AUSTIN — Austin Independent School District trustees on Thursday reviewed the district's college, career and military readiness (CCMR) scorecard and pressed administrators for clearer plans to turn academic readiness into actual postsecondary enrollment and industry placement.

"All students will graduate college, career, and life ready," said Dr. Chris McFadden, executive director for ECA, ECHS and P-TECH initiatives, as he opened the presentation on scorecard goal 3 and related goal progress measures.

The presentation focused on three measures used by the district: (1) a district scorecard indicator that counts graduates who meet one or more CCMR indicators (military enlistment, postsecondary enrollment or approved industry-based certifications), (2) the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) college-readiness measure and (3) the district's distinguished-level graduate rates. The district reported that for the 2019 graduating cohort its CCMR indicator measured 77 percent — one percentage point below the district's 78 percent target — while the TSI measure exceeded the district goal: 73 percent met TSI criteria against a 62 percent target.

Administrators said the TSI gains reflect district efforts to give students multiple opportunities to prepare and test. "We're going to give them multiple opportunities to do so," Dr. Fannin said during the discussion, noting summer bridge programs and repeated testing as part of the plan to raise pass rates.

Trustees and staff identified several limits and follow-ups. Dr. McFadden and other staff explained that certain CCMR components are "lagging indicators" because state accountability reports lag by cohort year; the most recent fully validated state data covered the 2019 graduates. They also cautioned that one component — students'stated intent to enlist in the military on the high-school exit survey — has proven difficult for the Texas Education Agency to validate and may be excluded from state CCMR calculations going forward. The district reported roughly 106 students in the 2019 class indicated military enlistment on exit surveys.

On industry certifications, staff said Austin ISD counts all certifications earned in the district for its internal scorecard, while the state's accountability measure counts only those on the commissioner's approved list. That difference helps explain why Austin ISD can appear below the state on the approved-certification metric even when the district has a robust set of local credentials. For example, staff cited LBJ (about 18 percent of 2019 graduates with an approved certification), Akins (15 percent), Navarro (13 percent) and Austin High (about 12 percent) as among campuses with higher shares of approved certifications in 2019.

Trustees asked pointed questions about translating readiness into enrollment and career outcomes. Trustee Singh praised the district's instruction and said, "kudos to our teachers — they are definitely working really hard," then asked why higher academic readiness had not translated into higher college enrollment. Administrators said part of the gap reflects differing data sources: national clearinghouse counts include out-of-state and private college enrollment and can show higher rates than in-state metrics. They also said counseling, FAFSA/completion supports and coordinated partner outreach remain uneven and will be the focus of plans to increase postsecondary enrollment.

Trustee Anderson asked how the district connects students to industry pathways and real-world earnings information, using cosmetology, automotive and cybersecurity as examples. Dr. Mays said the district has begun outreach to industry partners, including the Chamber and a recent meeting with Tesla, and is developing marketing and pathway materials for families.

Trustees and staff also discussed campus-level variation and the effect of single teachers on outcomes. Regarding a drop at Eastside on one certification indicator, district staff said a CNA-certified teacher had left the district and that the loss of that teacher materially affected the campus's certification output. "One teacher can make such a difference in our data," Trustee Singh said.

What happens next: staff said they will present additional data and proposed operational changes, including a detailed plan for (1) expanded testing and summer-bridge opportunities to raise TSI pass rates, (2) a coordinated counseling and FAFSA/navigation campaign, (3) marketing of pathways and industry partnerships, and (4) deeper campus-level data dives to replicate successful campus practices across the district.

The board spent about an hour on the topic and then moved to other agenda items. Administration also noted it will provide updated preliminary 2020 cohort results when state preliminary figures become available later in May.

Ending — less-critical details: trustees discussed longer-term alignment between middle-school course offerings and high-school career and technical education (CTE) sequences to ensure students enter high school prepared for industry certification pathways. Staff also said they will post and circulate pathway landing pages and are planning public events and outreach for families ahead of enrollment deadlines.