Priority one of the district scorecard outlines guidelines for student success. The three main goals of this priority are to increase the percentage of academic student growth, increase the percentage of students who are college and/or career ready, and develop well-rounded students that are the best versions of themselves.

Goal 1.1

Goal 1.1 of the district scorecard strives to increase academic growth for all students. NBISD uses many data inputs to gather information about student growth over a school year, including STAAR test scores, MAPS test scores, attendance, and administrative classroom walk-throughs. Data was collected from the different sources mentioned above over the 2023 school year to provide a clearer picture of where NBISD students stand and what growth could be measured. The data in the charts below demonstrates that students show improvement in both academic growth and achievement from Winter 2023 to Spring 2023.

Goal 1.2

Goal 1.2 works toward ensuring students are career and college ready when they graduate from high school in NBISD. We measure this data in two main ways: by the number of students that earn industry based certifications and by the percentage of students who meet Texas Success Initiative criteria.

Last school year, 312 of NBISD students earned industry based certifications.

In 2022-23, 64% of NBISD students met the Texas Success Initiative criteria in reading and 54% of students met the criteria for math.

The A-F Accountability system is used by the state to ensure school districts are meeting certain performance benchmarks and are held accountable for the education they are providing to their students. The accountability system strives to measure student achievement and school progress and works to close gaps in student education. 

It’s important to remember that accountability ratings are based on STAAR data – the test scores that are gathered from State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. STAAR is a one day snapshot of a student’s entire school year. To base the perception of our district’s success and failures on a one day assessment does not allow us to paint the entire picture of what New Braunfels students are achieving day in and day out within the school district. NBISD uses many tools to capture the progress of students – one of those tools being STAAR, but also relies on other data inputs like the district scorecard and the MAPS assessment to provide other meaningful data as well.

It’s also important to note that the STAAR test was redesigned for the 2022-23 school year. Last year’s test introduced a new level of rigor that has not yet been seen on previous tests. Students were expected to demonstrate knowledge through new question types that dug into the complexity of skills they learned throughout the school year.

The district is expecting to receive the A-F rating from the state in the next couple of months. The rating will also be released to the public at the same time.

NBISD Chief Academic Officer, Kara Bock, said, “I’m not hanging my hat on just the STAAR scores. I’m relying on the district’s scorecard data, MAPS testing data, and other data that is collected from our classrooms every day of the school year.” 

The NBISD Board of Trustees approved spending roughly $69,000 on a new curricular system that will help prepare students for the depth,complexity, and rigor of the redesigned STAAR test. 

Over the past year, NBISD has been able to generate data on student growth using the NWEA MAPS Growth Assessment. Based on this data, it has been determined that support is needed for classroom teachers to better understand the depth and rigor of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) they are required to teach. The TEKS Resource System is an online curriculum management system aligned with the TEKS that can assist schools in meeting the high standard of rigor and relevance required by the TEKS. In addition, teachers have access to exemplary lesson plans and performance assessments. Support for the use of this resource will be through Region 20, and the cost includes professional development support.

The purchase of $307,000 worth of band instruments for NBISD students was approved by the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Marty Lenard, NBISD Director of Fine Arts, worked with his team and identified areas of need for instruments throughout the district. These instruments will be shared throughout the NBISD band program as appropriate.

Dr. Lenard explained that, “Stewardship of funds while ensuring our campuses have the instruments they need to support their band members are our top priorities when deciding to buy new instruments.” 

For the past two years, NBISD has partnered with the Community Council of South Central Texas (CCSCT) to provide Head Start services to 74 qualifying four-year-old students and families at Lone Star Early Childhood Center.

The Board of Trustees approved the continuation of this partnership. This partnership will allow NBISD to continue to: 

• Identify PreK 4-year-old students for Head Start services
• Provide health, wellness and social services to all Head Start students and families
• Receive $228,414 from CCSCT to reimburse a percentage of salary costs for PreK teachers and aides

The next regular board meeting will be held on October 9th at 6:00 pm. If you would like to make a public comment at an upcoming board meeting please fill out the request form.

Learn more about the New Braunfels ISD Board of Trustees on our website where you can find recordings and agendas from past board meetings.