NCISD makes the mark

NIXON — Nixon-Smiley CISD school board was informed last week that the district met standards on its annual Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR) results. TAPR  combine details of district and campus academic performance with financial reports and information about staff, programs, and demographics.

“We were very proud of our results this year,” Superintendent Cathy Lauer told the board. In all but one area — science — NSCISD was equal or above in the percent of students at phase in satisfactory standard or above what you would call passing on the mandated assessment (STAAR).  You might notice that there are no math scores other than algebra I — that is due to the fact that the state had new standards. They gave us a year to phase in.”

Lauer provided a slideshow that highlighted other data she discussed, such as the fact that the district’s “college readiness” was not up to the standard she hoped.

“We have some specific activities in our District Improvement Plan to work on improvement in that area, such as emphasizing writing and research skills for all high school students,” Lauer said. 

Lauer added that she was pleased with NSCISD’s ACT results, and that the district has shown steady improvement each year.

 “We have been getting better and better each year. The decline in the number of students taking it is due to the increase in students taking the Texas Success Initiative (TSI), which has been free for our students and increasingly accepted by both two and four-year universities.” 

The TSI Assessment is a program designed to help an institution determine if a student is ready for college-level coursework in the general areas of reading, writing and mathematics.

NSCISD will hold its next meeting on Jan. 11.