And for me, that's important. But setting that strong foundation also for me gives our students when they get out of school the opportunity. It says limit, there's no way on the opportunity to the opportunity to to to choose. Right? Do I want to go into the military? Do I want to go into banking? Do I want to do this?
But at least I have a choice. And I think that's important because our kids, I don't feel that they have that. And they're at a disadvantage when they don't have the foundation to be able to say, that's what I wanna do when I grow up or when I get out of school. Thank you, Paula. I want to do when I grow up or when I get out of school. Thank you, Paula. Janet? Lauren, jump in if I'm not characterizing our discussion exactly the way I heard it, but as I echoing what I've heard across around the table and also just that reminder of providing that strong foundation for our children.
But I love the way that Lauren helped me see how it there's such a connection to our culture. And and hearing things like, you know, that children should have a choice. Right? That It's something about envisioning what we hope for and what we envision in the next twenty, forty years. What we do today is what we want to plant the food, for our future. And so I really appreciate, like, hearing everybody's comments because I think embedded in that is our shared culture and belief that we, we have a choice that we provide to our children and,
this opportunity to, again, provide that foundation that we believe they need, which is these basic building blocks in order to achieve that, and contribute in our community is very important. Thank you. Thank you, Janette. Thank you. It's just a couple right here. I'll give you the last group here and I know other people want to talk about it. That's fine. So, I've heard the word foundation a few times. And what, superintendent and I talked about was the idea of, when you look at that statement, empower a student to become. Okay? That is the most powerful part of the statement,
I believe, because it's the foundational issue. The foundational issue is you cannot be a critical thinker, visionary leader, or a contributor to the community if you You can't read, you can't do math, you can't do basic things. And when you start thinking about 02/1935, I already heard about AI and the job market is going to be much different in the next twenty years and all that for sure. I read an article this morning when I was getting ready to come from the CEO of Walmart said they're going to grow substantially over the next three years, expand their stores, expand their revenues, expand everything without with zero headcount growth because of AI and because of other things.
So the workplace of the future is going to be a very different place. And if we don't have our if we don't give those students the empower them to become by giving them basic foundational platforms of reading, writing and all that you need to have to become a critical thinker. You can't be a critical thinker if you can't read, right? And so at the end of the day, we have to be we have that's why our pacing can't we can't wait. We have to go now. We have to give people the give our kids the basic skills at a fast
very fast rate. And that's where we get a lot of disconnect from folks here because people want to slow down, they want to go fast, and we have to go fast Because every day you wait to give that foundational skill to a student, that student falls behind or that student that's already behind can't catch up. And so that's why we have to pace and we have to be very focused on the speed at which we deliver this foundational base. Thank you. I I wanna, double down on pace,
but define what we talk about about pace and speed that we adults cannot wait. And I just wanna make sure we're articulating what we're saying. We're talking about we can't wait because our students can't wait. And so when we say pace, we are not saying fast in the classroom. So I just wanna define that as the teacher. What we are saying is there is an urgency for what we have to do for kids. And in the classroom, we have to be there for kids the entire time, the entire class. That's what we mean by,
urgency. We do not mean we're speeding through curriculum. We do not mean we're pushing things through. We mean that the teachers are about business and depth in the classroom a 100% of the time in the room with kids. I just wanna make sure that we kind of go on record about what we're describing that we see in the classroom. We don't mean fast go go go. We're losing kids. We're not losing the kids. Clearly, from what how they're performing, they're up with our pace just fine. What we mean is that the adults in the room are there for the kids for the entire class period every day.
That's what we mean by pace. The other thing I wanted to say because I've been talking to kids this week because I teach junior English, which is American literature, and it sounds a little earthy crunchy. But when I look at this, we were having conversations about the American dream. Everyone talks about what this American dream is and what our country provides and what we say it is. This mission puts it into practice. If America is a place where you can come to school and learn to be a critical thinker and a leader and a deep community member and you can work in the global economy,
that is our American dream. And so this is putting into practice what we say we do for kids. And in HISD, I feel like this mission is saying we're about doing this concept of the American dream by providing this for our students. Thank you, Angie. So the all these reasons that you just shared about wanting, students to have choice, wanting them to be productive, and, all the other things that you mentioned, in Texas, there's also a vision about ensuring that students, in the state have those options. So, at the state level, there is the vision that every child will be prepared for success in college,
a career, or the military. Right? So going back to those choices. And we do have a goal, for our state. So the post secondary attainment, that goal is at a target of 60, where high school graduates will have enlisted in the military. They will have earned an industry certification, a two year degree, or a four year degree, from any institution nationally within six years of graduation. So by 02/1930, at least sixty percent of Texans will have that degree, that will be college,
career, or military ready. K? So we're, paralleling that same, vision that you all here have at the district also, that contributes at the state level. So in order for us to know well, we know where we wanna go, we also need to know though where we're at. Right? And when it comes to that college completion, the high school graduates with the level two certification, that is where our goal is at that 60%. There's been a little bit of growth, but we still have a lot of work to do. Right?
