Tooele district emphasizes multi‑year ALPs, guaranteed curriculum and measurable 'moon' goals

Tooele County School District officials told the school board on Tuesday they are continuing a multi‑year instructional overhaul that starts with principals and focuses on four annual high‑leverage practices intended to raise student achievement. Dr. Cody Wright, presenting the district's academic approach, said the district's ALPs — which he defined as "annual high leverage practices" — are sequence‑based, process goals designed to build systemwide capacity rather than one‑off programs. "ALPs stands for annual high leverage practices," Wright said, adding that the district is running the ALPs on a four‑year cycle so schools return to each focus area repeatedly. The district pairs ALPs with guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVC) work. Wright said GVCs produce a scope‑and‑sequence map that ensures "every standard is accounted for" while recognizing schools must choose which standards get the most instructional time. He quoted research in explaining the emphasis on curriculum: "a guaranteed and viable curriculum is the most powerful school level factor in determining overall student achievement," a line Wright attributed to prior research and used to explain the district's choice to require teachers or teams to produce curriculum maps for two courses during the initial year of rollout. Nut graf: District leaders described ALPs, GVCs, aligned common formative assessments and systems of support as the district's prioritized, iterative strategy to raise achievement. They said the work starts with principals and school leadership to create sustainable instructional changes rather than immediate classroom fixes. District staff outlined how the program is structured and supported. Wright said the four ALPs are: an instructional framework, guaranteed and viable curriculum (GVCs), common formative assessments (CFAs), and systems of prevention/intervention/enrichment. The plan schedules one ALP per year in a four‑year cycle so schools and principals have repeated, distributed practice: "The first time through, people just get an exposure," Wright said, adding subsequent cycles should increase teacher competence and confidence. Board members asked how the GVC requirement affects teachers’ workloads. Wright said teams or singleton teachers were asked to complete GVCs for two courses last year and that, going forward, the district expects teachers to apply the process to more courses in sustainable ways through professional learning communities and principal leadership. "It's not sustainable to say, teacher, you have 8 different preps — you prep for 8 different courses, make 8 GVCs this year," Wright said. He added the intent is steady adoption over time and that principals and area directors will continue to support teachers' ongoing work. Superintendent Dr. Ernst reported on districtwide progress and targets in the annual state‑of‑the‑district presentation that followed. He noted enrollment rose from the 27 schools reported for 2024–25 to 29 schools with the opening of Stansbury Junior High and Desert Peak High School, and said districtwide student counts are 15,653 by one measure or roughly 16,242 if preschool enrollments are included. Ernst read the district's mission adopted by the executive staff: "Ensure that students have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to achieve their potential." Ernst also reviewed the district's four ‘‘moon’’ goals and current measures: K–3 literacy proficiency (63.7% reported, target 75%), math proficiency (55% reported, target 75%), graduation rate (82.5% reported, target 90%), and a goal to reduce groups of students identified as in turnaround status (the district reported 18 groups in turnaround for 2024–25). He described the targets as multi‑year benchmarks and said the district will reset goals upward after each target is met. On audit work, Ernst said the district received 17 audit recommendations and had completed 10 as of the meeting; he distinguished completed items from full implementation, which he said may take the current school year to finish. Ernst said the district will again undergo Cognia accreditation on a five‑year cycle and expects an on‑site review in the coming year. The superintendent and staff also outlined systems rollouts. Communications staff are phasing in ParentSquare for consolidated parent and student messaging with a district target for wide implementation by Oct. 21; Ernst said some schools are already using the tool. The district is also continuing training for emergency response (E3 platform) and plans to certify school teams in Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). Staff noted a planned districtwide timekeeping system to improve payroll accuracy and compliance. Ending: Board members thanked staff and reiterated that the academic cycle is intended to be sustained. Wright and Ernst said the district will continue to publish resources — including GVC templates and ALP guides — on the teaching and learning website and to support principals and teachers as the four‑year cycle continues.