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Tyler ISD reviews midyear CLI data showing gains but persistent pre-K phonological gaps
Summary
District staff reported double-digit gains on midyear CLI early-literacy measures but said a recent change to more rigorous cut scores exposed gaps — notably 25% phonological awareness for African American pre-K students; board members asked for campus-level breakdowns and more targeted interventions.
Tyler ISD trustees heard a midyear report on the district's CLI (Classroom Language & Literacy) assessment and were told that while several early-literacy measures show double-digit improvement, the district’s new, more rigorous cut scores revealed persistent gaps in phonological awareness for some groups.
Miss Dodgen, presenting the CLI midyear results, said the district had raised cut scores to align with state kindergarten-readiness standards and to better match beginning-of-year benchmarks such as I-Ready. She said the change made some scores look lower “by design” while noting “really nice double digit gains for the rapid letter naming, phonological awareness, math, and early writing.”
The report covers pre-K tuition, pre-K non-tuition and Head Start students. District staff said roughly 800 students were included in the sample — about 200 Head Start students and roughly 600 others — and that Head Start students qualify through a point-based needs assessment. Dodgen also described steps underway: adoption of the Reading Horizons curriculum adapted for pre-K and Head Start, goal-setting with Head Start teachers, walkthroughs by instructional staff, and stronger progress monitoring.
Board members pressed for detail. Trustee Newsome raised the social-emotional measure and asked staff to identify which campuses had received a foundation grant to study social-emotional development; staff agreed to track that information. Newsome also asked for campus-level breakdowns of the CLI results, saying district-level data must be “put under sunshine” so campuses doing well and those needing support are identifiable. Staff agreed to provide the requested campus-level reports.
Trustees and staff discussed targeted instruction for students who lag on phonological awareness. Dodgen described Reading Horizons as “very scripted” and emphasized that the district is using progress monitoring, one-on-one and small-group instruction, and both push-in and pull-out supports. She said instructional facilitators and master teachers are conducting walkthroughs and providing feedback to ensure fidelity.
Why it matters: early phonological skills — rhyming, alliteration, syllabication and onset-rime — are foundational for later reading. Trustees framed the CLI findings as a starting point that requires sustained instructional focus and transparency at the campus level.
What’s next: staff said they will continue walk-throughs and progress monitoring this semester, pursue targeted summer-learning options, and provide the board with campus-by-campus breakdowns of CLI outcomes and details about which campuses received social-emotional grants.
