Ector County ISD Success Story

The Challenge

In 2018 Ector County ISD in Odessa, Texas held a “D” accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency, meaning it was the lowest-performing district in the Lone Star State. But soon a new associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction arrived, and Lilia Náñez, Ed.D., would strive for top marks.

Náñez found that students’ underperformance resulted mostly from teachers’ lack of literacy proficiency data. The district had long relied on state-mandated STAAR reports to understand progress — but with only three benchmarks per year, the reports weren’t frequent enough to inform teachers’ daily instruction. Furthermore, STAAR didn’t assess the unique needs of English learners (ELs), who made up 75% of Ector County ISD’s students.

“We needed continuous progress monitoring,” Náñez said, “and we needed to provide equitable resources for our ELL students.” She set to work on reforming the district’s literacy program with instruction that responded to real-time data.

The Solution

With the need for a tool that could monitor students’ literacy progress, Náñez chose Istation’s formative assessment and supplemental curriculum programs in English and Spanish. The programs made it possible to automatically assess students each month, share results with teachers, and provide additional materials for teachers to use during literacy instruction.

Additionally the district started administering the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment three times a year. Data from the MAP assessment helped corroborate Istation’s reports while evaluating each school’s overall effectiveness.

Along with improving the district’s assessment tools, Náñez allocated more time to literacy instruction driven by data results. Now students would have 160 minutes of literacy instruction daily, and the time would be structured to meet specific objectives. For example, K–2 schedules would have time slots devoted to foundational reading skills, vocabulary instruction, a reading workshop, a writing workshop, and structured work in small groups. Objectives would be linked to Istation’s classroom lessons and other approved resources, dramatically reducing the time teachers needed to spend on planning.

"With Istation you get a personalized path of instruction along with the data."

— Lilia Náñez, Ed.D., Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Ector County

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The Outcome

Náñez reports that Ector County ISD has seen dramatic improvement in assessment and instruction since 2018. As intended, NWEA MAP assessments have worked in tandem with monthly Istation assessments to document literacy growth and check for learning gaps, plus Istation’s classroom resources are helping teachers meet the needs of students in all learning levels.

Náñez noted, “With Istation you get a personalized path of instruction along with the data.”

This includes recommendations for teaching the whole class, small groups, and individual students. Teachers get access to thousands of research-based literacy lessons along with printable stories and other resources.

Especially remarkable is the district’s improved accountability to ELs. Náñez said, “Istation provides authentic assessments in Spanish and English, and it’s helpful for teachers to see a student’s Spanish and English literacy scores side by side.”

Now that equity of resources is better ensured, more ELs in the district are high-achievers.

Náñez is optimistic about Ector County ISD’s future. “We went from being a D-rated school district to a B-rated school district,” she said. “We’re not at our goal yet, but with Istation and NWEA, we're getting there!”

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