This is at the state level. Mhmm. Yeah. This is at the state level. So, again, connecting to this, vision that we have here. So this is at the state level, which connects to the goals that you adopted. Right? Marty talked about students need to know to be able to read, do math, be college ready. So your district, HISD, the board of managers, adopted four goals that connect to that vision at the state level. You have a goal on third grade reading, a goal on third grade math, one on, graduating students graduating TSI ready,
and then you have a goal that is specific to students receiving special education services. And these are the goals that you monitor every month. Okay? So I'm sorry? Alright. Can I just ask a question real quick or or just make a statement? Mhmm. So the three the four goals, three of them are mandated by state law. Just and I think that's just important for board members to understand is that the first three are mandated by state law. So the goal so we board had to accept those because, in fact, those are the building blocks,
right? Reading, math and TSI ready to support the 60% goal for the state. So from a when you talk to the community and they say, what about your goals? Well, three of them are set by the state anyway, and so you get one goal. And so we accepted the we, okay, we, the appointed board, came up with Goal four. Board excuse me. Rick, can I ask for clarification? When you say mandated by state law, you mean that you're required to set a goal for Grade three Reading, you're required to set a goal for Grade three Math and you are required to
set a goal for TSI Reading? That's correct. Not the specific target. The target we set based on our metrics and where we think thought we could get to from our baseline. But state law says you have to have those goals. So, you can deviate in what your target is on that goal and how you monitor the goal, but you can't deviate from that goal. Go ahead. Yeah. That's I think that's just really important to understand. Clarification is the IBC part. Did we add that on top of TSI? I've my it's been a couple of years since we've discussed it.
Yeah. The the IVC part of goal three. So goal three is the TSI, and then the GPM, the goal progress monitoring Yeah. Is what also addresses goal three. Okay. No. To clarify my question, it's that the TSI ready and certification, did we go through a process of making sure, like, we added that on? Or was that part of the okay. Sorry. To clarify your point, right, my understanding of your point, which is we must have a goal. It wasn't just TSI, but we intentionally added the certification part because we wanted to make sure that we
were, addressing in our goal the the the career readiness piece. Okay. Just kind of refreshing my memory there. Thank you. Yeah. So every HB three required all, boards around the state to adopt one goal on third grade reading, one on third grade math, and then one on CCMR. Yes. I think what's really important for everybody to know is this kind of set where we were, where the starting point was. What was taken over at the time in 2023.
So the starting point could have been higher, could have been lower. It was low by any standard. I think we would like I think we'd like to say that all third graders would read at 100% at grade level, right? But we started at whatever it is, we started at 33 or 41. And so to get from 41 to 100 in four years would have been impossible. But we have set ourselves really, really, I think, it looks to me like ambitious goals, understanding the challenge of the student what we're trying to accomplish here and the size of the district. So I just think people need to understand that as much as we would love
to have all those goals be 100, we got to you got to think about where we started the race. And you refer to this, Mike, when you talk about kids starting 20 yards behind or 50 yards behind the start line. And that's yes, we're still and by the way, we also realized we don't have a homogeneous student body as we pointed out. So closing the gap, I mean, the averages are one thing, but again, a big topic here is, okay, closing the gap means also the people that started even below 41 have to get up there. And that's a real chore because while the averages are great,
they're brought up to some degree by the people that are already at that level, the kids that are already at that level. And so I think that's an extra challenge to the whole district. Yes. And when the board developed these goals, one of the things we talk about how these are student outcome goals. Right? So this goal tells us what students know and are able to do. And, the admin, along with the board, they had to go through this process of identifying targets that were challenging yet attainable. Right? That's why the target was not a 100% because it ended up at a 100%.
Could have been already a way of, like, we're never gonna get there. We're just gonna go ahead and give up. Right? But kind of like with a rubber band, when we're stretching that rubber band, that delicate process of making it challenging without it snapping. Right? Where we're still able to make those improvements like the district has been doing, And then once we get to the target, then guess what? We, you know, celebrate for a day or so. Right? But then we get back on track on, okay, we were at, 56%. We met it. Now let's increase that target for the next five years.
And I just want to remind the board, we also had, some exit criteria goals that aren't exactly the same. For example, no school with multiple years of DRS status, that's a goal. If we wanna get out of intervention, we have to meet that. These will help, but there's many other STAR exams, EOCs that we have to do well on, not just third grade. And that's, that's the exit criteria. The same with SPED goals. Alright. So when we talk about, student performance, like, we cannot improve what we cannot see.
Right? Have you heard that saying, like, inspect what you expect? Have you heard that before? Right? So we set it we set it up. Right? We established it. But then really going back to be able to monitor, to keep track, of that progress or, maybe, you know, lack of progress. Right? So that is what, when we're talking about the a through f accountability system, that's one of the things that we're able to do. We're able to go back and inspect, what we have established to ensure that that's taking place. So one of the resources that we have is this texaschools.gov
website. This is an awesome website. Have you all used it before? This is useful for educators. It is useful for all stakeholders. It is useful as a parent. When it comes to educators or, like, you know, community members, stakeholders, on this website, you're able to find all the data from districts, campuses. You're able to compare those results. When it comes to parent resources, I know my son you know, my child takes a star. Right? So as as soon as those results are available, I go into parent resources, I take a look at how he did, and it gives me a detailed description of his score,
what he got right, what he missed. But then it also gives me resources that I can use, especially, like, during the summer. It even takes me to resources at the library, the you know, public library that we can go to and get. So this is a very useful resource for parents as well, not for teachers, not just for teachers and admin, but for parents as well. And the good news is, like, I know in Houston, you will have a lot of languages, but this resource is also available in Spanish. Okay? So texaschools.gov. Now,
student achievement, is, you know, important to be successful in life. Monitoring the performance of how our schools are doing, there is research that indicates that when our students are being monitored through that performance, their performance increases as opposed to places where that performance is not being monitored. Okay? So this, increases their likelihood of improving throughout their career, throughout their school career.
