Board hears that early data shows areas of growth, needed improvement
but scores similar to state performances as reported in new assessment
The San Marcos Consolidated Independent District Board of Trustees received a presentation on the preliminary scores for the STAAR test at their regularly scheduled meeting Monday.
San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Director of Data and Accountability Beth Nash said that the final scores have not yet been received and her presentation was based solely on preliminary data, pointing out that this was the first round of testing with the STAAR changes– tests which now include only 75% composed of multiple choice responses.
She said the school has still not received the official manual on grading, and this is the reason that final scores cannot be calculated.
She added that the demographics vary widely across district campuses making it difficult to compare across campuses, and the public accountability scores– which will span 40 different schools–should ground these scores when available.
The Texas Education Agency website said the scores range on a scale from Masters Grade Level, Meets Grade Level, Approaches Grade Level and Did Not Meet Grade Level.
“Approaches is a passing standard,” Nash said.
Nash showed a chart with 3rd grade math scores over a four-year span.
“We are closing the gap between our averages with the state averages,” Nash said. “If you look at 2022, we were 16 points below the state at approaches. This past year, we were 10 percentage points below the state at approaches.”
Nash said the district saw similar trends across fourth grade math.
“We dropped slightly at approaches [grade level]. Whereas the state remained the same. At meets [grade level], the state went up slightly. At Masters [grade level], the state dropped by one. We dropped by one,” Nash said.
Nash showed a cohort comparison for the current fifth graders’ math scores, when that same group tested during fourth and fifth grade. She said that regardless of the test changes, students demonstrated there was growth.
“As a group of students moving up, as third graders they were at 55% at approaches [grade level]. They went down one percentage point. Looking at our meets and masters though, both of those areas grew by two percentage points,” Nash said.
She moved on to fifth grade math across a four-year span.
“2019, that approaches [grade] level is extremely high. That is the last year that we had the SSI initiative, where if students didn’t pass in April, they were then able to take it again in May, with intensive remediation between those two points,” Nash said. “Two years ago, we were 16 points below the state, and now we’re only seven points below the state.”
Nash showed a cohort comparison for the current sixth graders’ math scores, when that same group tested during fifth and fourth grade.
“You can see how this group went from third graders with 46% approaches [grade level] to fourth graders at 57% approaches [grade level] to fifth graders at 72%,” Nash said, adding that from fourth to fifth grade, at the masters grade level, 14% was maintained, which means there was no regression.
Nash showed a slide with fifth grade science over time.
“The state dropped slightly at approaches [grade level], as did we. At meets [grade level], both the state and the district went down, and at masters [grade level], while they both went down we are one point from being at the state average for masters [grade level],” Nash said.
Nash showed a graph with third grade reading and language arts scores over a four-year span. She said she wanted to stress that the ELA test now contains reading and writing interwoven together.
“The state stayed about the same at approaches [grade level], so did we,” Nash said. “The state at masters dropped by 10%, as did we. Our trend lines are right in line with the state.”
She then moved to fourth grade reading and language arts.
“The state was pretty stagnant at approaches [grade level], as did we. At meets [grade level] both the state and us dropped as well as the masters [grade] level,” Nash said.
She compared cohorts by showing the current fifth graders’ RLA scores , when that group was in third, fourth and fifth grade.
“In third grade, they were at 69% at approaches [grade level], going up to a 72% [for fourth grade],” Nash said. “The meets [grade level] did go backwards as well as the masters [grade level].”
Nash showed fifth grade RLA over a fouryear span.
“81% for approaches [grade level] for the state. We dropped slightly, going down three percentage points. Looking at the meets [grade] level, the state dropped by two [percentage points]. We dropped by seven [percentage points]. At masters [grade level], the state dropped by eight [percentage points], we also dropped by eight [percentage points],” Nash said.
She showed a cohort comparison for current sixth graders’ RLA scores in third, fourth and fifth grades.
“They went from third grade at 59% approaches [grade level] to 71 [percent] to 75 [percent],” Nash said. “At the meets [grade] level, there’s a slight dip there, but at masters [grade level], they went up by two percentage points.”
Nash showed a historical trend for sixth grade math.
“It dipped in the years when we had our advanced students taking the seventh grade [test], so we anticipate that ‘21 and ‘22 data is not the prettiest, and in 2023, we are recovering,” Nash said. “This is an area that we know we need to show growth in. We are behind the state by 15 percentage points. Our meets [grade level] is behind as well as our masters [grade level].”
Nash showed a cohort comparison of current seventh graders for math across fourth, fifth and sixth grade.
“You can see from fourth grade to fifth grade they had a tremendous jump [38% to 63%, at the approaches grade level], and then they went back slightly [59%]. Looking at the meets level, you’ll see the same thing–a tremendous jump then they regressed [18% to 33% to 22%],” Nash said.
She showed eighth grade math scores over a four-year span.
“Here’s where you’ll see that 100%, back when we had only geometry students taking the assessment [2019],” Nash said. “This is something that we, hopefully, will see this rebound this year, because the students who will take this test are our current seventh graders who are in that double blocked math.”
Nash showed eighth grade science across a four-year span.
“You’ll see the state dropped by two percentage points. We actually went up at approaches [grade level] by four [percentage points]. At meets [grade level], the state and the district both remain the same, and at masters [grade level] the state dropped by eight [percentage points] and then we dropped by five [percentage points],” Nash said.
Nash showed a slide with sixth grade RLA across a four-year span, and added that this is the first time the reading and writing TEKS are on the same assessment.
“[For approaches grade level] the state grew by five percentage points. We grew by eight [percentage points]. You’ll see at the meets level, the state went up, as did we,” Nash said.
Nash showed a cohort comparison for current seventh graders across fourth, fifth and sixth grade for RLA.
“There has historically been a drop from the fifth grade RLA to the sixth grade,” Nash said. “We are in line with the state. Our meets [grade level] dropped 58 to 51 [%], and then our masters [grade level] did decline. That’s an area that we can focus on with our high achieving students. What didn’t work well in sixth grade, and how can we fix that for this year’s sixth graders?”
Nash showed seventh grade RLA scores across a four-year span.
“You’ll see the state dropped by three percentage points [in approaches grade level]. We went up by four [percentage points]. The state at meets [grade level] dropped by four [percentage points]. We actually went up by seven, and the state at masters grade level dropped by eleven. We only dropped by three,” Nash said.
Nash showed a slide comparing cohorts for current eighth graders in their RLA scores for fifth, sixth and seventh grade.
“As fifth graders they were at 67 [% for approaches grade level]. They went down as sixth graders and back up as seventh graders. You’ll see the same for the meets [grade level]. ” Nash said.
Nash showed eighth grade RLA across a fouryear span.
“The state dropped by one percentage point at approaches [grade level]. The district went up by four [percentage points]. The state dropped at meets [grade level] by two. We went up by one,” Nash said. “For masters, both the state and the district struggled.”
