While the STAAR test isn’t exactly the gold standard in terms of metrics Aledo ISD uses to gauge success, the board of trustees got their mandatory annual update during their monthly meeting on Jan. 21.
Director of Assessment and Accountability for the district, Candance Summerhill, walked the board through the data from the Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), much to the chagrin of several board members. The report showed very little change year-over-year in math, reading, science, and social studies scores for students across the district.
While scores within the district saw little change, compared to other districts in the area and across the state Aledo ISD continues to outperform other districts by a noteworthy margin.
“This is a required report,” Aledo ISD Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn underscored. “We obviously don’t, in our district, emphasize STAAR to the degree that the state may want us to on a daily basis. Our emphasis is with the PLC (Professional Learning Community) measurement by our professional teachers of their own performance, and also we have implementation goals with best teaching practices.
“Our model is to lean into best instructional practices and teaching the standards so that students are getting what they need. Then the results on the standardized tests will just come. We would not be bringing you this report if the state did not tell us we had to. We would give you the information. We just don’t want people to read from this that we are emphasizing the importance of one test from one day for a kid or for a school or for a district.”
Board of Trustees President Forrest Collins told an anecdotal story of a parent asking him the board’s view on STAAR ratings. He told the parent that he would love to discuss the rating system. However, it wouldn’t be prudent with districts across the state engaged in a lawsuit against the Texas Education Administration (TEA) regarding STAAR over the last couple of years.
He did surmise that perhaps the litigation against the process could be indicative of the program’s merits.
Another metric Summerhill went over with the board was Aledo’s College, Career, Military Readiness (CCMR) scores. Off the top of her discussion, Summerhill made the board aware that the data is lagging, as she only received the 2022-2023 data recently.
That said, the data clearly indicates year-over-year improvement overall in student readiness to move into the next phase of life once they graduate from Aledo.
During his legislative report, Vice President David Lear said the district will continue to lobby our state representatives for more local control in education with the bi-annual Texas State Legislative Session officially underway.
2023 Bond Update
As the two-year anniversary of the 2023 Bond approaches and nearly all the projects are completed, Chief Facilities and Construction Officer Chris Campbell provided another project update to the board.
After several delays Campbell said they hope to close out the construction phase of Lynn McKinney Elementary School by the end of January and move into the warranty phase.
Renovations to the high school are right on queue, as are the Steve Wood Complex and ag barn construction projects. Both of the new structures have been completely closed in since the last update in December and passed their initial inspections.
The ag barn is essentially finished, with only some final grading and sod work remaining around the exterior of the building. Campbell mentioned if they can get the final inspection completed soon, it may open ahead of schedule.
Aledo giving
Board members Jennifer Taylor and Jeremy Pruett provided some important updates during the giving report. The AdvoCats will host their annual Run, Walk, and Crawl event on March 29 at Tim Buchanan Stadium. It will be a glow run once again this year.
The Run, Walk and Crawl event is the AdvoCats’ largest fundraiser of the year.
Also, the Aledo Education Foundation is set to host their 12th Annual Bearcats and Boots event at the Stockyard Station on March 28. The event will feature live entertainment, dinner, a raffle, as well as live and silent auctions.
Tables are filling up fast for that event. To register, visit aledoef.org.
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