So, this A to F, tool helps us, improve, and it helps us understand where our students are at. This is actually coming from statute, from the Texas Education Code, chapter 39. And the intent of this a to f system is to continuously improve the performance of our students, eliminating those achievement gaps that we talked about earlier, and then preparing our students for that post secondary success so so they can have the choice of doing whatever they want,
college career or a military. So quick question. Turn to your partner. Thirty seconds. Why do we assess? What do we assess school performance? Thirty seconds. With your partner, I'll raise my hand. This means finish your thought and come back. Thirty seconds. At school, what do we assess? What do we assess our students? Alright. Light round. Why do we assess our students? Go first. There is no discussion on this. We assess because it's the only way we know what the students have learned. The reasons teachers assess, it is the only way we know if what we did was effective.
If they bomb my test, it's my fault. I reteach it until they get it. If I'm teaching them to write and the paper is not successful, I have to go back. The onus is on me as the teacher. Assessment is the only way I know what's going on in the classroom. Yeah. The assessment is the only way I know. We assess to prime our students for learning. We gather that evidence. And then when needed, we reinforce that reinforce that learning. Right? We go back and we reteach or it lets us know, like, okay, it's time to they're ready. Now it's time to move on to the next level.
We analyze that data, sickness of testing, testing, testing, but it's really about testing so it can inform our next steps. Edgar? Yes. I have to say something. Many of you know that I teach at the University of Houston Downtown, and she just says something that is so true from the point of view of the teacher. Right? And and I think this is something that the superintendent stresses. The other day, I gave an exam and my students bombed, completely bombed. Right? I'm talking to another professor and the professor says, well, maybe you have a bunch of very bad students.
And I said, no, maybe it's the professor. Maybe the teacher is not teaching correctly. And that is and that is key. And and, you know, there's an expectation from the students, but there's also an expectations from the teachers, and that is the key. Yeah. As a teacher, it helps me reflect. Like, was it my teaching that was not effective, or is there a something else that I need to do specifically for a student to support that student, learn? Right? We definitely do not wanna turn into the acronym of DRIP, data rich implementation poor. Right? We don't wanna just gather gather data,
and then we do nothing with the data. We wanna be able to come up with a plan and implement that plan once that data, and the plan is developed. Can I just say something? Yes. I've been surprised since I've got involved in this how much controversy there is around this concept. And this really is always all the star test or whatever, right? And I know those moving systems, right, in every state, but I I understand the need. And I don't know if there's a system in the world where students are taught
and nobody gives them tests. They just assume that the kids are learning, therefore, we're not gonna bother giving you a test to figure out whether you did learn because the process of giving tests gives you a chance to figure out where they are where there are gaps and then to go back and teach them the sub subject because you know what the bar needs to be at the end. Right? To know to do calculus, you have to do trigonometry, you have to do this, you have to do and you have to get through those steps. And if you don't get through there and you haven't learned it, well, how do you know if they've learned it? Well, you know they've learned it because you've tested them along the way. And I don't know if there's a system in the world,
an education system in the world, there is no testing. I think we all got tested when we went to whatever schools we went to, and I presume. But I just I've been really amazed at how much controversy there is around this. You're teaching to the test. Well, the test is important. I'm not sure we're teaching to the test. I think that's an overstatement. But we need to have some measurement. So I would add the footnote is the people understand, I think, generally that you have to assess kids. The real issue and the controversy comes when you hold people accountable for the outcomes.
And then once you do that, then the questions are, well, is it a good enough test? I mean, is it is there is a test flood or, you know, should we be testing kids? I mean, usually, when there's no accountability that you don't have as much, complaints. Can I add a the other thing I would say, so I have four kids, all very different, but one of my my my daughter's deaf? I was scared of the test when I had a deaf kid and she's in a elementary school and I don't know what she's gonna do on the test. And there are all kinds of things going on. So the the fears are real.
What I know, and have come to learn through this process, it's very easy to fear the test and then to wonder if there's something in the test that makes it so that your children cannot achieve. So there's a lot of fear around that. But the other part that I've come to learn is we make this a boogeyman test. It really is basic skills of reading and writing. And the more we all, or I think I, learn about that and we dig into that, it kind of demystifies this test. But I was a parent that was scared of the test.
And I was like, well, then I'm gonna put it in private school because I'm scared of the star. So that is real. Right? But on the other side of it, I I I hope that we keep educating families about what this test is. It is a basic set of skills, and it shows us from school to school and district to district. And so that level of transparency so that you know if I move, if I make a change, I need to know from place to place. So that's but I but I do want to, call out. I was a fearful parent for very,
you know, rational reasons. And until I understood more about what children were able to do because of the supports of all these different teachers, I now know. And my child did graduate, and she was an IB student and all those things. But there was a lot of fear about it until, you know, until you felt safe and you're in a system where you know that that the teachers are gonna get there. Thank you, Angie. So as we're thinking about this piece of assessing, right, the essential question here is, are the children learning? And if they are, then move on to the next step.
