KIPP Texas board says some academic gains track nationally but flags writing, number sense and state targets
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Summary
KIPP Texas leaders told the board Feb. 5 that while the network shows year-over-year growth and strong attendance, several state-targeted measures are off track — notably STAR reading, STAR math and ACT/SAT goals — and the system will focus on writing, reading fluency and number sense this semester.
KIPP Texas Public Schools leaders reported mixed academic results to the board during a Feb. 5 meeting in Austin, saying the network is making year-over-year progress but that several state targets remain out of reach.
“Overall, the headline is year over year, we have made forward progress on student achievement across the board,” Chief Executive Officer Saba Ali told the board, noting that the organization set ambitious targets for 2025–26. But Rona Simmons, chief academic officer, said three goals remain at risk: STAR reading, STAR math and the ACT/SAT target.
Why it matters: KIPP Texas is comparing internal targets (based on Texas Education Agency expectations) and national assessments (I‑Ready) to understand where instruction must change. The board was told that K–2 literacy is a relative bright spot — midyear DIBELS results show 57% of kindergarten through second-grade students reading at or above grade level — but that growth must continue to reach a 75% year-end goal.
Simmons outlined targeted instructional moves for the second semester: expanding writing supports for students already at grade level, reinforcing daily fluency routines to improve comprehension, and launching a math initiative focused on number sense. “At the end of the day, the person closest to a student’s achievement is the teacher,” Simmons said, describing teacher intensives and classroom coaching as core strategies.
The board heard data showing pockets of strong performance. Dan Caesar, chief schools officer, said KIPP’s class of 2026 entered senior year with the highest AP-starting point in five years and that the network’s CCMR (college, career and military readiness) metric outperforms the state. Caesar noted an AP pass rate of 38.8% for the Class of 2024 and said KIPP’s attendance metrics also outpace statewide averages.
Still, the academic team emphasized uneven results: middle grades were identified as a drag on reading performance and number sense was singled out as the primary limiter in math for students at the meets/masters bands. For students two to three grade levels behind, transformation schools implementing concentrated interventions have posted accelerated growth, and the board discussed which lessons to scale across the system.
Board members pressed for clarity on interim comparisons, cross-district benchmarking and the resources needed to retain teachers and sustain gains. Leadership said many instructional changes being expanded systemwide are already funded but that rolling the full set of transformation-level principal compensation and staffing practices networkwide would carry additional cost.
Next steps: The academic team will prioritize fluency routines, targeted writing instruction and number-sense crescendo lessons, monitor interim assessment projections (I‑Ready and internal STAR interim results), and report back on early indicators from pilot expansions.
