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Waco ISD reports gains from tiered interventions but warns staffing shortages limit progress
Summary
District intervention director Courtney Purnell told the school board the district saw substantial movement of students toward grade level after this year’s accelerated instruction efforts, but widespread teacher vacancies and large Tier 3 groups limited consistency and remain the chief barrier to faster progress.
Courtney Purnell, the district director overseeing accelerated instruction, told the Waco ISD Board that this school year’s interventions moved hundreds of students closer to grade level but that staffing shortages constrained full implementation.
"I want you to know and I want to assure you that when I look at the data, it's not where we need to be," Purnell said, adding, "I own that. My department owns that." She outlined the district’s RTI‑aligned tiering, reporting roughly 52% of students in reading at Tier 1, 32% at Tier 2 and 13% at Tier 3, and similar tier distributions in math.
Purnell described the district’s use of I‑Ready as a universal screener and Branching Minds (the platform she named) to break data down by campus and grade. Staff deployed an I‑Ready teacher toolbox, strategic reading professional development, the University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) for phonics, and targeted summer offerings such as a six‑week Camp Read for students most at risk of regression.
At the secondary level the district shifted WIN time away from computer‑only interventions to paid, in‑person direct‑teach blocks, she said — a change prompted because many older students did not engage with online programs. Purnell highlighted results: hundreds of students moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1 and dozens moved from Tier 3 to Tier 1 in reading and math, figures she said illustrate that the mix of platforms and targeted coaching produced measurable gains.
Trustees repeatedly asked about variation between campuses. Purnell pointed to multiple causes — attendance, group size, staffing and student needs — and said some campuses had Tier 3 groups of 14–16 students that were later reallocated. She said the district is reassigning funding to add SIT (supplemental intervention teacher) positions where needed and is recruiting retired teachers for split schedules to cover vacancies.
Purnell closed with next steps focusing on stronger Tier 2 implementation and more intensive, hands‑on Tier 3 instruction, along with ongoing teacher coaching and progress monitoring. The board held the item as a public hearing and did not take a vote on new policy during the presentation.