If they're not, what are we doing to catch them up? When we talk about the a through f accountability system, there are three components that were balanced, when creating this framework. One of those is, there needed to be fairness for schools. So, as this was being developed, one of the things that, we kept in mind was making sure that there was this mathematical possibility that every, district and campus will be able to receive an A. In the past, that was not the case. In the past, there were always a bottom percentage that will get a failing rating.
With this accountability system, that is no longer the case. The second piece is, that it needed to be transparent to the public. So that's one of the reasons why we have, like, texaschools, .gov. Right? Anybody can go up there, and they can look at the data for districts and campuses. And then the third piece is having that rigor, for students, really decreasing, eliminating that achievement gap and ensuring, just like how you mentioned at the beginning, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to choose college,
career, or the military. So these are the three balancing components of the a through f, system. Now, let's skip this slide of what do we know, so we can go to, this piece of how A F helps us meet, those goals that we want. According to the state law, the purpose was to improve student performance, eliminate those gaps, and then prepare our students for success. So fostering that culture, for growth. Right? Having those high standards while providing that support.
As we think about, the a through f framework, there are key, design components that were built into it to ensure that effective, continuous improvement. So one of those is, the ratings reflect the better of, student achievement or school progress. We'll talk about domains in a little bit. We'll see how that comes into play. The second one is that performance is evaluated through different, valid, multiple measures. Third one is that progress evaluates growth in multiple ways.
The a reflects performance consistent with reaching, those long term stern outcome goals. And then the c reflects the average performance from baseline year. This is where that five year refresh comes into play because that c changes every those five years depending on where we're at. I don't understand what you're saying by number five at all. What do you mean the c reflects? I'm I'm not I'm missing it. So, in the a through f accountability, we have a through f ratings. Right?
So during the baseline, a c is identified based on the average performance of the districts and campuses, of at the state level. Correct. So, that c, because as, you know, districts are implementing and improving and getting better, they're they're supporting the students in doing so, that c, whatever the number is indicated on that c, it continues to increase. Right? So every five years, whatever a c was in the previous accountability, that increased because everybody's raising up to the challenge,
and we're, helping students succeed. So that c is always going to be the average performance of that, baseline year. Is that true on both the achievement and progress measure or is that really just an achievement metric? That is to involve. Okay. All right. And then ratings? Let me just say, so every five years, the state rebalances to a C. So the state system is rated C every five years. Is that what you're saying? So and therefore, you've got to achieve better than that to get a higher rating.
So every it's in statute that every five years, we need to go back and refresh. And whatever was identified I'm sorry? It could. But the assumption is that if everybody improves even a little bit, you keep raising the bar. No, I get that. So the legislation was put in place. So this part was so that we would continuously be rigorous as we as a state moves forward. But I guess my point is that if you're then just raising where the average level should be and effectively every school is in the state as
their rating C, there still may be As or Bs, but there are going to be people below that. But that C is going to be higher than it was theoretically. Theoretically, yes. Theoretically, five years from now, if the system is working. Yes. Yeah. Got it. Yes. And then the last one is that this system remains, static for five years. There's no change for five years, and we know what the expectation is, but it it is adjusted every five years. We just went through a refresh for 2023, so those commitments remain unchanged, and they will remain unchanged until the next, five year refresh.
Alright. So let's dig into the domains. This is an accountability overview, so this is where HISD is at. Overall, the district has an 82 out of a 100, so that's a b. And then we see on the right, the change over time. Right? We have the '21, '22, what if, the rating for 2223, and so forth. This is data that is public on texaschools.gov, so this is where this information comes from. What questions are forming in your mind as you see this overview?
Do we know the impact on of all of this from COVID? Do we if 2023, was this in place in 2018? Is this how new was this model? So we have the ratings, the wide ratings from 'twenty one, 'twenty two, that is when I believe the there were no results or tech well, there were there were no results in '21, '22 because of COVID. So that is the what if, Okay. Rating the score. Okay. But the new baseline was set in '23? Yes. Oh, it was already based before then.
So one question that comes to mind here is when we talk about the two domains of progress and growth, I'm always interested in what is the driver and it it makes more sense to me at a school level. But one question I have is this 82 out of a 100, is this driven is this progress or is this achievement? That is a great question, Marcos. So let's take a look at this. How did the that 82 come about? Right? So when we talk about the a through f accountability system, we have a total of three domains.
Domain one is about student achievement. Domain two is about school progress. Now whichever one is the best of those two, either student achievement or school progress, that becomes 70% of this rating. K? So we have the option, whichever one of those two we're doing, better, that becomes that 70. The 30% comes from domain three, which is closing the gaps. Okay? This is where we have the student groups and identifying how we're gonna be closing
those gaps. So let's dive into domain one, which is student achievement. This domain one tells us what students know and are able to do by the end of the school year, and the ratings for this domain, include, student performance at the approaching, meeting, and mastering grade level on the STAAR test. K? For high schools and districts, this rating is also based on, college career and military ready, and then how many students, graduated as well.
So there are additional components. Before we talk about those additional components, I talked about these, performance level. Right? The approaching, the meeting, and the mastering. When we talk about STAR, we have a total of four performance levels. The highest one is master's grade level. What this means is that the student was able to acquire all the knowledge that they needed to be successful at that specific grade level. Now there's research that indicates that when students perform at the master's grade level, they have a seventy five percent chance of passing freshman level courses.
