Willis ISD reports strong early MAP literacy results; kindergarten phonics and phonological awareness noted
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Summary
District staff presented beginning-of-year NWEA MAP data and House Bill 3 progress measures for early literacy; kindergarten cohort showed strong phonological awareness and phonics results, and first- and second-grade achievement moved toward district 2030 goals.
Willis ISD presented beginning-of-year NWEA MAP results and House Bill 3 (HB 3) early-literacy progress measures during the Oct. 8 board meeting, with staff reporting improvement in several early grades and specific literacy subskills.
Why it matters: HB 3 includes multi-year targets for early-literacy growth; district reporting to the board is scheduled quarterly so trustees can monitor progress and the interventions needed to meet those long-range goals.
Kindergarten results summarized: Tracy Jackson presented kindergarten MAP reading-fluency data for the fall administration. - Phonological awareness: 100% approaching grade level; 72% met grade-level expectations; 57% exceeded expectations. - Phonics/word recognition: 100% approaching; 75% met; 36% exceeded. - Listening comprehension: 62% approaching; 43% met; 13% exceeded. - Picture vocabulary: measures of receptive vocabulary were included as part of language-comprehension reporting.
First- and second-grade results: Jackson said first-grade students showed growth to the 50th percentile on the MAP reading assessment (up from the 40th percentile in 2024), and second-grade achievement improved from the 40th to the 50th percentile over the same period. The district reported average RIT/"risk" scores trending upward and noted that NWEA growth measures will be used later in the year to assess trajectory to the district'set 2030 targets.
Context and action items: Jackson explained how MAP scores are adaptive, generate RIT scores and are interpreted as achievement and growth bands; campus and district leaders will use the data in site-level planning, teacher collaboration (PLCs), targeted tier-1 instruction, and incentive programs. A middle-of-year MAP administration will allow the district to analyze both achievement and growth toward HB 3 goals.
Ending: District staff said they will return to the board with mid-year MAP results in February and that the district is calibrating administrative walkthroughs and instructional coaching to support campus-level implementation of data-driven interventions.