Inside Dallas ISD

How does the brain acquire language? What are some best practices to help learners become proficient in a new language, whether the language is English, Spanish, or even Japanese? Dallas ISD’s World Languages and Bilingual/ESL departments will explore these questions and provide teachers and administrators with new tools and the latest research in language learning at their first-ever Language Acquisition Symposium, which is July 29 and 30. Conference organizers say the need is greater than ever to employ more effective methods to help learners acquire languages. If students are to successfully compete in a global marketplace, they will need to become…

This week, 150 Dallas ISD teachers will attend a professional development training at Southern Methodist University’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education. Dallas ISD covered each teacher’s $3,000 tuition to attend the three-week-long intensive training, which is designed to help teachers based on their Teacher Excellence Initiative effectiveness rating. The teachers in attendance at the SMU Teacher Academy will be introduced to curriculum focused on increasing classroom effectiveness and improving classroom instructional practice within cohorts based on each educator’s TEI teacher effectiveness level. “The idea is that this is differentiated support for teachers that takes them from where they are, what…

In her 24 years working for Dallas ISD, Jane Didear has facilitated more than 450 partnerships with businesses, nonprofits and civic groups that support the district’s students and staff. On Aug. 31, Didear will go from working in the district’s Volunteer and Partnerships office to volunteering herself, as it’s her last official day with the district. Didear is retiring after working in multiple departments and receiving many accolades. Among her many accolades, Didear has received PTA life membership awards from both the Texas and National PTA, the Junior Achievement Champion Award, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of…

Stephanie L. Young thought that one day she might be a teacher. However, her ambitions, which were encouraged by a favorite teacher and a central staffer, took her far beyond the classroom. Today, Young is the Associate Director of Communications at the White House, and in her short career, she has landed in some very impressive places. AlumNow, which is a Hub feature that checks in with district alumni to see where they are now, recently caught up with Young recently to see what she’s been doing since graduating from the School of Education and Social Services (known now as Rosie Sorrells School of Education…