Alamo Heights ISD staff presented district assessment results at the November DEAC meeting, saying the district outperformed Texas and national averages on PSAT, SAT and ACT measures and that AP test participation rose after the district required students in AP courses to sit for exams.

"Our scores went up," the presenter said when reviewing PSAT trends, adding that Alamo Heights’ scores sit “substantially above national and way above Texas.” The presenter noted the district offers a school‑day SAT free to juniors so participation is high in that metric.

On Advanced Placement exams, the presenter said policy changes requiring exams increased participation — 731 students sat for AP exams in 2024 and 913 sat in the most recent spring administration — and that the percentage of students earning a 3 or higher remained roughly stable, yielding more students with college credit.

The presentation also raised a concern about state scoring of student writing. "At Cambridge, 47% of those student compositions scored a 0," the presenter said, adding, "I think our kids are better writers than that." He told the committee that essays are computer‑scored and that statewide litigation has challenged automated scoring practices.

District staff urged teachers and parents to use available systems to inspect student responses: compositions can be reviewed in district systems and the TEA portal so educators can see what students actually wrote and use exemplars for instruction. The presenter said those review features include comments that explain rubric decisions.

Committee members pressed on how zeros are generated, how parents and teachers can discern specific reasons for low scores, and whether paper testing or human scoring would alter outcomes. The presenter said parents may request paper administration and that the district can surface exemplars to guide instruction but acknowledged the controversy over AI/computer scoring remains unresolved at the state level.

The committee agreed to treat the writing‑score anomaly as an item for follow‑up rather than a final judgment on student writing ability. The meeting record shows no formal changes were adopted at this meeting; staff said they will continue to monitor the TEA review and local exemplars.