December 14, 2023

If you missed the Houston ISD Board meeting last Thursday, here is a quick recap:

• Houston ISD Board Approve District of Innovation: The Board approved the final District of Innovation plan. The plan, which can be read in full on HISD’s website, was approved by the District Advisory Council on November 14, 2023, after feedback and revisions. 

The finalization of DOI designation brings HISD in line with almost all of the districts in Harris County and across the state who take advantage of this flexibility. Houston GPS provided testimony in support of DOI at the meeting. You can read a full version of our public comments here. 

Some of the exemptions outlined in the plan will allow HISD to begin the school year earlier, pursue new types of course structures, and increase the number of days students can visit prospective colleges. We are eager to see how HISD will implement innovative programming, systems, and instruction to support student learning. 

• HISD’s Goal and Constraint Progress Measures are Close to Finalized: The Board formally adopted progress measures to support and monitor the student outcome goals and constraints they set in November. Here are some notable insights:

• Progress measures for both 3rd grade reading and math focus on student progress on NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments, which are nationally comparable tests that many districts use to progress monitor student learning throughout the year. 

For both subjects, the Board will be monitoring overall progress, outcomes broken down by student demographic groups, and New System Education (NES) campus outcomes. The Board is also separately monitoring outcomes for students receiving special education services as part of a separate goal. 

• For College, Career, and Military Readiness, progress measures focus on Texas Success Initiative (TSI) criteria, career and technical education (CTE), and student’s qualifying for college credit. 

TSI criteria can be met through SAT, ACT, or the TSI Assessment and students must meet standards in both math and reading. CTE completer status requires students to be on track to complete three courses in an aligned program of study by graduation. Finally, the Board will monitor trends for students who receive college credit through Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual credit, and dual enrollment courses.

• Several of the targets in the progress measures and associated charts remain blank. This is because the baseline required to calculate these targets is not yet available. Most of the outstanding metrics require middle-of-year assessment data, which should become available in January 2024. At least one requires the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to release A-F accountability scores to set the targets, which have currently been delayed by litigation. We anticipate that most of these progress measures will be able to be finalized within the next couple of months. 

• HISD Board Set to Begin Student Outcome Monitoring in January: The Board also adopted their student outcome monitoring calendar and their Lone Star Governance (LSG) Implementation Timeline. LSG is a framework for school board governance recommended by TEA and backed by research into effective governance. 

The student outcome monitoring calendar outlines which goals, constraints, and progress measures the Board intends to monitor each month for the next five years, the duration of their student outcome goals. Monitoring will begin in January 2024 with Goal Progress Measures 1.1 and 2.1, which cover beginning-of-year data for both 3rd grade reading and math. The Board’s goal is to spend at least 10% of their time on student outcomes, which they plan to scale to 50% by March 2024.  

Student outcome monitoring is one of the most critical functions of an effective school board. LSG recommends that districts spend at least 50% of their time focused on improving student outcomes, which echoes findings by the National School Board Association. Highly effective school boards spend less time on operational issues and dedicate more time to accountability for student achievement.

Elected Trustees Dani Hernandez (Dist. III), Sue Deigaard (Dist. V), and Judith Cruz (Dist. VIII) spoke on this agenda item during the board meeting to support the Board in their ambitious student outcome goals and encourage them to remain engaged and student-focused throughout the monitoring process. We will also continue to track the Board’s progress and look forward to the renewed focus on student learning in the new year.