Lake Dallas ISD hears 2023–24 Texas Academic Performance Report; district retains strengths, notes focus areas

Lake Dallas Independent School District officials presented the 2023'24 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) at a public hearing during the board of trustees' Jan. 13 meeting, highlighting that the district generally remains above regional and state averages in English/language arts while identifying specific math and elementary reading grades for additional intervention.

Dr. Kelly O'Sullivan, the presenter, told the board the TAPR data for the district 'which includes STAAR and end-of-course exams' covered 5,906 assessments across tested grades and subjects. She said Lake Dallas remains above the state and region in all-subject, all-grade measures and is "staying above the state and the region at 78%," a reference to the percentage of students achieving the approaches-grade-level standard in English language arts and reading.

The report included demographic and program statistics for the 2023'24 school year: African American students 9.8%, Asian students 3.3%, Hispanic students 35.9%, students of two or more races 5.5% and white students 44.9%. The district reported 42.9% of students as economically disadvantaged, 13.4% receiving special education services and 14.1% in ESL/bilingual programs.

Nut graf: The TAPR presentation matters because it frames where the district will focus instruction, intervention and resource decisions. District leaders said they are targeting foundational reading and select math standards after comparing Lake Dallas results to state and regional trends, and they described programmatic steps intended to raise student outcomes.

Among subject-level findings explained by Dr. O'Sullivan:

- Reading/ELA: Lake Dallas remained above the state and region overall, with a reported 78% of students meeting the approaches standard across tested grades. Elementary grades showed mixed movement year over year: third grade and fourth grade saw small, grade-specific shifts while fifth grade mirrored a statewide decline of about 3 percentage points.

- Middle school: Sixth-grade reading was reported at 77% approaches; seventh grade and eighth grade were at or above regional and state levels, including an 83% approaches rate for eighth-grade reading.

- High school English: The district outperformed the region and state in English I and English II by roughly six to seven percentage points.

- Math: The district described statewide downward pressure on math scores but noted local pockets of improvement (for example, a reported 3 percentage point gain in third-grade math and a 4 percentage point year-over-year increase on the Algebra end-of-course exam).

Dr. O'Sullivan attributed reading declines at the youngest tested levels in part to foundational skill gaps and said the district has placed renewed emphasis on phonics instruction and daily classroom reading. "Starting at those earliest ages'we focused on the phonics instruction, which we're already seeing some of those gains," she said.

Board members asked for causes and context. Miss Collier asked whether the test redesign played a role; Dr. O'Sullivan said the 2023'24 administration followed the redesign year but that declines were seen broadly across the state and region, not unique to Lake Dallas. Another board member asked whether the district had changed assessments; Dr. O'Sullivan cited use of MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) testing three times yearly as "a really steady standard for us" that helps form intervention groups and correlate to STAAR projections.

The TAPR also includes lagging indicators: graduation, attendance and college, career and military readiness (CCMR). The presentation noted CCMR for the 2022'23 graduating class (the TAPR'reported CCMR measure) was 48%; attendance was reported at 94.1% and graduation at 99.7%. Dr. O'Sullivan said the district is projecting a CCMR increase above 50% for the next reported cohort due to "systematic approaches" put in place at the high school.

District staff noted that some statewide accountability determinations remain pending because of ongoing legal actions related to the state assessment and its validation. A staff member summarized questions around test validity and use of AI in scoring that are part of separate legal reviews; Dr. O'Sullivan stressed the district is using MAP and classroom-based measures to guide instruction while state-level questions are resolved.

The board took no immediate formal action on the TAPR during the hearing; the session concluded with board discussion and questions about interventions and monitoring.

Ending: District leaders said they will continue to monitor progress through data-cycle meetings and campus-level interventions and will report back as progress metrics are gathered during the school year.