Austin ISD wrapped up its look at the college readiness of the district’s high schoolers March 28 at a meeting of the board of trustees. The takeaway was the same as three weeks earlier – there has been a dip in the number of students who are ready for college or a career, and the district is scrambling to improve performance.
College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) is a major emphasis in Texas public schools, and students demonstrate it in a variety of ways – by completing dual-credit courses that earn college hours, by earning an associate degree or an industry-based certification, or joining the U.S. armed forces, among many other things.
One of the district’s CCMR goals is for the percentage of students who are on track to earn at least 12 college credit hours to increase from 9.8% in August 2021 to 25% by August 2026. The data presented at the meeting showed that the percentage of students likely to meet this metric has actually dipped from previous years – only 8.4% of students in grades 9-12 are on track to earn 12 or more college credit hours this school year. Seven percent of economically disadvantaged high schoolers are on track to do so.
Another district goal is for the percentage of students on track to earn an industry-based certification to increase marginally by August 2026. These certifications prepare students for a huge variety of jobs in nursing, construction, computer programming, and many other fields. Similarly, the percentage of 11th and 12th grade students on track to earn one of these certifications this year is lower than it was in 2021, but here, economically disadvantaged students are getting more certifications than kids in wealthier families.
“How is it that someone just got here from Afghanistan and it’s their second year and they’ve come so far and are doing so well.” – AISD Trustee Kevin Foster
Administrators identified several root causes for the relatively low numbers, including a lack of alignment between instruction and testing and the absence in the district of a comprehensive case management system. They expressed the hope they could get a case management system in place by the next school year.
In the discussion that followed, Trustee Kevin Foster noted that some high schools are doing better than others on CCMR and asked what could be taken from them. Creslond Fannin, executive director of Early College High School, discussed an approach at Navarro Early College High, which has created a dual-credit “college transitions” course. Students at Navarro may take the course just after entering high school, rather than having to wait until they’re juniors. “We’re hopeful that many of our other campuses will be able to do that as well,” Fannin said.
Superintendent Matias Segura reframed a question from Foster about how to replicate Navarro’s success: “If you were to expand the program to other early college high schools, what might be required that you don’t currently have?” “Money,” responded Angel Wilson, assistant superintendent of secondary schools, drawing laughter. Wilson then praised Navarro’s principal, Steve Covin, and also spoke glowingly of Akins Early College High.
“One of the things that happens when I talk to parents, there is just the absolute love they have for the school, the love they have for the community,” Foster said. “It’s an overwhelming, repeated experience that always, for me, raises this question: How is it that someone just got here from Afghanistan and it’s their second year and they’ve come so far and are doing so well?”
Wilson said the first thing that came to her mind was teacher retention. “We want to be able to not only attract and recruit great talent, but to be able to keep that talent in that campus,” Wilson said. “Because that’s what makes it unique, that’s what makes it flourish.”
Editor’ Note Thursday, April 11, 3:05pm: This story has been corrected. A previous version incorrectly described Navarro’s principal as the “new principal;” he is not. The Chronicle regrets the error.
This article appears in April 5 • 2024.
