The Problem: Underperforming Public Schools
Because we live in an information economy, no community asset is as critical as our public schools. In Dallas, and especially in poor neighborhoods, the schools are an underperforming asset. Far too many children fail to graduate from high school; far too many of those who do graduate are ill prepared to enter college or secure a job that will support them and their families. In parts of South Dallas, more than half of adults lack a high school diploma.
The Solution: Dallas Achieves
Dallas Achieves
is a community-wide partnership to transform the Dallas Independent School District by adopting the best practices that distinguish the nation’s most successful urban districts. The goal is for every Dallas ISD student to graduate and to be college- and career-ready.
The founding partners are
Dallas ISD
, the Foundation for Community Empowerment, the
National Center for Educational Accountability
and
Texas Instruments
. Dallas ISD’s superintendent, Dr. Michael Hinojosa, has embraced the effort and melded it with his own ambitious strategy for winning the
Broad Prize for Urban Education
, awarded to the nation’s most improved district, by 2010.
A Road Map for Change
Dallas Achieves operates under the guidance of the Dallas Achieves Commission, a diverse collection of 65 leaders representing every segment of the Dallas community. In April 2007 the Commission unanimously approved more than 100 recommendations for change, which were subsequently adopted by Dallas ISD’s Board of Trustees. The recommendations are based on more than a year of exhaustive research and data analysis by a team of top-flight consultants led by the Boston Consulting Group.
The recommendations:
·
Create a comprehensive road map for transformation and ensure that strategies reflect fundamental goals;
·
Put students at the center of every decision;
·
Engage parents and a wide array of community members as well as all DISD employees in supporting the transformation;
·
Make Dallas ISD focus attention and resources on initiatives that have the greatest promise to improve student performance;
·
Recognize that one size does not fit all – at-risk students need tailored learning plans, and teachers need professional development support that meets their individual needs;
·
Support a culture shift in which central administration serves the campuses, rather than vice versa.
Implementation
Once the recommendations were adopted, Dr. Hinojosa created a Transformation Management Office to spearhead their implementation. The office combines Dallas ISD personnel and members of the original project team, including FCE and Boston Consulting Group. The office established work teams responsible for each major element of the transformation process and created timetables and benchmarks for measuring success. The Dallas Achieves Commission will remain engaged to hold everyone involved in the process accountable reaching the goal.
Dallas ISD cannot achieve its goal of graduating every student college- and career-ready unless all children learn certain fundamental skills before they arrive in kindergarten. To make sure they do, one of the eight work teams responsible for implementing the Dallas Achieves recommendations is dedicated to Early Childhood.
BACKGROUND
Dallas Achieves at the Campus Level
Dallas Achieves began on the campuses of three South Dallas high schools: Madison, Pinkston and Lincoln, plus the 23 elementary and middle schools that feed into them. Like other FCE efforts, this one starts with data—in this case, data comparing the target schools to others with similar student populations and with the highest performing schools across the state.
Research into how those top schools succeed shows that the principal—his or her skill as an instructional leader, plus the leeway he or she is given to chart the school’s course—is hands-down the number one factor. Therefore, Dallas Achieves gives principals intensive training in spotting teachers who need help and coaching them to become more effective. Mentors recruited from the corporate world also advise principals on leadership and management skills. In the 2006–2007 school year, Dallas ISD began expanding the program district-wide.
At the District Level
Especially in Dallas ISD, where authority is highly centralized, the best principal will run up against constraints that limit his or her effectiveness. That is why, in 2006, Dallas Achieves turned its attention to transforming the entire district from the top down.