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Bryan ISD presents annual report highlighting testing changes, literacy and math goals
Summary
District officials presented the Bryan ISD annual report and Texas Academic Performance Report, noting statewide test changes, declines in some STAAR measures, and district plans for early literacy, numeracy and CCMR goals.
The Bryan ISD Board of Trustees heard the district's annual report and a presentation of the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) during its public hearing, where administrators described how recent state test changes and implementation issues affected district results and outlined actions for literacy, math and college- and career-readiness.
The annual report was presented by Hugo Ibarra, director of community affairs, and academic leaders from the district's curriculum team. Ibarra said, "The annual report is approximately 1,000 pages," and noted the document was delayed this year because of late data from the Texas Education Agency.
The presentation showed Bryan ISD outperforming a set of five comparable districts in several categories but lagging behind the state on some measures. District staff emphasized that STAAR testing format changes'including new online item types, embedded writing and interactive item formats'likely produced a statewide dip in some performance indicators and complicated year-to-year comparisons.
District academic leaders summarized the main takeaways: literacy and numeracy goals required under House Bill 3 are now part of the annual report; third-grade reading (meets-level) and math results showed modest declines that mirror statewide trends; and Bryan ISD continues to outperform the comparable-group average in several measures. Administrators said the district will continue targeted instructional supports, including explicit literacy instruction (reading horizons and Reading Academies-aligned training), daily mastery checks in math, small-group interventions and more practice with the online testing platform so elementary students can navigate new item types.
Presenters also flagged district strengths: master-level performance (high-end achievers) remains above state and comparable-group averages; chronic absenteeism has trended down from pandemic peaks and is now at or better than state levels; and Bryan ISD exceeded its college, career and military readiness (CCMR) goal for the most recently reported graduating class, a success administrators credited to counseling, CTE and dual-credit programs.
Administrators stressed demographic context: Bryan ISD serves a high proportion of emergent bilingual (English learner) students and said writing now being required across assessments adds difficulty for students still developing English. Staff also explained that some accountability indicators have changed or will change (for example, how CTE completions translate to CCMR credit), complicating longitudinal comparisons.
Board members asked questions about the scale of state changes, the effect on third graders testing on computers, and whether comparable districts truly matched Bryan ISD's demographics. Staff responded that testing structure and item types changed substantially and that the district had been intentionally building student capacity with online platforms prior to statewide implementation.
The district posted the full annual report and campus improvement plans on its website, and officials said campuses are working with instructional coaches and curriculum staff on the action steps included in the report.
The public hearing concluded after board members discussed next steps on literacy and numeracy action plans and encouraged continued communication with parents and community members about the meaning of the TAPR data.