So let's start thinking about why it is important for me for us as a board to understand the performance level on STAR. K? So master's, grade level means they're they acquire the knowledge that they needed for that school year and there's a 75% chance of passing freshman courses. Okay? Master's level. At the mid grade level, this means that the students are likely you know, there's a high likelihood of them being successful. They may need a little bit of, short term, intervention,
and there's a sixty percent chance of passing fresh level courses, k, for the mid grade level. At the elementary yeah. So every STAR test will have those four, performance levels. Masters needs grade level. And we'll take in we'll look a little in a little bit, we'll take a look at how that is all connected. But we have those four performance levels. So third one is approaches, grade level. And these ones, students are, you know, they're likely to be successful in the next grade level or course, but they will need a targeted academic intervention.
So when at the mid grade level, you know, there may be just short term, academic intervention that what might be needed. At the approaches grade level, we know for sure that our students will need that additional support. K? And then did not meet grade level, just like how the label indicates, they did not our students did not acquire the knowledge that they needed to be successful. K? Why is it important for me as a or for us as a board to understand these four levels? You have your goals, your third grade reading, your third grade math.
You set them up at the mid grade level. Why is it important to know the difference between these four performance levels on STAAR? I guess for me, it's again, it's a thing where your students are. Right? If they're not meeting grade level and they're did not meet, what do we need to do with this student or group of students to get them there? Right? We need to focus on them because our goals, right, that we're trying to meet are getting them at masters at the very least needs. So it indicates where we need to focus on some of the questions.
Yeah. What we've discovered is that we have students who graduate from school system from our Texas school systems, they go to college, they enlist in the you know, a university, and, a lot of them have to take remedial courses. Right? And a lot of our students also receive special, financial aid. So because of those remedial courses, we're discovering that a lot of them are not completing their degree because a lot of that financial aid was spent on paying for those, what do they call it? The remedial courses. Yes. So yesterday,
I was talking to, a person who, worked for, Lone Star, college. And he said that sixty percent of the kids who dropped out the first year was because they were taking remedial courses, and they couldn't do well in those. And so that's a big deal. Just another comment. When when I arrived here, the district had spent a lot of time and principals were spending a lot of time on reporting out and trying to improve the approaches number. And,
and I said, no. We're going to focus on meets because approaches is low bar. Not that we're not going to report it, we it's obvious for it's available for everybody to look at, it's on the SAR, we even report it, but we and you know, we focus on meets, that's the goal, meets and above because that's grade level. It's a higher bar and so, there was criticism out there that we're hiding approaches or we're not reporting enough on approaches. It's not that we were hiding it, it's just that the focus is on meets and it should be.
It should be on meets and masters and not approaches. So that means that if you're at 40% reading at meets grade level, you know what the approaching and blow is, it's everybody blows it. Yes, that's true. I mean, so that's so you mean that 60% are reading at grade level. If you got 40% and when you're trying to get people from we're trying to get everybody to grade level or above, right? And that's the goal?
But here's the complicating nuance. Approaches includes, as it's reported out and I'm sure you're going to talk about this, includes the meets and masters. So approaches is everybody and above and meets and masters. You look actually better than you are. Yes. And it disguises, whether or not you're really moving the bar in proficiency. So if your approaches goes up, that's good, but that doesn't necessarily mean your meets went up. And that's why you really need to focus on meets and masters. Alright. So can I ask a question on that?
So because I I'm not quite sure about the criticism. If we're focusing on meets, to get it to meets, it means we're doing the same we're doing those approaches with all the kids. So whatever we're doing is for all the kids. I'm I'm trying to understand I know why people are obstruct obstructive, but but, really, if the logic of the of the plan is if we're doing meets, it's handling everything that we need for approaches too. Am I saying that right? Can you articulate it in a way that makes sense?
Sorry. So this is this is what what I have outlined for the principals and teachers that the problem with approaches, first here that it is good to move the approaches number up because that means your lower your lower performing kids are at least getting a little better. You you definitely don't want kids in the did not meet. So getting more kids in the approaches and lowering the did not meet grade level, that's a good thing. Here's the problem though. If if your if your goal is, you know, we're moving approaches and we're feeling really good that our approaches went from 70% to
80%. So there's plus points for that, good for you, you know, let's celebrate that. However, let's not celebrate too much because the real goal is getting kids at grade level. And you can't tell whether approaches moving 10 points actually move your meets grade level? What if you just moved 10 percentage points out of did not meet, then they moved in approaches but your meets actually went down. Your approaches could go up and your meets go down. So that's you have to understand the data,
you have to look at the data and not just celebrate just because approaches goes up. So we look at approaches, we want the approaches to go up. In fact, in 17 or 'eighteen out of the 20 exams it did. And meets went up in every single exam. So that's what you need to look at. I think the challenge would and this is the beauty of data and the challenge of data. And that is you can and we have been accused of cherry picking the data to make us look good. And then the folks that say that are cherry picking the data to make it
look bad. Like, oh my God, there are schools that went down in accountability, shame on you. Wait a minute, we went from 93 A and Bs to 197 A and Bs, 121 D and S prior to us arriving and now we have 18 Ds and zero Fs. But yes, there are schools that went down And we're going to see that in the data today later by the way. And we're going to look at the schools that did the best and the schools that did that went down. We're going to talk about why and then what we're doing to deal with that,
right? And so that's the great part of having lots of data and having a big robust is that you can pick a piece out and say, oh, this is bad. Let's and then people focus on the bad. If your view is everything is bad, so I have to find the bad, and then I have to accentuate the bad, and that's just part of the world we live in today. And so that's why I think to your point, and I love the rigor because the rigor issue is if you put set the bar higher, the question is you're going to not look as good
if you set the bar lower. If my bar is low, yeehaw, we're all making the bar. But if the bar is higher, you're going to have people that don't make the bar. And then that's going to be the issue, and that's the accountability issue that superintendent talks about. When we're held accountable for a higher bar, it's harder to get to. It's easier to get to a lower bar. So if you're worried about how people feel about you or think about you and you want to do high fives all the time, you keep the bar really low. And that's not good for students, really, I think. I think sometimes I mean, it's interesting. Sometimes, I think about the numbers the other way around.
