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The Dripping Springs Independent School District received its 2020–2021 Texas Academic Performance Report from the Texas Education Agency, providing information on school and district staff, programs and student demographics.
The report was presented at a DSISD Board of Trustees meeting on Monday, Jan. 31. Traditionally, the TAPR is received annually by each district in the state for the previous school year. It includes a range of information on the performance of students in each district and campus, broken down into student groups such as ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Due to COVID-19, the usual standardized testing (STAAR) was not conducted during 2020. As a result, this year’s TAPR was compared to STAAR test results reported from 2019.
DSISD did not receive a typical district accountability rating in 2021. Instead, it received the status of “Not Rated: Declared State of Disaster.” Its special education curriculum was evaluated as “Meets Requirements.”
The report did show that DSISD outperformed most districts in the region and the state on 2021’s STAAR test, looking at individual subjects across all grade levels. DSISD students also outperformed regional and state averages on 2021 SAT and ACT tests.
Only the subject of mathematics seemed to present a concern for the district in 2021. Less-than-average numbers of DSISD students participated in the AP and IB math examinations. Those who did scored below regional and state averages. Additionally, while overall numbers were still higher than other districts, DSISD’s STAAR test results in math were lower in 2021 than in 2019.
“The math scores, in particular, were really concerning to me, but I want our community to know that one of the things the TAPR shows in DSISD is the experience that our teachers have,” Vice President Joanna Day said. “The largest group of teachers that we have in DSISD have 11-20 years of experience.”
“Over 30% of our teachers are highly experienced teaching professionals, and we got to see that in action in our tour of Walnut Springs,” she continued. “We saw number talks, teaching more flexible thinking around numbers, and it was exciting to see. I am confident we’re in a position to move forward and address the unfinished learning many of our students experienced.”
