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Preliminary STAAR and STAR‑2 results: Waco ISD reports gains in elementary reading, mixed results in middle and high school
Summary
Jessica Steele told trustees that preliminary spring 2025 STAR‑2 results show elementary reading gains — especially in third grade — while middle and high school outcomes show more mixed patterns and remain affected by test format changes and accelerated course placements.
Jessica Steele presented preliminary spring 2025 STAR and STAR‑2 results to the board, emphasizing elementary gains in reading and continued challenges in middle- and high‑school measures.
Steele said 2023 marked the introduction of STAR‑2’s new item types and automated scoring; 2025 is the third year of that format. She told the board that STAR‑2 uses mixed question types (multiple choice, text entry, multi‑part items) and added longer constructed‑response items that are scored by an automated scoring engine; roughly 25% of extended responses are routed to human graders. “About 25% goes to a human grader,” Steele said, describing the scoring process for extended constructed responses.
Why it matters: STAR‑2 performance feeds campus accountability, instructional planning and targeted interventions. Steele and other leaders said elementary reading gains — particularly third grade — suggest curriculum and early‑grade interventions are having effects, but countywide gains have not yet fully translated into state accountability measures.
Highlights from the presentation - Elementary: Steele reported third grade reading gains with increases at approaches, meets and masters levels; she noted third graders represent the first cohort who began their early grades after COVID disruptions and suggested stronger early-grade preparation is a factor. - Middle school: Steele said sixth‑ to eighth‑grade results showed greater variance. Sixth grade showed declines in math; seventh grade measures are affected by accelerated students taking higher‑grade tests; eighth‑grade results were impacted by accelerated seventh graders who took the eighth‑grade test in grade seven. - High school: English I and II EOC results were mixed; Steele noted declines in some categories and increases in others, and reminded the board that both English I/II and Algebra I contain constructed response components and multiple item formats under STAR‑2. - Growth models: Steele described TEA’s transition table approach (six categories) for counting growth — movement between adjacent levels yields growth points — and reported that roughly half of students showed individual growth under that model for reading and about 50% for math growth in the district’s data summary.
Next steps and district response Steele recommended continued alignment of curriculum and instruction (HMH for ELA), lesson‑plan internalization (moving planning time toward delivery and calibration), focused professional development on writing across content areas, and examination of computer‑based test skills (graphing, equation entry and online tools) that factor into STAR‑2. Trustees asked whether extended responses are included in English I/II EOC and Steele confirmed they are.
Ending: Trustees thanked Steele for the overview and asked for further disaggregation by campus and subgroup; Steele noted the district will use STAR‑2 and i‑Ready data together to guide interventions and curriculum adjustments.
