Southside ISD midyear assessments show gains overall but spotlight third-grade special education and emergent bilingual gaps

Southside Independent School District officials presented midyear assessment results on Feb. 27, saying the district has seen measurable gains across several grade levels while noting specific groups that need extra support.

Dr. Spohr, district assessment staff, told the Board of Trustees the presentation compared this year’s midyear STAR assessments to the 2023 STAR baseline and to last year’s results. "So they're both here for transparency's sake," Dr. Spohr said, explaining the district reports both "without duplication" figures (each student counted once) and the state's accountability counts (students can be counted more than once). "Our goal always is to close those achievement gaps so that our students are all achieving at high," Dr. Spohr added.

Why it matters: district leaders said the midyear data guide immediate next steps for instruction ahead of spring testing and summer planning. The presentation framed math as a relative strength and flagged writing (extended constructed responses and revision/editing) as a key area for improvement across elementary grades.

Key findings and concerns - Growth: Several grades showed midyear performance higher than the comparable point last year; special education and emergent bilingual subgroups posted notable gains at fourth and fifth grade in some areas. Dr. Spohr emphasized "major gains in fourth and fifth grade special ed students" and a 12-percentage-point improvement for third-grade emergent bilingual students in one metric. - Persistent gaps: Third-grade special education students remain an area of concern. "Those kids are gonna need some more supports," Dr. Spohr said, noting third grade still has substantial learning to cover before end-of-year testing. - Math as a bright spot: Elementary math pass rates were reported well above last year at midyear with, for example, a reported 84% of students passing at certain elementary grade-level slides presented by staff. - Advanced achievement increases: Staff highlighted increases in Meets and Masters levels (grade-level and above-grade-level performance) in several grades; a slide showed a 28-percentage-point increase in fifth-grade special education students at the master (A-level) threshold compared with the baseline.

District response and next steps Superintendent Ramirez and Dr. Spohr said teams will concentrate on instruction for extended constructed responses (writing) and targeted supports for third-grade special education and fifth-grade emergent bilingual students. Staff described plans to use the midyear diagnostic to focus practice and refine interventions before the spring STAAR window.

Questions and context Trustees asked about calendar and scheduling impacts on instruction and about communication with parents; Dr. Spohr offered to provide notes and follow-up slides on request. The board did not take a vote on this agenda presentation; it was received for information.

Ending District staff characterized the midyear results as a mix of encouraging gains and clearly identified next steps. Dr. Spohr said if students continue current trajectories and targeted supports are deployed, the district expects further improvement by end of year. The board closed the item with no formal action required.