20122013

Dallas Independent School District

February 15, 2012 DRAFT COPY

Dallas, Texas 75204

DALLAS ISD DISTRICT IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2012-2013

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Summary of Board Policy BQ (Legal) The board shall adopt a policy to establish a District and campus-level planning and decision-making process that will involve the professional staff of the District, parents of students enrolled in the District, business representatives, and community members in establishing and reviewing the Districts and campuses educational plans, goals, performance objectives, and major classroom instructional programs. Education Code 11.251(b) The planning and decision-making requirements do not: 1. Prohibit the board from conducting meetings with teachers or groups of teachers other than the District-level committee meetings. 2. Prohibit the board from establishing policies providing avenues for input from others, including students or paraprofessional staff, in District or campus-level planning and decision making. 3. Limit or affect the power of the board to govern the public schools. 4. Create a new cause of action or require collective bargaining. Education Code 11.251(g), .252(e)

At least every two years, the District shall evaluate the effectiveness of the Districts decision-making and planning policies, procedures, and staff development activities related to District and campus-level decision making and planning to ensure that they are effectively structured to positively impact student performance. Education Code 11.252(d)

The board shall ensure that an administrative procedure is provided to clearly define the respective roles and responsibilities of the Superintendent, central office staff, principals, teachers, District- level committee members, and campus-level committee members in the areas of planning, budgeting, curriculum, staffing patterns, staff development, and school organization.

The board shall ensure that the District-level planning and decision making committee will be actively involved in establishing the administrative procedure that defines the respective roles and responsibilities pertaining to planning and decision making at the District and campus levels. Education Code 11.251(d)

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Board Policy BQ (Legal) ................................................................................................................................ i Board of Trustees.......................................................................................................................................... ii Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Dallas ISD Mission and Vision ..................................................................................................................... 2 Mission and Vision ................................................................................................................................... 2 Core Values and District Goals ................................................................................................................ 2 Performance Targets .................................................................................................................................... 5 Comprehensive Needs Assessment............................................................................................................ 5 Data Trends... .......................................... 8 Key Strategies and Corresponding District Goals ................................................................................................. 9 Rigorous Curriculum and Educational Experiences... ........................................................................... 10 Physical, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Supports.......................................................................... 11 Highly Effective Teachers... .................................................................................................................. 12 Highly Effective Principals and School Leaders .................................................................................... 13 Shared Responsibility with Parents and Guardians .............................................................................. 14 Innovative Schooling in the 21st Century............................................................................................... 15 District and Stakeholder Collaboration.................................................................................................. 16 Central Services Redesign ................................................................................................................... 17

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD) District Improvement Plan (DIP) is completed annually in compliance with the Texas Education Code, Chapter 11, Subchapter F, 11.251 and 11.252. Each school district shall have a district improvement plan that is developed, evaluated and revised annually in accordance with district policy. The DIP Strategies serve as a guide for each Campus Improvement Plan (CIP) as well as all department action plans in improving student performance for all student groups in order to attain state standards with respect to academic excellence indicators. The Dallas ISD encompasses an area of 384 square miles in the eastern portion of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and includes all or portions of the municipalities of Addison, Balch Springs, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Highland Park, Hutchins, Mesquite, Seagoville, University Park, and Wilmer. Its students come from homes where almost 70 different languages are spoken. It operates 227 campuses, of which 166 are elementary schools and 77 are secondary schools. Enrollment and ethnicity statistics for 2011-12 are shown in the tables below.

Students Elementary Schools (grades PK-5) Middle Schools (grades 6-8) High Schools Total (as of Jan. 20, 2012) 88,078 31,479 38,018 157,575 Ethnic and Racial Composition Hispanic 108,411 African American 38,627 White 7,295 Asian 1,768 American Indian 644 National Hawaiian/Pacific 169 Islander Two or more 661 68.8% 24.5% 4.6% 1.1% 0.4% 0.1% 0.4%

Staff Teachers Professional Support Educational Aides Auxiliary Staff Campus Administrators Central Administrators Total (as of Jan. 20, 2012) 10,277 1,917 1,591 3,804 584 141 18,314 Ethnic and Racial Composition Hispanic African American White Asian American Indian National Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Two or more 5,725 7,352 4,494 339 63 12 329 31.3% 40.1% 24.5% 1.9% 0.3% 0.1% 1.8%

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013 Summary of Board Policy AE (Local)
Dallas ISD Mission and Vision It is the mission of the Dallas Independent School District to educate all students for success. Its vision is to be a premier urban school district. To achieve both this mission and vision, the Board of Trustees adopted the core values and district goals outlined in the following section in January 2012.

