Author: The Hub

Fourteen Dallas ISD students have been named semifinalists for the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program. According to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Semifinalists are chosen based on their 2014 preliminary SAT scores. Each year, 1.5 million students undergo PSAT/NMSQT tests. Here are the Dallas ISD semifinalists: Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Hennig, Elaine M. Science and Engineering Magnet School at Yvonne A. Ewell…

The groundwork for Dallas ISD’s innovative Teacher Excellence Initiative comes from the understanding that the one-dimensional nature of traditional evaluations fails to acknowledge the hard work, long hours and personal commitment required of an effective teacher. The Texas Education Agency’s recent mandate to replace the Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS) reinforces the inability of conventional evaluations to reflect the actual effect teachers have on their students. In 2009, a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began in more than 3,000 classrooms across the U.S., including some in Dallas ISD. The MET (Measures of Effective Teaching) Project…

When it comes to activities that combine learning and fun, it’s hard to top the academic competitions sponsored by the Dallas ISD Student Activities department. And, given the popularity of the competitions, it’s clear that many students already know this. Last year more than 6,000 students participated in academic competitions such as chess, debate, robotics, math and science matches, as well as competitive contests of knowledge and creativity such as Academic UIL, Academic Decathlon, Academic Pentathlon, Lone Star Challenge and Destination Imagination. The Student Activities team has prepared a downloadable calendar of events in hopes of involving more students than ever this…

The list is quite impressive: ranked number 16 in the nation on Newsweek’s “Beating the Odds” list; earned seven stars on the state accountability assessments, the highest number of distinctions available; and named a 2012 National Excellence in Urban Education Award winner. Now, Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School can add National Blue Ribbon nomination, which is awarded to the top national schools that help close the achievement gaps among students, to its list of accolades. While school leaders say they appreciate the accolades, nothing trumps the work the teachers and staff do each day to empower students and prepare each of…

Most of the students at Dallas ISD’s John B. Hood Middle School hadn’t been born on Sept. 11, 2001, but they recognized the somberness of the occasion during a special commemoration ceremony. Students, staff and parents gathered in front of the school at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The annual event – in its 13th year – honors those who lost their lives in the 2001 terrorist attacks, but also celebrates the fact that the freedom Americans enjoy is still intact. Principal Latonya Lockhart likened the country’s recovery to the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes. “On Sept. 11, 2015, our flag…

Under the Teacher Excellence Initiative, teachers have a significantly higher earning potential than they do under a traditional salary step schedule. In fact, effective teachers who advance at an average progression under TEI have the potential to make a total of $100,000 more over 15 years than they could under Dallas ISD’s traditional step salary schedule. Under strategic compensation, a Dallas ISD teacher’s earning potential is very competitive compared to other Texas school districts. Using the same example above, here is the earning potential for an effective teacher with 15 years of service and a Proficient III Effectiveness Level I…

With Sunday, Sept. 13, marking National Grandparents Day, the Hub asked some young scholars at Walnut Hill Elementary what they love most about their grandparents. Watch the above video to hear what they say.

The Dallas Independent School District announced today that the management structure of the School Leadership Department has been realigned to create more efficient and streamlined processes and improve communication. The new configuration eliminates the structure that divided the district into five divisions. This change transitions the responsibilities of five assistant superintendents to two deputy chiefs who will work together to support the district’s 22 feeder pattern executive directors. One deputy chief position is already filled by Stephanie Elizalde. Israel Cordero, former assistant superintendent for Division 5, has been selected to serve in the second deputy chief position. “We want to ensure that…

Dr. Cynthia Wilson, an experienced leader of schools, has been appointed as Dallas ISD’s Chief of Staff, effective Oct. 1, 2015. Wilson is currently the superintendent of the Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5, a 7,000-student school district in South Carolina. In Dallas ISD, she will report directly to Interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa and assist in supporting the strategic work of the district. “Dr. Wilson is a great addition to our team. She is experienced in working with both school boards and administrative teams in large urban school systems,” Hinojosa said. “She is a former college student of mine, so I…

Dallas ISD’s groundwork on the Teacher Excellence Initiative paved the way for the district’s implementation of a fair, accurate and rigorous evaluation system and strategic compensation model that has been continuously molded by those it impacts most directly—teachers. Let’s revisit Dallas ISD’s timeline on the Teacher Excellence Initiative from conception to implementation. Following the Texas Education Agency’s announcement that the PDAS, or Professional Development Appraisal System, which was the traditional means of teacher performance evaluation, would cease, state school districts were given the option to create their own evaluation system. In 2011, Dallas ISD leaders proposed a pay-for-performance model that…