The Austin, Bastrop and Round Rock Independent School Districts continue to make significant gains in all performance categories most important to employers. Gains are noteworthy in light of significant student enrollment growth and the increases in English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.

School district leaders, however, still must put in place strategies to progress at greater rates – particularly in increasing the graduation and college readiness – according to the Greater Austin Chamber's 2006 Education Progress Report.

The report, released today, was completed by a Chamber task force, with support from local school district representatives, which included a diverse, regional selection of community and business leaders. These include the Round Rock and Bastrop Chambers of Commerce. The Task Force goal is to determine the district’s progress in preparing its students for college and high-performance careers without the need for remediation.

Findings:

• Over the last six years, each school district has improved significantly across all measures, all populations and all grades.
• In grades where assessments have high stakes: exit-level, 5th and 3rd grades, the education system has responded dramatically.
• In 2004, students did not need to pass the exit level TAKS test to graduate; in 2005, they did. Student pass rates improved by 10-40 percentage points.
• Similar results are found for third grade reading and fifth grade reading and math, where students had to pass assessments to gain promotion.
• Completion of a well-rounded course of study has skyrocketed, from 15% in 1999 to the 70% range in the most current available data. This means dramatically more students completing Algebra II, physics and at least two years of a foreign language.
• School student performance measurement systems are still evolving and improving.

Analysis of individual district performance and recognition of improvement:

• Austin ISD – Major recommendation is that high school graduation, which after tremendous growth is flattening, is biggest concern. Austin ISD is putting a big bet down on high school redesign. At a minimum, the Task Force hopes a focused high school redesign plan will accelerate Austin ISD back to trajectory – which required a 4 percent gain. The Board of Trustees needs to set a college readiness goal.
• Round Rock ISD – Explosive enrollment growth is a factor to manage in and of itself. While pushing toward its goal to become an exemplary rated district in 2009, what strategies are needed to close achievement gaps with growing low-income and English Learner populations?
• Bastrop ISD – The need is there for staff to set a 2009 or 2010 goal in line with community expectations. Explosive enrollment growth is a factor to manage in and of itself. After fairly flat high school graduation rates, question will be how to make the push to higher high school completion rates.

To ensure success of Opportunity Austin, the Chamber’s five year plan to create 72,000 new jobs and add $14 billion to the economy, Austin must be one of the premiere places in the world for primary employers to locate and grow their businesses. Austin and the region will enhance its existing advantage if it eliminates achievement gaps and graduates most students ready for college and the workplace.

The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Progress Report task force:
Susan Dawson, Chair, Executive Director, E3 Alliance
Charley Ayres, Director, Round Rock Chamber of Commerce
Rick Burciaga, Banking Consultant
Matt de Ferranti, Attorney, Armbrust & Brown, L.L.P.
Kevin Michael Foster, PhD, Professor, UT-Austin College of Education
Karen Halladay, Vice-President of Human Resources, Stratagene
Amy Jones, Principal, O’Connell Robertson
Ronnie Jones, Attorney, Law Offi ces of Ronnie Jones
Shänta Kuhl, President, Taylor Chamber of Commerce
Roberto Martinez, Partner, Martinez, Wright & Mendez
Eliza May, Community Advocate
John Nelson, Executive Director, Taylor Economic Development Corporation
Quality Quinn, President, Quality Quinn, Inc.
David Reiter, Vice President – General Counsel, Luminex
Crystal Kuhs Reynolds, Government & Institutional Banking, Wachovia Bank
Kalí Rourke, President, Travis Community Education Foundation
Yvette Sanchez, Advisory Council Member, Round Rock ISD Partners in Education
Bruce Scott, PhD, Superintendent, Taylor ISD
Susan Wendel, President, Bastrop Chamber of Commerce

Austin ISD Advisors:
Pat D. Forgione, Jr., PhD, Superintendent
Janis Guerrero, PhD, Executive Director – Planning & External Relations
Maria Whitsett, PhD, Executive Director – Accountability

Bastrop ISD Advisors:
Roderick Emanuel, Superintendent
Donald Williams, Executive Director for Community Services and Communications
Betty Richardson, Assistant Superintendent - Curriculum & Instruction Program

Round Rock ISD Advisors:
Jesús Chávez, PhD, Superintendent
Pat Reddin, Executive Director – Assessment & Audit
Debbie Lewis, Director of Assessment
JoyLynn Occhiuzzi, Director – Community Relations

Data for this report was provided by Austin ISD, Bastrop ISD, Round Rock ISD and the Texas Education Agency. The Chamber plans to produce Community Progress Reports each year with the goal of including more districts and more data.