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Galena Park ISD updates early-childhood literacy, math and CCMR goals; third-grade gains lag
Summary
District leaders reported year-to-year gains in early childhood reading and math and described steps to raise college, career and military readiness (CCMR) after state rule changes; third-grade performance remains below board targets.
Galena Park ISD presented an update to board outcome goals for early-childhood literacy and math and on college, career and military readiness during the Oct. 6 board meeting.
The update, led by Holly Malloy, assistant superintendent for academic support, and Dr. Kimberly Martin, executive director for accountability and academic support, summarized assessment measures and reported where the district did and did not meet board targets. The presentations emphasized year-to-year improvements in many early grades and described changes in state reporting that district officials said complicate CCMR measurement.
Malloy told trustees the district sets early-literacy goals using different assessments by grade: the STAR reading assessment for third grade at the “meets grade level” indicator; the CIRCLE assessment for prekindergarten; and BAS/I-Ready for kindergarten through second grade. She said prekindergarten literacy had a board goal of 72 percent; the prior end-of-year figure listed in the presentation was 83 percent and the most recent year was 85 percent, an increase Malloy described as “we went up 2 percentage points from last year’s goals, and we met them.”
On math, Malloy said many early-grade goals were met but third grade lagged. The district set a third-grade math goal of 49 percent; third graders scored 45 percent this year, up from about 41 percent the previous year but short of the goal. Malloy noted those third graders had been in virtual prekindergarten during the COVID period and said the district is working to “catch them up.”
Dr. Martin framed CCMR as a lagging indicator — the district’s 2025 CCMR report reflects 2024 graduates — and described several state-level changes the district must accommodate. She said the state now requires military enlistments to be reported through a TEA connection (formerly the district had to collect DD-4 forms), and that industry-based certifications (IBCs) reporting has shifted from “concentrators” to “completers” (students who complete three or more CTE courses in a sequence, earn four credits and pass an IBC). Dr. Martin told trustees that change requires districts to start students earlier in CTE sequences so they can complete them in time to count at the state level.
Dr. Martin also warned that college-preparatory course rules continue to change. She said statewide approved courses were limited last year (five statewide-approved courses, most in English and only one in math in Region 4) and that rule changes in 2023 altered the threshold for an A from 60 to 88, complicating comparisons across years. To boost CCMR, the district has created a monthly CCMR task force, emphasized TSIA exam preparation, expanded dual-credit partnerships (San Jacinto College and a new Spanish dual-credit partnership with HCC), continued IBC work and implemented a CareerCraft tracking tool to update counselors in near real time when students earn CCMR credit.
Dr. Martin said the district has adjusted scheduling — a 5-by-5 block schedule with accelerated blocks — to create more credit opportunities and help students complete CTE sequences while preserving extracurricular options. On the dashboard presented later in the meeting, staff reported 46 percent of current seniors had already earned a CCMR credit and that Early College High School had 501 students enrolled in a first-semester dual-credit course.
Trustees did not take action on goals at the meeting; presenters answered a few clarifying questions from trustees before moving on to other agenda items.
