Laredo ISD reports mixed fall CBA gains; district explains MAP use for teacher growth

Laredo ISD interim superintendent and curriculum staff presented fall assessment results Nov. 4, reporting measured gains on the district—administered content-based assessments (CBAs) at multiple grade levels while clarifying differences between CBAs and MAP benchmarks.

District Executive Director of Instruction Ntala Ramirez told the committee that "the district shows gains across all grade levels from 24 to 25," while also noting that some campuses opted not to give CBAs because they had administered MAP and "it was going to take too much of their instructional time." Ramirez said campus leaders were given "autonomy in deciding whether to do the CBA in both grades or not to do them." (00:01:20)

Ramirez and other staff stressed that the tests serve different purposes. "The rigor comes more than anything in the MAP test," Ramirez said, adding that MAP is adaptive and "has a predetermined formula" that allows the district to show individual student growth—data the district said it needs for state teacher-growth recognition (TIA). By contrast, she said, "the CBA is only testing the first 5 weeks of school" and provides a snapshot of what was taught in that period. (00:06:25)

Why it matters: The district is using a mix of short-window CBAs and MAP probes to balance instructional burden, teacher evidence of growth (for TIA) and campus decision-making. That mix affects comparability of year-to-year results and complicates communications with teachers and families when some campuses administer different instruments.

Key findings presented - Elementary: Ramirez reported a 4 percentage-point district gain in "approaches" for a given grade-level CBA (from 60% to 64%) and cited large campus gains at Bruni, Gallego and others; she said written responses on new item types remain a challenge. - Third-grade math: the district—level CBA showed a 9 percentage-point increase in approaches and smaller increases in meets/masters at the district level; Tarver and Jason Martin were cited for large campus gains. (00:16:20) - Fourth/fifth grades: district approaches rose modestly in reading and math; several campuses reportedly reached 100% at approaches for some measures. (00:21:40) - Middle school: Executive Director Cassandra Mendoza described double-digit gains at the approaches level in grades 6—8 and said the district is emphasizing short and extended constructed responses; she also flagged that AI now grades extended constructed responses unless a human re-rating is requested. (00:19:34) - High school benchmarks: Jose Serda told the committee fall benchmarks for algebra, English I/II, biology and U.S. history showed mostly stable results, with "a little dip" at some campuses (Sigarroa/Sierra Roa, Garcia Early College) tied to attendance and course assignment; targeted interventions and walkthroughs were described. (00:37:31)

District response and next steps Staff described several instructional responses: daily spiral reviews, model lessons and targeted coaching, campus data analysis in PLCs, campus action plans following TPS visits, and a "turn-and-talk" day to raise student discourse. Mendoza said the district had asked facilitators to give teachers short constructed-response prompts in nonELA subjects to build writing capacity across content areas. Ramirez said professional development will continue in common planning periods.

Operational concerns raised by board members included the comparability of MAP vs. CBA, the fairness of giving some campuses MAP and others CBA in the same year, and practical testing issues such as calculator availability for students taking higher-grade tests. Ramifications for teacher recognition (TIA) were raised because MAP includes a prebuilt growth formula staff said is needed for state recognition.

What staff quoted in the meeting said (selected): - "The map test is more interactive" and provides a prebuilt growth metric, Ramirez said. (00:09:10) - "When we do a CBA... you get a percentage of how well they did approaches, meets, masters. But it does not have a growth that shows you that the student is growing in their skill," Mr. Pro explained. (00:06:50)

Context and limitations The report made clear some CBAs were optional at the campus level; notes in the presentation repeatedly said where tests were optional the sample of campuses giving the CBA varied by grade and subject. Staff repeatedly cautioned that a negative percentage-point change on a short-window CBA does not equate to a failing program but instead signals focused instructional need.

Follow-up: Staff said they will bring examples of the CBA and the parallel STAR/benchmark items side-by-side at the next meeting, provide a breakdown of scoring (how short/extended responses are weighted) and continue sharing campus action plans and walkthrough evidence.