Edinburg CISD presents targeted improvement plan for Villareal Elementary; district projects exit from federal improvement status
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Sign Up Free
Summary
District and Region 1 staff presented a targeted improvement plan for Villareal Elementary following a federal designation; presenters said the campus’ Closing the Gap score rose sharply and they expect the school to exit comprehensive support and improvement if current trends continue.
Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District officials presented a targeted improvement plan Tuesday for Villareal Elementary, a campus identified for federal comprehensive support and improvement under the Title I Closing the Gap domain.
Jose Garza, the district liaison for school improvement, said the campus landed in Comprehensive Support and Improvement after a Closing the Gap score of 30 in 2023 placed it among the bottom 5% of Title I campuses statewide. “When you are in comprehensive support and improvement, it takes two years to exit out,” Garza said.
Garza and Belinda De La Rosa described the diagnostic process used under the Texas Effective Schools Framework, including self-assessments, classroom walkthroughs and professional development. Region 1 served as the vetted improvement partner required by the state; presenters said the grant tied to the campus runs through the 2025–26 school year.
The campus’s Closing the Gap score improved, presenters said, from 30 to 90 on interim measures after targeted interventions. Based on preliminary benchmark and interim exam results, district staff predicted Villareal could reach a B letter grade on state measures if the trend holds; staff said Villareal would have scored 89.3 last year, 0.2 points shy of an A.
The targeted improvement plan focuses on two Effective School Framework levers: school leadership and planning and high-quality instructional materials and lesson internalization. Key actions include strengthening PLCs (professional learning communities), data-driven instruction, observation-and-feedback cycles and targeted professional development for kindergarten through second grade.
Board approval of the plan is required before submission; staff said they will submit the plan to the state through the agency account by Feb. 28. The plan also carries a two‑year grant for improvement activities through 2026 and continues Region 1 support, including an identified Region 1 lead who will transition with the campus to the Texas Instructional Leadership model.
Presenters thanked campus staff, Region 1 and district staff for ongoing support and described measures to sustain gains into the 2025–26 school year.