Dallas ISD Core Values and District Goals The six core values are promoted by the current administration and appear worthy to set as expectations for all stakeholders. Based on the belief that people must have a number of core values if they are to be effective in their lives and work, the district expects its employees, students, parents, and other stakeholders to nurture and exemplify the following values at all times: Trustworthiness, Responsibility, Respect, Caring, Citizenship, and Fairness.

District goals represent key goals for the administration to focus on as the district continues to improve outcomes for all its students. Policy AE (Local) reads as follows:

In everything we do our goal is to improve the quality of education for all our students. We expect every employee to believe that every student can succeed. We will pursue the following operational goals, in order of priority: 1. TEACHERS: Ensure highly effective teachers for all students. 2. PRINCIPALS: Ensure a highly effective leader for every school. 3. SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS: Ensure a safe, secure and welcoming environment for all students, parents, staff, and the community. 4. PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT: Develop shared responsibility between

parents/guardians and schools that foster academic success and self-management of learning. 5. RIGOR: Implement rigorous curriculum and engaging educational practices and experiences. 6. CULTURE: Create and sustain a positive and compassionate common culture throughout the district that leads toward accomplishing our vision and mission. 2

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

7. HUMAN RESOURCES: Hire, retain, and develop highly effective employees for every position. 8. DATA AND INNOVATION: Make managerial decisions based on appropriate, reliable, and valid data and best practices, and to develop and continually improve new, innovative ways of schooling to meet the needs of students in the 21st century. 9. CENTRAL OFFICE: Organize central services to encourage and enhance a positive culture throughout the district, support the campuses and positive culture on each campus by removing barriers that prevent achieving our goals. 10. FACILITIES: Systemically upgrade and maintain our facilities to provide every

student an efficient learning environment.

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013 PERFORMANCE TARGETS

The performance targets identify the area-specific performance standards and student populations. These targeted populations address state and federal requirements of the Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) and No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). They are included in the second section of this document.

A needs assessment was conducted and plans developed to address identified areas of need based upon these performance targets. The resulting strategies outline the macro-level actions for assessing

implementation. The strategies also serve as the underlying framework for all campus improvement plans.

The Board of Trustees has not set performance targets for the 2011-2012 school year. Beginning in March 2012 students in third through ninth grades throughout Texas will take the new State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, which encompasses a variety of changes compared to previous tests, including the level of rigor and the way the test is administered. The scores from the results of the 20112012 assessments will not be used to rate schools. The ratings will remain the same as the previous year, but will change for the 2013-2014 school year. The ratings of exemplary, recognized, acceptable, and unacceptable for schools will not be used after the 2011-2012 school year. The TEA will not determine passing standards for STAAR for all grades until after the first administration of the test in spring 2012.

Students who entered the ninth grade prior to the fall of 2011 or who are in 10th, 11th or 12th grades will continue to take the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) until they graduate. The high school TAKS will be replaced by 12 end-of-course STAAR testsEnglish I-III, Algebra I and II, geometry, biology, chemistry, physics, world geography, world history, and U.S. history. High school students will be able to retake any of the STAAR tests to improve their scores, and students in grades five and eight will be able to retest in reading and math to meet promotion criteria in 2013. Dallas ISD students have been taking end-of-course exams for some time to be better aligned with the goal of students being ready to enter college and the workforce without having to take remedial courses, which is also the goal of the STAAR.

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013 COMPREHENSIVE NEEDS ASSESSMENT

According to student achievement on TAKS and ITBS, there is a need to develop and continually revise a clear, specific, and rigorous curriculum, including intervention strategies, by grade and subject in all content areas. This curriculum will be aligned to the districts strategic plan and theory of action based on best practices that are focused on content and pedagogy. In addition, there is a need to provide professional development to central and campus-based staff to ensure proper implementation of curriculum and pedagogy.

Campus disaggregation of data by teacher has shown that some teachers are more successful than others. Quality professional development of content and pedagogy is needed to address fluctuations in teaching abilities related to student achievement, number of years of experience, and specific content area. In order to accomplish this in a timely manner, Virtual Professional Learning Communities (VPLC) are provided in the core content areas. Following the VPLC, aligned training will be held at the campus.

It is necessary to build instructional leadership capacity of campus and district staff that is focused on academic goals and tied to student achievement. Also, there is a need for schools to use district-selected materials when student achievement does not reach determined goal levels while also providing flexibility to high-performing schools to continue successful practices that may differ from others in the district. Districtwide data indicates a need for supplemental materials and staff training in the areas of mathematics and science.

