Belton ISD trustees review preliminary STAR and EOC results; district to resubmit about 100 writing samples

The Belton Independent School District Board of Trustees on Monday heard a workshop briefing on preliminary STAR and end-of-course (EOC) exam results that district leaders said show worrisome declines in early grades and persistent gaps for certain student groups.

"This data is preliminary," Assistant Superintendent Gabby Nino told trustees during the July 20 workshop, adding the district will not have final campus or district ratings until August. Nino highlighted a roughly 4 percentage point drop in 3rd-grade math performance and year-over-year reductions for 4th grade, and she said the district is particularly focused on gaps affecting special education, emergent bilingual and economically disadvantaged students.

Why it matters: Belton ISD uses those assessment results to inform campus support and state accountability measures. Nino warned that one component — the constructed-response (writing) portion embedded in ELA — has produced statewide declines that may reflect scoring changes, making it harder to interpret some year-to-year comparisons.

"My biggest concern about this is that we might be telling students and family, the student, that they are struggling to a greater degree than they are based on some assessment challenges," Nino said. She added the district has "submitted almost a 100 writing samples to be rescored at the state level because we're not in a 100% agreement with the way they were scored."

District staff explained the accountability methodology to trustees: elementary and middle school ratings rely heavily on STAR tests, while high school ratings include EOC scores, college- and career-readiness measures and graduation rates. Nino said projected district figures for overall achievement and progress were stable (achievement 80, progress 76) but that the closing-gaps domain remains the primary barrier to higher ratings.

Ben Smith, an executive director for campus leadership, described the district's organizing approach for improvement. "We decided to lean in" on the Texas Education Agency's Effective Schools Framework, he said, outlining five levers — leadership and planning, staffing, culture, high-quality instructional materials and professional learning — that the district will use to target root causes and monitor implementation.

Concrete steps described at the workshop include standardized collaborative team tools, a two-part SMART-goal structure to address both students who reach proficiency and the remainder of the cohort, common summative and biweekly formative assessments, an expectation of frequent principal walkthroughs with feedback, and adoption of a new elementary math program supported through a LIFT grant and implementation partner Great Minds.

Nino also said the district will analyze individual student writing samples and has already requested human rescoring for selected responses the district disputes. Trustees asked clarifying questions about how much the embedded writing score affects overall ELA performance and whether removing or separating that component would change the district's interpretation; staff said the item is embedded but that the district can extract and review alternate views for planning purposes.

The board was told the district anticipates a 98% graduation rate under House Bill 3 measures and that College, Career and Military Readiness targets were met. Trustees and staff agreed the next update will include final campus and district ratings and a succinct set of actions: what worked, where concerns remain and specific next steps.

The workshop concluded with staff asking trustees to submit any follow-up questions ahead of the August briefing. The board adjourned at 6:01 p.m.