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CFISD presents formative-assessment gains and 2029 targets; leaders flag gaps for English learners and special education
Summary
At a Jan. 13 CFISD trustees work session, Chief Academic Officer Dr. Gorey presented districtwide formative-assessment data showing overall gains and set 2029 targets; trustees pressed for more detail on long-term English learner supports and subgroup performance.
The Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District on Monday reviewed districtwide formative-assessment results and a multiyear performance target, with administrators saying the data show gains overall but board members urging focused action for English learners and students with disabilities.
Chief Academic Officer Dr. Gorey told the Board of Trustees that the district’s goals for 2029 call for a rise in performance on what the presentation named as STAR and the ELC: approaches-level proficiency from 80% to 90%, meets-level from 56% to 71%, and mastery from 26% to 41%.
The nut of the presentation: district staff said campus- and district-level progress monitoring shows improvement in many tested areas, but that achievement gaps persist for some subpopulations and must be closed through targeted supports. “Many of our data reflect progress demonstrating growth and achievement in key areas. However, we recognize that some areas and subpopulations continue to require targeted support to close the performance gaps,” Dr. Gorey said.
Administrators walked trustees through tables of formative-assessment results for multiple courses and grades. For middle-school reading (grades 6–8) the all-students group was reported as 91% at approaches or higher, 78% at meets or higher and 52% at mastery. In 5th- and 8th-grade science, the presentation showed 90% approaches or higher, 74% meets or higher and 52% masters. For English I, the slides showed 93% approaches or higher, 89% meets or higher and 43% masters; English II was reported at 89% approaches or higher, 83% meets or higher and 30% masters. U.S. history was shown at particularly high levels: 99% approaches or higher, 91% meets or higher and 70% masters.
Trustee Natalie, who has served on district committees monitoring reading goals, praised the work but pressed administrators about subgroup trends, especially for emergent bilingual/ESL students. “I’d really like us to deep dive into that and see what we know about their programming they had, the amount of native-language support, and then how that added up to this 22%,” Trustee Natalie said, referencing a 22% non-meeting rate for the ESL subgroup in a middle-school reading table presented to the board.
Dr. Gorey said the tested cohorts differ by course: 5th-grade science includes all 5th graders while some high-school courses reflect student enrollment in specific courses (for example, English I). She described the district’s response strategy as a mix of professional development, video coaching, strategic spiraling of foundational skills and continuing consistent progress monitoring to adjust instruction.
Board members noted the presentation showed improved results in several areas but emphasized the need for administrators to report back with deeper analyses of students who are “long-term” English learners and of special-education caseload impacts on instruction. The board also requested clarity about how student samples were defined for each table and how the district will allocate supports to campuses with lower subgroup results.
Administrators said those follow-ups are planned as part of ongoing monitoring tied to the strategic plan.
