CFB ISD reviews revised goal progress measures for math and reading, sets 2030 targets

CARROLLTON-FARMERS BRANCH ISD trustees reviewed revised goal progress measures for math and reading during a work-study meeting on Oct. 9. District staff presented numeric targets tied to the district's 2030 student outcome goals and explained how interim assessments will be used to monitor progress.

The presentation outlined a set of targets approved as part of the district’s 2030 plan. For fifth-grade math the goal is an increase in students achieving "meets" on the STAR math assessment from 51 percent in 2025 to 61 percent by 2030. For emergent bilingual fifth-graders, staff proposed increasing the percent achieving "meets" on district common formative assessments from 31 percent in 2025 to 46 percent in 2030; staff said those district assessments are aligned to STAR performance levels. For fourth grade the district retained a growth goal of 28 percent to 43 percent on the winter math growth assessment for emergent bilingual students.

Administrators also outlined early-literacy progress measures the district will use to support a 2030 third-grade reading target (current third-grade target cited as 53 percent for this year, with a 2030 target of 64 percent). For pre-K, staff proposed tracking vocabulary development using the Circle assessment with a target of 80 percent mastery by the end of the year. For kindergarten through second grade, the district will monitor phonics and phonological awareness (using the MAP reading fluency tool and interim progress monitoring) and reading fluency via the NWEA MAP oral reading fluency measure. Third-grade writing measures (constructed responses) were presented with English baseline moving from 52 to 55 percent and Spanish from 42 to 45 percent on district assessments.

Staff said the GPMs are intended to be predictive and actionable: "There are benchmarks that we are looking at before the end of the cycle to predict whether or not we're going to meet our goal," a presenter said. Staff demonstrated how teachers can use Eduphoria Aware and interim assessments to track student progress across multiple checkpoints and to identify where reteaching or intervention is required.

Trustees asked for clarity on ownership and timing of metrics (inputs owned by the superintendent at the start of the cycle, outputs monitored mid-cycle, outcomes board-owned at the end) and emphasized that GPMs should reflect "high needs, high leverage" priorities and be the superintendent’s first priorities at budget time. The board instructed staff to return with monitoring reports and the progress measures the administration considers highest-leverage for each guardrail.

District staff said the GPMs will be incorporated into the district improvement plan and monitored quarterly; trustees requested that the district present monitoring reports formatted for board review.