Instead of saying 31 reading at grade level, that means to me 69% are reading at grade level. So, if you turn the numbers around, you just do the opposite. And And so what you're saying, you're going from 31% to 50% for example, you're going from 69% not reading grade level, which is when you think about it, that's really bad, okay? And so we move it from 31% to 47%. I mean, that's great, but that still means 53% aren't doing work at grade level. And if you put approaches in there, that number is even going to look it's going to look better. But at the end of the day, the reality is that you're still getting kids to graduate who can't read at grade
level. And that To be the goal that kids can do these basic functions at whatever grade levels to find. I mean, it's interesting we could all get into a debate what grade level is and how we got there. But I sometimes just turns in when somebody says, well, you know, that's pretty good. No, 69% can't be at grade level. That's bad. And that's I'm sure Monk is going to get into this in just a minute with the Domain one and 2A. But that's why both domains are important for what you just said, Marty, because at the end of the day,
we still for example, we've had great growth, we're moving around and we've had achievement, both. You're going to see domain one and 2A go up. But I look at it the same way, it's like, oh, geez, we still have so many kids who are not not at meets. And so, so we got a lot more work to do. Yeah. So when we look at domain one And we're getting a lot of pushback from parents who have kids are clearly at exceeds or meets, right? And so I understand that. They have to,
I think, understand that whatever the number is, the reverse number is, that's what we're trying to solve for as a district as well. And that is they're not just have their kids at that level, but have all kids at that level. And I yes, even in the same school. And I'll just say what I said in public the other day at city council. I got asked, you know, the schools that have higher scores, high achievement, especially among certain populations, why not just leave those schools alone? And I said, well,
I'd be happy to except we have a whole bunch of kids where the achievement gap is 40%. You're gonna see a couple, 40%? Do you want me to leave that school alone? Who's advocating for those kids who are on the bottom or the wrong side of that 40 gap? Who's doing that? And if it's the majority of the kids in the school, should we leave that school alone? And I said, Well, no, I'm not going to. Part of the job is all means all. So, yeah, I we look at that gap all the time.
So when we look at domain one so remember, domain one is what students know and are able to do. This is about student achievement. When it comes to elementary and middle schools, 100% of this domain one score comes from STAR. K? And the way that we, get to that is we look at the results for approaches grade level or above, meets grade level or above, and then masters grade level or above. And we get, one point, for each percentage. We take the average of that,
and that gives us, we get the average, and then we look at a scale and we identify, what the rating for that will be. For high schools, in the district, we take 40% of that comes from STAR, 40% comes from CCMR, and then 20% comes from graduation rate. So that is domain one. So add mhmm. Mhmm. So at the district, when it comes to student achievement, we have a 77 out of a 100, when it comes to this domain. K? And you notice a change over time.
So these are yes. Seventy, seventy three, 77. So so achievement is Yep. Going up from 70, in 2022 to 73, in 2425. This is also detailed star performance data. Again, this comes from texaschools.gov, available to anyone who wants to take a look at it. So we have the percentages at approaches, at meets, and then, master's grade level. And then these are the details, into, CCMR. We're not gonna take a deep dive on this. I just want you to be aware,
this is available on texasschools.gov if you wanna go back and, take a look at it. Are you gonna be able to share these with us as well, these slides? I can share those. Okay. I I would like this is Yeah. I can share with you the website where you can actually even take a deeper dive, you know, and dig into the data, as you in your time. What? Your website, not the I mean, your slides. Perfect. In addition to we can take our deep dive in the website. Alright. So let's look at domain two. Domain two is about school progress. So this is based on,
comparing how students are performing. Part of it is going to be, growth on, academic growth in reading and math. And then the other part is going to be, at the level of achievement compared to, similar campuses. So this is what is unique about this a through f accountability. This is the first time that we're able to evaluate student growth. As a teacher, I had kids that were performing at a very low level, and it didn't matter how hard I worked with them on a previous accountability system,
the students did not get recognized either, even if that gap was closed. This is the first accountability system that allows us to get credit for students and teachers working hard and closing those gaps. What does it mean similar campuses? How do you determine what are similar campuses? I just love your question, Marcos. So similar campuses so just like how we did we talk about domain, better off, either or. Right? When it comes to, school progress, this is also going to be either or,
the best of either Part a or Part b. So Part a is that STAR academic growth. Part b is the one that we talk about relative performance. So based on the data that districts submit, they look at campuses that are alike when it comes to economically disadvantaged students. So we're able to compare campuses, based on their EcoDIST population. So yeah. Is it basically just, like, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students of that? Okay.
