The Dallas Independent School District is forming a task force aimed at enhancing steps the district is currently taking to close the achievement gap for African-American students. Board of Trustees First Vice President Lew Blackburn will lead a group that will review progress made under the district’s African-American Success Initiative and explore ways to improve its outcomes. The task force announcement was made as part of a presentation on the initiative during today’s monthly Board Briefing. “I look forward to exploring ways to improve academic achievement for our African-American students,” said Dr. Blackburn. “It is incumbent upon all of us,…

Feedback continues to play a critical role in shaping Dallas Independent School District’s Teacher Excellence Initiative, the District’s new evaluation system. This week, the TEI Experts and Principal Focus groups met to discuss a number of items related to the design and implementation of TEI. In response to concerns raised by some teachers and parents, the groups considered decreasing the number of district-level exams (ACPs) for the elementary specials as well as other proposals. As a result of the feedback received from these representative groups and input from other staff members and stakeholders, the following revisions are being made to the…

An update on the schools selected to implement personalized learning next school year is on the agenda for today’s board briefing. Trustees are expected to hear the results of the six-month planning process that involved leadership teams of six current district campuses and two proposed new campuses that stepped up for consideration to implement the new model next school year. Personalized learning is an instructional model that delivers a learning experience tailored to the individual student by giving him what he needs, when he needs it, in a manner that works best for that student. Ashley Bryan, who is working…