Arlington ISD reports midyear gains and targets interventions to close gaps in reading and math
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
District administrators reported midyear CA1 and early screener results showing progress toward reading and math goals at many grade levels, and described targeted interventions — instructional coaches, structured literacy, CBLI support, and work with Bailey Education Group — to accelerate student growth.
Arlington ISD officials on Tuesday told trustees the district is showing midyear academic progress in reading and math while identifying targeted areas that need continued attention.
Dr. Champion presented CA1 and early‑year screener results for Pre‑K4 through grade 2 and higher grades, noting several areas where the district is close to or has met interim goals in math but where reading growth still requires work. For CA1, Dr. Champion said the district’s reading goal is to move the STAR EOC measure from 47% to 49%; at midyear the district stood at roughly 46% in CA1 reading and 35% in CA1 math against goals of 38%.
Administrators described a layered approach to improvement: targeted lesson planning, small‑group instruction informed by campus trackers, structured literacy, content‑based language instruction for emergent bilinguals, and the use of instructional coaches. The district said it is partnering with outside providers, including Bailey Education Group, to embed coaches who each support a small set of teachers and provide qualitative and quantitative feedback.
Principals Stephanie Safala (Spear Elementary) and Leslie Maroney (Lamar High School) detailed campus practices: student data trackers, growth celebrations, PLCs for teacher reflection, and one‑on‑one conferences with students to review goals. Both principals emphasized small‑group instruction and explicit, frequent monitoring of student growth.
Trustees asked how the district measures the return on investment for external partners; administrators said ROI includes qualitative coach reports to principals, classroom observations, weekly coaching cycles, CA1 and benchmark comparisons, and district calibration teams that review "big‑3" walks and data every two weeks. The district also noted it will monitor benchmark scores and Star progress and that the ultimate ROI metric is raising campus letter grades for struggling campuses.
No formal action was required; trustees expressed support for continued emphasis on coaching, calibration and family engagement.