The Cedar Hill ISD Board of Trustees heard a detailed presentation showing the district's official Texas Education Agency accountability composite increased from 71 in 2024 to 74 in 2025, a C-level rating, district staff said. The presentation explained how STAR scores, growth measures and CCMR inputs combine to produce the overall accountability number and highlighted campus-level distinctions and areas targeted for improvement.

The accountability presentation matters because TEA uses the highest of three indexes — student achievement (domain 1), student growth (domain 2a) and relative performance (domain 2b) — then weights that result with the district's closing-the-gap score (domain 3) to produce the final score used for letter grades, the presenters said. Dr. Gamel and district testing staff emphasized that domain 1 (STAR/STAAR achievement) carries heavy weight and that increases in Meets and Masters performance drive the largest changes in campus and district ratings.

District testing staff explained STAR calculations and growth rules in detail, showing that STAR aggregates Approaches, Meets and Masters into a domain score (approaches+meets+masters divided by three, then multiplied by 100) and that growth points are awarded when a student moves up one performance band (for example, from high Did Not Meet to low Approaches). "We need every kid to grow," the testing presenter said, summarizing the emphasis on individual student progress as the mechanism to raise campus and district scores.

The presentation flagged third-grade reading and early-grade math as priorities, noting third grade’s Meets/Masters rates are among the district’s lowest and that early-grade intervention compounds in later grades. Trustees and staff discussed transition points — especially the shift from fifth to sixth grade and from eighth to ninth — where student performance and enrollment changes can depress campus-level results.

On college, career and military readiness, staff said the class of 2024 produced an 89% CCMR rate in the TEA accountability snapshot (accountability data lags one year). Staff cautioned trustees that certain vendor-provided College Bridge coursework that has been used to qualify students for TSI-based indicators is under review by the state and may not be approved going forward; the district is planning for that scenario and for targeted increases in SAT/ACT/TSI math and reading without relying on College Bridge. Other CCMR measures presented included AP (11%), dual credit participation (26% earning some dual credit), 18% of graduates earning an associate degree, and 39% of graduates earning industry-based certifications.

Trustees asked whether districts had appealed any scores and whether Cedar Hill pursued appeals. The superintendent and testing staff said they reviewed writing samples and other data and did not find issues that would likely change scores; they said appeals rarely change results and can incur fees. Staff agreed to provide the board with the TEA appeal calendar so trustees can see the window for any potential appeals in future years.

District staff also reviewed campus-level distinctions: 12 distinctions were earned across campuses, including academic achievement and postsecondary readiness distinctions at Collegiate High School and Collegiate Prep. Presenters said some campuses showed substantial multi-letter improvement year over year while a small number of campuses declined; central office and campus leaders will present improvement plans tied to board goals in upcoming meetings.

The board did not take a formal vote on accountability policy at this meeting; trustees asked for follow-up materials and the district agreed to provide the appeals calendar, campus-level improvement actions, and a cadence/timeline for regular progress reports to the board.