Lubbock ISD progress update: math gaps persist; district targets middle school math and new curriculum adoption

Kim Callison, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, delivered the district’s quarterly progress update on the third nine‑week assessment and compared the benchmark results to the 2024 STAAR results.

Callison said the district’s Northstar goal is that "by 2026, 80% of our campuses will be served by an A and B campus," and framed the benchmark as an early indicator ahead of the upcoming STAAR administrations. She told trustees the benchmark replicates the 2024 STAAR form but is administered to a different cohort, and she cautioned that some grade levels had not finished all curriculum content when the benchmark was taken.

Across elementary grades, Callison reported shortfalls in mathematics compared with last year’s STAAR: third grade benchmark results were 66%/37%/13% (approaches/meets/masters) versus last year’s 70%/43%/15%; fourth grade was 58%/33%/12% now versus 66%/45%/19% on last year’s STAAR; fifth grade was 72%/40%/14% versus 80%/52%/21% last year. Callison said fourth grade contains the most new mathematics content and remains the biggest elementary challenge. Reading benchmarks were closer to last year’s STAAR, with fifth grade reading showing slight gains.

Callison identified middle school mathematics as the district’s largest opportunity. She said on‑level middle school students — particularly in seventh grade — showed the weakest results and described structural changes this year for advanced students (advanced sixth graders are taking a combination of sixth- and seventh-grade standards; advanced eighth graders are taking Algebra I). "Our biggest opportunity in teaching and learning by far is middle school math," Callison told trustees, noting that the district’s short‑term response includes targeted review lessons and increased on‑campus co‑teaching by specialists.

As a long‑term step, the district’s middle school teachers and administrators selected STEMscopes math (a State Board of Education–approved material) for middle school instruction; Callison said a cohort of middle school ambassadors and administrators will lead implementation and training this summer. She also noted an ongoing transition to the Bluebonnet curriculum at the elementary level next school year and that the district is working on question types that require constructed responses.

Trustees asked about placement of students in advanced courses; Callison said principals review placements after fifth grade and that the district typically moves some students between advanced and on‑level sections based on summer and early‑year performance. A trustee requested additional benchmarking data showing prior-year third nine‑week results to contextualize growth between benchmark and STAAR; Callison agreed to add that comparison in future reports.

Callison also confirmed that House Bill 1416 (formerly referred to as HB 45/45) requirements remain in place and that elementary schedules have the required intervention/acceleration time built in.