There is a need to monitor student learning beginning with a comprehensive, coherent district assessment system that supplements state and standardized assessments. Therefore, the district needs an assessment system that will benchmark student achievement at key grades, allowing teachers to provide modifications when needed. In light of this, the district needs to translate the wealth of data into actionable information that impacts instruction for teachers. This can be accomplished through MyData Portal. To best facilitate this, there is a need for professional development to support this initiative.

According to various district reports, there is a need to ensure all campuses and district offices have a safe, secure, and orderly environment. District and campus staffs need to be trained in the districts discipline prevention and intervention model, including how to set an environment for positive, consistent and pro-active student behavior interventions. These data also indicate a need for training to ensure safe and drug-free schools to lessen these areas of concern. To support students with issues that impact their success in school, 5

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

there is a need to provide supplemental professional development in the areas of physical and mental health. The rate of student health in Texas has led the government to legislate the need for a coordinated health program at each school.

There is a need for parents and community members to actively participate in the educational process of the district. This includes a need to provide parent education in English and in other languages to support and better equip parents and guardians to become involved with their childrens education. The district will conduct programs, workshops, and outreach efforts to increase parent and family involvement, fostering partnerships between parents and schools.

Due to the insufficient number of students entering college there is a need to increase student access and parent awareness of higher education opportunities. This low number of students entering college also indicates the necessity to provide PSAT/SAT/ACT student preparation sessions. There is also a need to increase communication with parents about college readiness. According to the districts graduation rate, there is a need to provide students with the opportunity to recover credit for courses failed during the school year. The district loses teachers and campus administrators each year to the surrounding suburbs. This situation creates a need to implement a compensation management plan that will attract, motivate and retain qualified personnel. At the campuses with the lowest academic performance, there is difficulty in recruiting and retaining quality staff. To address this, the district needs to utilize recruitment activities and alternative certification as well as provide incentives at designated campuses. Due to the AYP rating of schools, there is a need to ensure that all teachers and campus administrators are skilled in the use of scientifically-based strategies to improve student achievement.

An analysis of AEIS, TAKS, and TELPAS assessment results from the district pointed out the need to address special population groups. Disaggregated student achievement data shows that the following groups need to be addressed in order to close the learning gaps: Hispanic, Limited English Proficient, African-American, special education, and at-risk students. According to these data, there is a need to provide supplemental staff and programs to support the social, emotional, and academic needs of low achieving students, English language learners and other students considered at risk of academic failure. There is also a need to target training and support to ensure that all teachers are skilled in the use of evidence-based instructional practices and cultural proficiency. This training will be provided by the district, approved consultants, and the Educational Service

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Center. To serve as first-level responses to learning difficulties, the campuses will need to identify and develop proven, practical intervention practices and strategies (e.g., reteaching, flexible grouping, paraprofessional support, etc.). The campuses will also need to address learning difficulties common across a particular concept or objective by identifying additional human and material resources and discussing the difficulty within teacher collaborative planning groups. There is a need to support this endeavor through the use of instructional coaches and instructional specialists providing the greatest amount of services to Title I campuses with the greatest needs. For those students at risk of being retained, there is a need for extended year programs to provide intervention and acceleration. The percent of students scoring below the 40th percentile at grades Kindergarten-Five indicates a need to provide real world experience through exposure to activities in and around the community. To serve our youngest students, the district needs to provide high quality programs and services for young children (ages 0-5 years), particularly low-achieving children in the highest poverty schools. Annually, there is a need to fund additional instructional positions for campuses that have the largest class sizes to assist them in meeting the instructional needs of the students.

The number of low performing schools and schools that do not meet Adequate Yearly Progress indicates a need for supplemental initiatives to raise the level of academic achievement. Each academically unacceptable campus needs additional support through the use of instructional coaching. Supplemental Educational Services and School Choice are provided to students at schools that do not meet AYP.

In order to better serve the districts homeless, neglected, and delinquent population, there is a need to allocate resources to ensure these students have the necessary support to meet academic achievement standards.

There is a need to provide supplemental services to the regular education program for the purpose of increasing the academic achievement and reducing the dropout rate of those students who meet the state defined eligibility criteria for being at-risk utilizing State Compensatory Education funds. There is also a need to provide a system of support through a student support team. Students experiencing mental or physical issues that interrupt the learning process need to receive services to remedy these issues.

