RISD has received 2022-23 STAAR scores from the Texas Education Agency, and district performance was presented and discussed at the Aug. 24 board of trustees meeting. Overall, RISD students continued academic growth as measured by the state’s assessment, continuing a rebound from the learning loss that most students experienced during the pandemic.
In addition, RISD students exceeded the annual targeted board goals in the key areas of third-grade reading and math, including 11 of 12 annual goals by demographic group. These STAAR results are the first under the redesigned test format that went into effect last spring.
“While the STAAR test is a single assessment on a single day that does not tell us the full story of a child’s progress, it can be a useful tool to identify year-over year trends,” said Superintendent Tabitha Branum. “The work of our teachers and students last year is reflected by growth trends in most areas. While we are not where we want to be or expect to be in every single area, overall we remain encouraged by our students’ growth.”
The STAAR test is a required assessment for students in Texas, and while RISD uses it as one way to measure academic progress, it is not used as part of a student’s grade, nor do colleges evaluate STAAR performance in the admissions process. The state of Texas defines the approaches level or higher as a passing score. Parents can access individual student STAAR scores through Focus.
Some areas highlighted during the discussion included:
- The percentage of RISD student passing scores increased on 18 of the 20 assessments taken between grades 3-12 compared to last year.
- RISD students outperformed the state on 16 of 20 assessments at the Meets and Masters levels.
- In seventh-grade math, RISD students significantly underperformed the state. This is attributed to the district’s Algebra for All initiative that encourages students to take advanced math classes in junior high. This initiative resulted in more than 90% of RISD’s seventh-graders taking the eighth-grade math STAAR, which impacted overall seventh-grade math STAAR performance.
Later this semester, the state of Texas is expected to assign grades to schools and districts, based primarily on STAAR results. As previously shared with RISD stakeholders, due to changes to the state accountability system this year, along with the redesigned STAAR test, RISD anticipates school and district ratings will drop in 2023 and likely rebound in 2024 as districts have a chance to prepare for the new system and students and staff become familiar with the redesigned test.
Click here to see aggregate 2022-23 STAAR results in the All Students category.
