RISD presents district improvement plan, instructional priorities and effects of new state assessment changes

District administrators presented the Richardson ISD draft District Improvement Plan (DIP) and instructional priorities at the Sept. 18 board meeting, telling trustees the document is the operational "how" that supports the district's five-year strategic plan and the North Star goal that every student, teacher and leader meet or exceed annual academic growth expectations.

Superintendent Branham (referenced in the record as "Miss Brandon/Missus Brandon/Branham" in different places) and Doctor Leeper outlined priorities staff will emphasize this year: increasing teacher certification in core subjects, supporting teacher incentive allotment campuses, expanding National Board certification participation, strengthening ESL and dual-language instructional models, and ensuring teachers have high-quality instructional materials. "We're helping to grow and support every single part of the campus and understanding what those instructional priorities are," Doctor Leeper said.

Administrators described Getting Better Faster — a cycle of classroom observation, targeted feedback and actionable next steps — as a central classroom-level strategy. In explaining classroom observations and coaching, instructional leaders said the goal is for specific, short-cycle feedback that teachers can implement quickly. "When we walk those classrooms as a team, we can then go back and sit down and that's where you hear the observation feedback," an instructional leader said, describing how a targeted feedback loop is used to accelerate teacher effectiveness and student learning.

Staff also discussed assessment changes. Superintendent Branham told the board that the Texas Education Agency has released a new accountability framework scheduled for 2028 and that House Bill 8, signed the day before the meeting, changes the statewide assessment instrument. "There is really no clarity yet around what that's going to look like," Branham said, and she recommended caution about changing DIP targets now while the state assessment and accountability rules remain in flux. Staff noted the state's new approach may include beginning-, middle- and end-of-year assessments and faster turnaround to teachers.

Trustees asked about measurement, testing burden and how district interim assessments (for example, MAP) would interact with the state's new instrument. Administrators said they were evaluating tradeoffs to avoid overtesting students while preserving useful growth measures. "It may be that we will have to adjust our strategy with MAP because that would be a whole lot of testing and a lot of instructional time for our students," staff said.

The DIP itself was presented as a draft for board review; trustees were not asked to approve it on Sept. 18 and were told the board would take action at the first October meeting. Administrators said DIP and campus improvement plans are monitored quarterly and include metrics, regular public updates and campus-level targets that align to the district's strategic priorities.

The District Improvement Plan presentation included references to stakeholder input, district planning committee meetings and planned follow-up materials. Staff emphasized that the DIP is a working document and that implementation decisions will be guided by data, resource availability and board-approved priorities.

The board received the information and asked follow-up questions; staff will return with the DIP for formal board action in October.