Ector County ISD board adopts five goals and new 19 indicators of success after debate over ambition

Ector County ISD trustees voted on April 15 to adopt five board goals and an expanded set of 19 indicators of success that district staff presented as a roadmap to improve student outcomes through 2029.

The board voted to approve the goals and indicators after a detailed presentation from Dr. Robert Trejo, who described the measures as "robust" and intended to align district work with A–F accountability. Trejo told the board the indicators include baseline values from 2023–24 and annual targets through 2029; the set expands the district's prior 14 indicators to 19 to separate reading and math measures by grade band and to add measures such as school connectedness and kindergarten readiness.

Why it matters: The indicators will guide district strategy, budget and program choices. Staff said the measures are designed to track growth and proficiency across grades (third, fifth, sixth and eighth grade reading and math, English I and Algebra I), college, career and military readiness (CCMR), four‑year graduation rate and targeted subgroups the state defines as high focus (emerging bilingual, special education, foster, McKinney‑Vento and high‑mobility students).

Key points from the presentation - The indicators focus on the A–F accountability domains: Domain 1 (student achievement), Domain 2 (growth and relative performance) and Domain 3 (closing the gaps). Trejo explained which indicators feed each domain and said the highest of Domain 1, Domain 2b (relative performance) or Domain 2a (growth) determines 70 percent of a campus score. - District staff explained they will report CCMR at the end of students' junior year in order to measure readiness earlier than the senior year snapshot. - The presentation emphasized that the indicators measure students who achieve "meets" and "masters" performance levels (not approaches), and that the district's target percentages were derived to close gaps with state averages by 2029. - Staff said the indicators are ambitious in operational terms despite appearing modest as district‑level percentage changes: Trejo used an example that small percentage shifts across a 34,000‑student district still represent thousands of student‑days in attendance or thousands of students moving performance levels.

Board debate Several trustees voiced concern that the numeric targets were not aggressive enough. One trustee said the proposed annual changes felt "comfortable" rather than challenging and noted other districts have reported larger multi‑year gains. Trejo and the superintendent responded that the targets were calibrated to be achievable at district scale, that some indicators represent multi‑level performance moves (for example, moving students from not meeting to meeting, or from approaches to meets), and that staff would return with detailed implementation plans and performance targets tied to specific interventions.

Next steps and implementation - Staff will develop detailed plans and key performance indicators that align to each board goal and to leadership responsibilities; Dr. Trejo and the district said work will flow from district leadership to executive directors and campus staff. - The district will partner with Texas Tech on attendance research and will deploy Panorama surveys or similar tools to measure school connectedness. - Staff said the indicators will be used to measure progress annually through 2029 and to inform strategic planning.

Vote and procedural note The board approved the goals and indicators by voice vote; the transcript records the motion and an affirmative voice vote with no roll‑call recorded.

Ending Trustees and staff framed the indicators as a framework for the strategic planning process the district will begin immediately. Staff committed to returning with the implementation plans and more granular, campus‑level targets at future board meetings so the board can monitor operational strategies and progress.