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013 DATA TRENDS*

Commended TAKS gains surpassed passing rate gains by close to three percentage points. Subject areas on track to meet 2010-2011 targets are reading, writing and social studies. The number of 2010-2011 exemplary and recognized schools now totals 43%. The number of Academically Unacceptable schools decreased from 21 in 2008-09 to 14 in 2009-10, but increased to 34 in 2010-11. The rise in Academically Unacceptable schools can be attributed in part to the discontinuation of the use of the Texas Projection Measure (TPM) in 2010-11. Continued efforts must be made to accelerate the achievement levels in mathematics and science to better align with the goal of 90 percent passing. Continued efforts must be made to decrease the gap among student groups in mathematics and science. Continued efforts must be made to accelerate the achievement levels to reach college readiness targets by 2011-2012. Continued efforts must be made to accelerate achievement goals for ninth-grade students. Continued efforts must be made to implement strategies for multiple-year AYP high schools.

*See historical data in second section.

Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategies and Corresponding District Goals

KEY STRATEGY 1. Implement rigorous curriculum and
engaging educational experiences to ensure equity and eliminate achievement gaps. 2. Develop physical, social, emotional, and behavioral supports to ensure maximum academic performance. 3. Ensure highly effective teachers for every student.

CODE
RCEE

CORRESPONDING DISTRICT GOALS

Goal 5: RIGOR

PSEB

HET

4. Ensure highly effective principals

and school leaders.

HEP

5. Develop shared responsibility with

parents and guardians that fosters academic success and selfmanagement of learning. 6. Develop innovative ways of schooling to meet the needs of students in the 21st century. 7. Foster collaboration and trust with stakeholders. 8. Design central services to support the districts education mission.

SR

Goal 3: SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 10: FACILITIES Goal 1: TEACHERS Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 7: HUMAN RESOURCES Goal 2: PRINCIPALS Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 7: HUMAN RESOURCES Goal 3: SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS Goal 4: PARENT INVOLVEMENT Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 8: DATA AND INNOVATION Goal10: FACILITIES Goal 3: SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 3: SAFE AND SECURE SCHOOLS Goal 6: CULTURE Goal 7: HUMAN RESOURCES Goal 8: DATA AND INNOVATION Goal 9: CENTRAL OFFICE Goal10: FACILITIES

ISC

DSC CSR

Key Strategy 1

Implement rigorous curriculum and engaging educational experiences to ensure equity and eliminate achievement gaps.
District Goal 5: Rigor

Rigorous Curriculum and Educational Experiences (RCEE) Methods:

o Continue to implement the districts theory of action

managed instruction with earned empowermentto ensure access to academic rigor for all students by implementing the districts curriculum in all academic courses across all schools. RCEE 1.0 o Use data and student work in both formative and

summative assessments to inform instructional decision making, to determine appropriate interventions/extensions, and to support student self-management of learning. RCEE 2.0 o Develop a college and workforce ready culture in all

schools. RCEE 3.0 o Ensure pathways to graduation including, but not limited

to, comprehensive schools, academies, magnet schools, early college high schools, and other alternative schools of choice. RCEE 4.0 o Use accurate and timely data, evaluation reports, and

related information to make administrative decisions that improve, sustain, eliminate, or repurpose programs. RCEE 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 2

Develop physical, social, emotional, and behavioral supports to ensure maximum academic performance.
District Goal 3: Safe and Secure Schools District Goal 6: Culture District Goal 10: Facilities

Physical, Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Supports (PSEB) Methods:

o Provide an environment where students feel safe to learn,

employees feel safe to work, and parents, guardians, and visitors feel safe to visit. PSEB 1.0 o Provide adequate support to students to ensure their

basic needs are met. PSEB 2.0 o Offer a variety of programs and activities to inspire

students to be actively involved in their school. PSEB 3.0 o Partner with the community to provide access to high

quality programs that address students physical, social, emotional, and behavioral needs. PSEB 4.0 o Use accurate and timely data, evaluation reports, and

related information to make administrative decisions that improve, sustain, eliminate, or repurpose programs. PSEB 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 3

Ensure highly effective teachers for every student.

