Austin Independent School District staff presented detailed spring 2024–25 STAR (Texas state assessment) and STAAR end-of-course (EOC) results at the Sept. 25 board meeting, reporting modest rebounds in several subjects but continuing, entrenched gaps by socioeconomic status.

Dylan Feenan, director of campus and district accountability, and Joshua Judd, executive director of governance and accountability, led the briefing and walked trustees through longitudinal charts. The presentation showed increases in “meets and above” in some reading and science measures compared with the previous year; math results showed stabilization after a steeper decline in 2024. Several grade-level charts showed uneven trends across grades.

District staff highlighted a large disparity between economically disadvantaged students and their peers: for STAR grades 3–8 combined, 23% of students labeled economically disadvantaged achieved “meets grade level or better,” compared with 72% for students not labeled economically disadvantaged. For STAAR EOC assessments, the gap was 33% versus 83% for the same comparison.

The district noted those gaps are central to its resource-prioritization strategy, including the Support Resource Index (SRI) that directs instructional coaches, content interventionists and staffing prioritization to higher-need campuses. "Supporting our students who are economically disadvantaged will continue to be a focus for us as we move forward," staff said during the presentation.

Trustees asked clarifying questions about comparisons to state trends and about middle-school performance. Trustee Christine Quintana asked whether the district followed state patterns; staff said results vary by subgroup and promised a supplemental report on state comparisons. Trustee Singh and others pressed for more disaggregated analysis by student group and for additional detail on how investments and the SRI are translating to classroom practice.

Superintendent Segura and academic leaders described a multi-part academic framework and a multi-month development process that will produce an academic foundation, baseline academic program descriptions and milestones for community engagement. The district said the academic framework will be an 18-month process with deliverables shared in November and the spring semester.

The presentation also covered how the district is addressing turnaround-planning timelines following state notification; staff said a required set of turnaround deliverables had a schedule change in late November that will be sequenced with board review and public engagement. The administration emphasized ongoing community feedback sessions, open houses and principal coffees already scheduled.

No formal board action accompanied the presentation, but multiple trustees said they wanted additional detail in coming weeks, including state comparison data and subgroup trendlines.

Key points from the presentation:
- Reading: Some gains in grades 3–8 combined; notable gains in eighth-grade reading year-over-year.
- Math: Stabilization and slight improvement in 2025 after a drop in 2024; declining trends in several elementary grades over multiple years.
- Science: Overall increases in grades 5 and 8 in 2025 after prior declines.
- Large achievement gaps: Economically disadvantaged students trail their peers by wide margins across STAR and EOC.

District staff said targeted supports such as MTSS (multi-tiered system of support), high-quality instructional materials and the SRI will be prioritized to close gaps. Trustees asked for more frequent, disaggregated reporting as the district finalizes turnaround plans and the academic framework.