Yes. Alright. So part a only looks at STAR, Part b looks at relative performance on STAAR and then also, CCMR. Okay? So let's take a look at part a. Part a, we always start on looking at that growth on third grade. Why do you think we start or third grade is our baseline to compare for fourth grade? Go ahead. Because of the importance of of reading. Because once you get to fourth grade, you've got to be able to read to be able to progress in every other
subject. And so that is just a critical, critical time period to get the issue right. Yeah. Also, third grade, this is the first time that they take reading and math, the state assessment. So that creates the baseline. By the time our students move to fourth grade, then we're able to see that growth. So we look at the performance in third grade, we look at performance in fourth grade, what was that growth. When they go to fifth grade, they take the reading and math test, and then same thing, we look at the growth. When we were growing up, we took the Iowa test. I think didn't everybody take the Iowa test? Did they start at third grade or did they start earlier than that?
Do you remember? I don't remember. I think it's as early as second grade, but I don't remember. Yes. But we start But Iowa is the basic test, yes. Yes. So we start at third grade. That's the first test our kids actually are starting where we start to assess things. Do you have any way to have insights as to K12 as to how they're doing? And how do you just as a matter of curiosity? Just got a report yesterday about it, but DIBELS, Lactura are a couple of exams that we use. We also use NWA in first and second grade. I'm just going to point out we have a lot of really great questions,
but we also have a schedule. And I know they're all really good questions. All right. So Part B, like I mentioned before, relative performance, right? So this is based on the economically disadvantaged population at that campus and then looking at student achievement. So that gives us the opportunity to compare similar campuses. Alright. So this is domain two at HISD. So we have academic growth, on the left, and then we have relative performance on the b. So remember, just like how we domain one, it was the best of those two,
the same thing will be here. So when it comes to domain two, which one is the one that's at the highest level of performing, academic growth or relative performance? I have to point out here though or we should look at that, that's 78 versus 82, right? We're only four percentage points off. So, people who pound us over achievement versus or growth versus achievement, it's not that far off. And we're close enough on the achievement to get there. And fundamentally, you cannot have achievement without growth if you're behind the start with period.
End of story. Well, and look at the growth from two years ago to now. That's an incredible difference. Good. So in this case, we get we go to relative performance, right, that 82 because that is the highest one. Alright. So let's talk about the last domain, domain three, which is closing the gaps. And this domain is intended to help, to make sure that attention is given to all of our students. Right? Ratings look at at groups of students, but then they also look at how well,
those group of students are doing when it comes to academic growth and student achievement. These are all the components that, are part of domain number three. We have academic achievement for elementary and middle school and high school. We look at growth for elementary and middle school. We look at graduation rates for the high school, progress to English language And then on the right, we have the student groups that are that are evaluated and reported under domain three. I would also like to point out that this is also, providing that accountability at the federal level.
So this is the reason why we only have one accountability system, framework in the state as opposed to having to have one for the state and then one at the federal level. Domain three makes it a very unique, framework for us in Texas system when we look at what is federally required as well. Those are part of, I believe that is a great question. Let me find out, and then I'll let you know. Alright. So this is the, score for domain three. The rating is an 83 out of a 100. Again,
taking a look at change over time. Right? Starting with a 60 sixty eight? Sixty eight in '22, 23, to 80 in 23, 24 to an 83 in 24, 25. That's why we don't ignore the schools with gaps. Because if you if you ignore that, then you get a 68. All right. So just some quick preliminary 2028 A through F refresh. So again, A through F Can I just stamp just a couple of things real quick? I know we're out of time.
Number one, we didn't make these rules. We didn't make all these all the A through F. So we're doing well and we're doing well by the rules set by the state. But number two is, if you don't focus on Domain one as a school leader and you only focus on growth, Over time, you will get to Domain one, but you've got to push the Domain one even from the beginning, not just growth, so that you don't go up and then down. You have to go up and then you have to keep going up in order
to move your Domain one. So, our principles know that and it's not just about growth, it's about growth and hitting achievement. Alright. So, you know, the we talked about how the a through f system remains the same for five years. So we can expect that it would change again. It changed in 2223, and then we are well, it says we are here. We were establishing those, cut points and finding those cut points and calculation, you know, going through the whole process. The a through f system will be refreshed in the school year 2728.
That's when we're going to establish that new five year methodology. And then we can expect again that it will be refreshed in, twenty thirty two, twenty thirty three. So this five year refresh will be it should not be a surprise. We should be expecting, these changes. Just real quick, are you just so I understand, is it a new methodology or a new scoring against the same methodology? There are some adjustments that may be made to the methodology because of new HBA, implications. Yes. Oh, yeah. Like, there's, we take public feedback, there are committees, there's guidance from different groups,
yeah. There's there's a lot of feedback information that, Really, really good. We don't want we don't want the rules to change in the seventh inning, you know. Yeah. Alright. So let me see. Okay. So let's do a quick review, of STAR, the state of, Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness. This is also, by the way, changing. It just went through a refresh. It will be changing as well. In 2728, I believe, will be the last year, that it will be implemented, again, because of, a new legislative, mandate that just took place. So when we talk about the current,
state assessment, this was not just created by the agency. There there was an educator advisory committee. Teachers, are part of this process. They review questions. There's feedback that is provided. Each passage is reviewed by these teachers, and then we send those out, and kids are take those questions, that are we call them field tested, questions, and the intent of that is just to ensure that they are reasonable questions that we can ask, that they're not throwing any of the students off. It doesn't count against the students. It's just to figure out the reliability of those questions.
