Houston ISD Agenda Highlights

This Thursday, the Houston ISD Board will host their regular monthly meeting.  Key agenda items we’re watching:

• Student Outcome Monitoring – 3rd grade reading and math: The HISD Board will kick off student outcome monitoring with the beginning of school year data for 3rd grade reading and math.

Baseline data from NWEA MAP, a nationally comparable assessment, shows that HISD students need early support. On average only 28% of 3rd grade students are meeting grade level standards in reading. Third grade Math proficiency is even lower at 24%.

Even more troubling are the large disparities among student demographic groups. Economically disadvantaged students began the school year significantly behind their peers (19% in reading and 15% in math proficiency). Similarly, Black and Latino students face greater barriers than their white peers, with up to a 46% gap in proficiency. 

HISD administration attributes these outcomes to a lack of high-quality materials and instruction. Overall, their plan moving forward is to focus heavily on instruction, professional development, and expanding state aligned instructional materials, such as the Science of Reading curriculum. Additionally, the district plans to focus on pre-k programming and expanding pre-k access to students to ensure early learning. 

Early literacy and numeracy skills are a critical foundation for education. HISD must start early with targeted resources and high-quality instruction, prioritizing student groups who need the most support.

• District Improvement Plan (DIP): The District Improvement plan lays out the goals and measurable objectives of each central office department. In the plan shared in the agenda packet, most departments have listed measurable goals, but some did not outline clear goal targets. For comparison: 

Career and Technical Education Department

By August 2024, 30 percent of CTE teachers will have participated in an industry aligned upskilling opportunity.

Special Education Department 

HISD will improve the initial evaluation timeline.

The SPED department lists that their needs analysis is covered in the separate District Comprehensive Needs Assessment. While the School Board may have greater access to information, we would like to see measurable goals consistently included throughout the DIP.

• Board Accountability: Every quarter the Board will engage in a self-evaluation using the Lone Star Governance assessment tool. The rubric is included in the full agenda packet, but we encourage  the Board to post the completed evaluation for public accessibility and transparency after the process is completed.  
• Healthcare CTE Pathways: HISD is looking to partner with the Harris County Hospital District to expand real-world experience opportunities for students in a health science practicum. This collaboration is a great step in increasing pathways for post-secondary success by giving students space to explore careers in health and gain valuable skills that could translate to job placements.
• School Improvement Plans: The Board will also consider the goals and measurable objectives for individual School Improvement Plans. Currently the plans are on file with board services and will be available on each campus’s website following approval. Like the DIP, School Improvement Plans align the Board’s student outcome goals with the needs of each individual campus to create measurable objectives for improvement. This public transparency helps families and the school community understand the actions steps their campus is taking to prioritize student learning. 
• Special Education Outcome Goal: The Board’s goal for special education is being updated to include goal targets based on newly released state accountability data. The district is proposing a 15% increase in academic growth over the next five years. The 15% mimics growth targets for previous goals and is an ambitious goal for the district. Notably, special education compliance is one of the three criteria that must be met for the district to transition back to an elected school board. 
• District of Innovation Implementation: The District is implementing its first DOI exemption by updating district policy to ensure students are not automatically sent to Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) for vaping offenses. As required by a newly enacted Texas law, nearly 400 students in HISD have been placed in DAEP this school year for vaping. With the DOI exemption in policy, HISD will have significantly more flexibility with discipline, reducing disruptions in learning for first time vaping offenses and keeping students at their home campus.