Following the recent release of Texas Education Agency preliminary end of school testing results for the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona said he had some thoughts to share regarding the high points in those statistics, as well as some of the varying achievements of district schools. He also noted areas where he said there is additional support needed.
First, Cardona said that there were changes to the way the testing was conducted in the year under assessment and this needed to be taken into consideration.
“I believe that all of our schools showed progress, though the Commissioner of Education for the Texas Education Agency on June 21, 2023 said they are changing the way [they calculate] metrics for both 2022 and 2023. Our elementary teachers implemented a new reading and math curriculum, and should be commended, while also having to adapt to the test being online. And for that matter, a new test brought to us by TEA,” Cardona said.
He said the district will continue to increase its support for the math curriculum and its teachers, and that he is proud of many of the district’s achievements in that area, as well.
“As a district, we will provide more support in the area of math instruction for all of our schools as we get the students back on track. In saying that, we also need to commend our middle school Algebra I teachers for having us within reach of being above the state average. The community in San Marcos should be proud that we placed almost all 8th graders in Algebra I, and we have more 8th graders taking Geometry. While that is not accounted for in state metrics, we are doing what is best for kids and their families,” Cardona said.
He said that the high school is also making great strides.
“San Marcos High School continues to progress. We had our first 15 students graduate with their associate’s degrees while still in high school. Along with this historic accomplishment, we had more students earn industry-based certifications this year than last [160 to 244+]. Our Fine Arts and Athletic programs achieved levels of success that had not been seen here in a while,” Cardona said.
He said he was particularly proud of the middle school’s end of course testing scores for Algebra 1. For approaches grade level or above, the state average was 78%, Goodnight Middle School had 76% and Miller Middle School had 72%. For meets grade level or above, the state average was 45%, GMS had 28% and MMS had 32%. For Masters Grade Level, the state average was 24%, GMS had 8% and MMS had 15%.
Cardona said there other successes within the district that deserved to be highlighted as the district moves into July and the start of a new school year starting Aug. 15.
“Industry-based certifications earned were up from the previous year [160244+]–the plus means we have kids finishing in summer with internship hours. … Attendance went up from the previous year. [The voters] passed all four propositions to the 2023 Bond. Thank you, San Marcos Community. We retained 90% of our 1st and 2nd year teachers because of supports we invested in to retain them. We had a student win the $40,000 Amazon Future Engineering Scholarship. We hosted a STEAM Fair that attracted 2,000 people to the high school to showcase our students. The Robotics Team advanced to the State and World’s Competition.
Eight Texas Association of Future Educators students qualified for the National Championship in July. TAFE named outstanding chapter for 4th straight year. [There were] seven cosmetology students [that] advanced to state championships at SkillsUSA. Mariachi, Marching Band, Orchestra, Choir, Art and Miller Middle School Jazz Band continue to win competitions while advancing to state competitions. The Texas Association of Art Educators continues to hold the State Visual Art Scholastic Event in San Marcos bringing thousands to the city in late April showcasing our district and the city of San Marcos. We continue to be proactive in the area of health and safety for our staff and students. We should also be proud of the whole child and family supports through our partnerships with UT Austin and Communities in School. We have strong relationships with Texas State University. We continue to seek ways to expand partnerships with our colleagues for the betterment of the San Marcos Community,” Cardona said.
He said there are specific areas for which the district will work to improve in the coming year.
“We have areas for continuous improvement. We need to continue to stress the importance of daily attendance in schools, which leads to academic success. We must continue to improve achievement in both reading and math. While we have shown improvement, at the end of the day, we need our students to be at meets and masters level performance, and we need for every campus to increase one letter grade. We aspire to have all of our schools ranked a B or higher,” Cardona said.
The schedule for the release of additional information is: EOC performance levels were received by the district May 31. EOC performance levels became available in student portals starting June 30 and parents can go to the SCMISD website to seek ways to access those reports. Third to eighth grade STAAR performance levels will be shared with the district Aug. 11 and available in student portals Aug. 16. A-F Accountability ratings will be shared with the district Sept. 26 and will be available publicly on txschools. gov on Sept. 28.
