AISD+District+Improvement+plan

When one looks at a district improvement plan, one expects to see a few goals with activities to support the reaching of these goals. In looking at Austin's plan, it is detailed on their campus and group meetings, but the only improvement goal they went into detail on was to improve the graduation rates of cohorts on Title 1 campuses. The goals they hint about in their meeting notes are not ones that can have easily measurable outcomes. The funding sources are detailed in an appendix- but these are the items that are funded through grants and other resources. The district can measure the graduation rates of their cohorts, but there are no systems in place to see what exactly is increasing the success rate of their students.
 * Comparing AISD improvement plan compared to Lockhart ISD**

There were a few charts that listed percentages of the change in funding from year to year- but no direct amounts were listed in the document. AISD has several committees listed in the document with links to different sites addressing plans covered by their committees. Several of these links were broken and the information could not be accessed. With the layout of the document, there is no real sense of accountability for individuals in the district. In addition, the layout of the document is not in a user-friendly format. When dealing with an improvement plan and budgeted items, it is important for the process to be transparent. AISD does not do a very good job of making their actions, and thought processes very transparent to the stakeholders that they serve.

In comparison, Lockhart ISD has set forth a direct plan that is very easy to read by the average stakeholder in the district. The district has five goals with several activities listed under each goal to help reach them. In the district improvement plan's chart, the district has listed the goals, the activities, personnel responsible for activities, funding that is needed, and a timeline for completion. Included in the document, as a prefix, is the district's mission statement. The statement is connected to the different goals listed in the plan. Lee

I reviewed Austin ISD’s and my Districts Educational Improvement Plan and both plans are very different. Austin ISD has a chart listing the Comprehensive System for Continuous Improvement and their plans of alignment. Long-Range plans, ongoing plans and annual plans are listed in this section. Their plan lists who is on District Advisory Council and shows who attended many of the meetings throughout the year. Their plan is organized with the Director’s update to Core Management Team and in each section goals, updates, questions, concerns, milestones and notes are listed. For each section attendees are listed at the bottom. My district’s improvement plan has a table of contents. Sections in our plan include: Superintendent Message, DEIC council member list, Long Range Goals, Needs assessment Survey, Performance Objectives, Projected Budget, Curriculum, Technology, Attendance, Drop-out Rate, Safe and Drug Free Schools, Migrant(Service Plan of action) and many other Special Programs. The layout of our plan seems to be more user friendly. The layout of our plan is similar to Appendix B in Austin’s plan (page 29). The similarities of both plans are that goals are addressed, members of the council are listed, projected budget is listed and attendance is addressed with desired outcomes. Other than that, both plans are very different. Both plans are organized and serve their purpose but I personally believe Austin ISD should consider using a different formant in developing their District Improvement Plan. A District Improvement Plan must be user friendly so that all stakeholders involved in the education of our children can use this tool to enhance the education of all students in a district. A clear well organized District Improvement Plan will chart a path by which a District and Campus will guide its programs. Carlos

Carlos, Great Comments...Welcome to the group!!! Lee