Mesquite ISD outlines assessment changes after audit, highlights ECR rescoring and targeted interventions

Mesquite Independent School District officials told trustees on Oct. 6 that an external audit of district assessments recommended tighter controls, clearer purpose statements for tests and a single district assessment lead.

Alicia Austin, director of Accountability, Research and Evaluation, summarized the Gibson assessment audit and said it found overlapping tests, unclear purposes and training gaps. The district plans to appoint an assessment lead, streamline benchmarks and discontinue certain district checkpoint assessments (DCPs) where i-Ready provides the needed measurement, she said.

Austin also described efforts to address extended constructed-response (ECR) scoring issues on the STAR reading test. The district submitted 104 ECR responses for rescoring; about 41% returned with higher scores and nine students had performance-level changes (some moved from meets to masters). Austin said many students received zeros because their responses did not address the prompt and that teachers and students need clearer instruction tailored to the scoring engines.

As part of a larger strategy to move students who are narrowly below the next performance level, the district will use i-Ready for beginning/middle/end-of-year benchmarking, expand common formative assessments, focus on K–2 instruction to build foundational skills, and provide targeted ECR practice and teacher training. Austin said the district conducted an "accountability tour" of campuses to set local goals and that she expects follow-up reporting next year.

Trustees asked about comparisons with other districts and the district's hybrid seventh-grade math model; presenters said Mesquite's acceleration model unavoidably affects comparative scores but is intended to move more students into advanced sequences.

Austin concluded that the district has a multi-pronged strategy to move students on the performance bubble up to the next level.