Austin, TX—The Austin Independent School District students achieved gains in reading, mathematics, science and social studies, according to The Texas Education Agency’s preliminary results of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) released last week.

“We are pleased with the results for reading, math, science and social studies. Our students and teachers have again worked hard this year and the results reflect their hard work,” AISD Superintendent Meria Carstarphen said. “In the days ahead, we will be digging deeper to examine these scores and determine how our students performed when compared to the state and other urban school districts.”

In order to give teachers and students time to adjust to the new test, the TEA is phasing in the exams. This year the students are being held to Level II Phase-in 1 standards, and in 2016 the TEA will implement the Final Level II Standards.

At the Phase-In 1 standard, AISD students gained three percentage points in reading, mathematics, science and social studies compared to last year. The percentage of students meeting the standards in writing remained unchanged. The highest passing rates were in reading and mathematics.

“The district believes reporting the results for the phase-in and final standards is important so that parents, students, and teachers can see what will be expected in the final implementation of the STAAR,” Bill Caritj, AISD chief performance officer, said. “While our students are doing well at the current standard, the district will continually need to improve each year for our students to reach the final state standards.”  

It is important to note that since the results represent all students tested and not just students in the accountability cohort, they cannot be used to predict state or federal accountability ratings. Campus ratings will not be released by the TEA until August 2013.

To learn more about the STAAR, visit www.austinisd.org/staar.