We have four different types of assessments, and these four different types of assessments serve a different purpose. So at the beginning, from left to right, we have what we call diagnostic tests. And those are the tests that teachers provide at the beginning of the school year. Notice how you do not see the only time you see diagnostic test is on that, line at the bottom. It's just at the beginning of the year. Right? That's it. The second one is the formative assessments, and these are the assessment that our teachers use frequently and they use the most.
This happens, you know, after I teach my lesson. It may happen as I am teaching my lesson and I'm, informally assessing how my students are doing. So So in this line at the bottom, you see that formative, ongoing assessment, right? That's happening every day, in the classroom. Then we have the interim assessments, and interim assessments are just given periodically. It may be every six weeks, every nine weeks. That's just to assess big chunks of how our students did. If you notice, in that line at the bottom,
we have the interim assessment only once. Then at the end, we have the summative assessment, and this summative assessment evaluates what my students learned throughout the entire year at the end of the school year. So where would the state assessment fall? Where does STAR fall? Is STAR a diagnostic, formative, interim, or summative? Yeah. It is a summative at the end of the school year. Right? It is intended for our students to take it only once at the end of the school year. Alright. So it just went through,
you know, a a refresh that was implemented in 2223. It prioritized cross curricular integration. It eliminated, fourth and seventh grade stand alone, assessments. It also capped the number of multiple choice questions, and then it also provided, easier access for accommodations for our students receiving, you know, meeting, those specific accommodations based on their learning needs. It also transitioned to, fully being administered electronically, which made it also easier to provide those accommodations. Alright.
Let's see. Let's move on to our TICS. So we talked about a through f, and in a through f, we took into account star. Right? Now let's take a look at how the TICS come about. Just very quickly, what are TICS? Where are the TICS essential knowledge and skills? My teacher, Angie, where are TICS? They're the component parts of the content that, the students need to learn in a given year. Yeah. It tells me specifically as a teacher what it is that I need to teach. As a student, it is what I need to learn. Right? And every grade level has them. Every content area has them.
So these are the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. These ticks are defined by the State Board of Education. K? So this is not the agency. This is not a specific group. The the State Board of Education defined what students should know and be able to do. Let's take a look at an example. On the screen, you have TEEKS 5.3 a. The five tells me that this is, fifth grade. And then we have three point three a, which is probably, you know, probably operations. I am not sure,
but it's, like, specific to, to what I'm teaching. Based on TEKS 5.3 a, what should students know and be able to do? What do they need to know? What do they need to do? Math? What specifically about math? Addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. Right? What else do they need to do? Well, in this case, it's it's estimated. Yeah. They need to estimate. For distinction. I'm guessing so Mhmm. It's not just adding, subtracting, multiplying. It's also, they need to know how to estimate. Good. So let's take a look at it, in, you know, how it will be assessed. If I know that this is my TICS,
this is the the Texas essential knowledge and skill that I need to teach. We are not going. What I gonna play, are you smarter than a fifth grader? No worries. I'm not gonna ask you for the correct answer. But this is just, you know, if I have my TICS, right, 53.8, that is where I need to teach. Then at the bottom, we have a question, of how it is evaluated on the star. So I need to, using that estimation process. Right? I need to first, estimate, and then I need to figure out, what is it that I need to figure out here?
So we need we talked about adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing. Don't I'm not asking for the right answer. I'm just asking what would be, what will students need to know to answer this specific question? Rounding. Rounding. And subtraction. And subtraction. Right? So they need to be able to do both. And then we have that kind of, like, real life, connection as well. Alright. So I know that this was quick, but closing up this ticks portion, right, it is important. So we talked about the connection between so we started high level,
the a through f accountability system. We talked about the components, of f through a. We talked about, the domains, and how each one of those domains were looking at STAR. We talk about the STAR result, in the STAR test, and then we also talked about how the STAR test is testing those ticks, Like, what I need to teach, my students for every, grade level. So having, you know, we started this conversation with high expectations. Right? We anchored to the vision of the district, and you all talked about the importance of student choice.
Having those high expectations, begin with leadership. It starts with you as the board. When those decisions, at the district level are driven by that belief that all students can achieve, then as you all have seen, those positive outcomes, occur. And then just, keeping in mind, having those high expectations also need that support, right, in order for this to become a reality, like they have been becoming a reality here at HISD. Alright. So our objective was to understand how student learning is measured in Texas,
and this was a super, super fast review of A2F Star Antiques. So quick evaluation, what are the three domains that make up the A2F accountability system? Went to went through you. I like it. Rigor for students. Student, achievements, school progress, and closing the gaps. Very good. Nice. Let's give Michelle LaBarouque a five. What component is included for the first time? Yeah. Student growth. Very good. And according to statute, how frequently must the A through F accountability system be updated?
Every five years. Very good. Alright. And I believe we're moving. We're moving, yes. So let's move. Okay. We're streaming. Okay. Good morning. This meeting is reconvened at 12:00. And we don't have any motions coming out of the closed session. So with no further business to discuss, this meeting and the Board is adjourned at twelve p. M. And guess what? Twelve. What do you think?