Plano ISD presents draft district-improvement goals targeting growth, on-grade achievement and college-career readiness

Plano ISD administrators laid out draft district-improvement-plan goals on Sept. 9 that align with the district—s five strategic pillars, House Bill 3 metrics and board policy AE (local). The plan sets targets for student growth, achievement, college- and career-readiness, teacher support and attendance. Lisa Wilson, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning, said the district uses MAP assessments to measure both academic growth and on-grade achievement. For academic growth, the district set a target that each grade level reach at least 70% of students achieving a year—s worth of growth (students in MAP growth quintiles 1—3), and if a grade level already exceeded 70% the goal is to boost that percentage by 2 points. For on-grade achievement, Wilson said the district followed NWEA guidance and set the top three MAP achievement quintiles as the on-grade-level benchmark, with a baseline target of 75% and a 2-point improvement target for grade levels already above the baseline. Dr. Courtney Gober summarized college, career and military readiness (CCMR) goals presented under pillar 2. The district proposed a target that 91% of graduates for the Class of 2026 earn at least one CCMR indicator (examples cited included meeting TSI benchmarks in ELAR or math, passing AP exams, industry-based certifications or other state-approved indicators). Gober also described staged "on-track" targets for secondary grades: 48% of ninth-graders, 60% of 10th-graders and 70% of 11th-graders should meet an on-track metric tied to future CCMR attainment. For Pillar 3 (teacher support), the district proposed that 100% of new teachers hired by Sept. 1 participate in a year-long professional-learning plan focused on instructional strategies and student management, and that at least 80% of new teachers report receiving sufficient support, with a 5% year-over-year increase in perceived support. Under Pillar 4, administrators proposed an attendance goal of 96% districtwide and a limit on discipline-disproportionality ratios not to exceed 2.4, noting that 2.5 is a threshold that triggers state scrutiny. The district also set a graduation-rate target of 98% or higher. Pillar 5 targets relate to strategic staffing and systems: administrators said they will implement a refined staffing process by December 2025, including differentiated staffing codes and funding-source tracking in Skyward to align budgets, staffing and scheduling with campus needs. Wilson said these are draft goals and will be reviewed by the District-Based Improvement Committee (DBIC) and returned to the board for formal approval; she said campuses will align campus-improvement plans to the approved district goals. Trustees and officials discussed the governance context for goal-setting during the meeting, with President Dr. Lauren Tyra noting that board-adopted strategic pillars and statute (House Bill 3) inform the annual goal-setting process. The transcript shows the board will continue review through DBIC and return the finalized plan in October.