District Goal 1: Teachers District Goal 6: Culture District Goal 7: Human Resources

Highly Effective Teaching (HET) Methods:

o Define, refine, and implement a comprehensive teacher

evaluation system that uses multiple measures, both qualitative and quantitative. HET 1.0 o Strengthen recruitment, selection, and staffing policies to

attract the most effective teachers. HET 2.0 o Develop and implement a strategic compensation plan to

include career pathway choices to recruit, reward, support, and leverage effective teachers. HET 3.0 o Design a comprehensive professional development

program that meets the needs of all teachers. HET 4.0 o Use accurate and timely data, evaluation reports, and

related information to make administrative decisions that improve, sustain, eliminate, or repurpose programs. HET 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 4

Ensure highly effective principals and school leaders.

District Goal 2: Principals District Goal 6: Culture District Goal 7: Human Resources

Highly Effective Principals and Leaders (HEP) Methods:

o Grow the principal pipeline to ensure sufficient

numbers of aspiring principals with the skills and abilities to lead schools and improve teaching quality and student achievement. HEP 1.0 o Design a comprehensive professional development

program that meets the needs of all principals and school leaders. HEP 2.0 o Identify lead principals for each feeder pattern to

support the K-12 articulation and alignment of the districts curriculum and address the particular needs of their respective feeder patterns. Employ strategic staffing to ensure effective administrative and teacher leaders are assigned to schools that are underperforming. HEP 3.0 o Leverage highly effective master principals and

school leaders to build the leadership capacity of other principals. HEP 4.0 o Use accurate and timely data, evaluation reports,

and related information to make administrative decisions that improve, sustain, eliminate, or repurpose programs. HEP 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 5

Develop shared responsibility with parents and guardians that fosters academic success and selfmanagement of learning
District Goal 3: Safe and Secure Schools District Goal 4: Parent Involvement District Goal 6: Culture

Shared Responsibility with Parents and Guardians (SR) Methods:

o Provide parents access to what their child will be expected to learn through a curriculum overview that is grade and content specific and reports that show progress toward those goals. SR 1.0 o Provide parents and guardians with student transfer

and other options that foster student and adult learning and support growth and development. SR 2.0 o Develop resources for schools to use for parent and

guardian engagement. SR 3.0 o Create a districtwide Parent Advisory Council that

regularly assesses the effectiveness of parent engagement strategies and programs. SR 4.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 6

Develop innovative ways of schooling to meet the needs of students in the 21st century.
District Goal 6: Culture District Goal 8: Data and Innovation District Goal 10: Facilities

Innovative Schooling in the 21st Century (ISC) Methods:

o Create learning environments that engage students using a variety of technologies to increase the likelihood of successful transitions to college and the workforce. ISC 1.0 o Engage all comprehensive high schools in a redesign

process to determine college and workforce ready learning pathways and courses of study. ISC 2.0 o Support successful transitions between elementary,

middle, and high schools with academic and social transition systems and supports. ISC 3.0 o Develop technological solutions to improve efficiency

in assessment and lower resources requirements for testing. ISC 4.0 o Use data analysis tools to evaluate the use and impact

of various instructional technologies to improve student achievement. ISC 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 7

Foster collaboration and trust with stakeholders.

District Goal 3: Safe and Secure Schools District Goal 6: Culture

District and Stakeholder Collaboration (DSC) Methods:

o Solicit ideas and feedback from parents and guardians,

community members, and district employees using various communication tools and evaluation instruments. DSC 1.0 o Support student achievement goals by facilitating

development and maintenance of school partnerships and volunteer recruitment. DSC 2.0 o DSC 3.0 o Establish and maintain a public information portal on the Establish and maintain community advisory committees.

districts website to enhance community and parent involvement. DSC 4.0 o Provide data analysis tools and reports to aid in evaluation

of district programs and initiatives to engage stakeholders. DSC 5.0

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Dallas ISD District Improvement Plan 2012-2013

Key Strategy 8

Design central services to support the districts education mission.

District Goal 3: Safe and Secure Schools District Goal 6: Culture District Goal 7: Human Resources District Goal 8: Data and Innovation District Goal 9: Central Office District Goal 10: Facilities

Central Services Redesign (CSR) Methods:

o Promote the success of all students and staff by ensuring

the effective and efficient management of central administration, including sound fiscal practices. CSR 1.0 o Regularly examine central administration policies and

practices to ensure alignment with the districts vision, mission, and theory of action. CSR 2.0 o Encourage the practice of the Principles of Public Service by

recognizing employees who embrace the principles in their daily contact with students, parents and guardians, the public, and each other. CSR 3.0 o Use district facilities efficiently to accommodate the student

population. CSR 4.0 o Use accurate and timely data, evaluation reports, and

related information to make administrative decisions that improve, sustain, eliminate, or repurpose programs. CSR 5

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