DALLAS ISD NOTES TOP TEN ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2007

9 Jan 2008

Dallas Achieves! Transformation Initiative Lays Foundation for District Improvement

DALLAS—Dallas ISD had its share of successes during 2007.  Most notably, community leaders, including Mayor Tom Leppert, have embraced the Dallas Achieves! transformation initiative.

"As we look back at this past year, several important steps have been taken to increase college-readiness among our students," said Superintendent of Schools Michael Hinojosa.  "The most significant accomplishments will not bring about overnight success but are laying the foundation for a vastly improved Dallas school district in the future."

The district has put together a top ten list of accomplishments during the last twelve months.  Most are a result of the board of trustee's directive to make Dallas a top-performing urban school district.

"The board deserves tremendous credit for setting high goals for the schools in this community and for providing the tools and support for putting these plans in motion," said Hinojosa.  "As a result, changes are being made in schools throughout the district in order to ensure success for every individual student enrolled.  Everyone is committed to the task at hand."

In addition to the accomplishments related to Dallas Achieves, Dallas ISD had two high schools ranked among the best in the country.  The Talented and Gifted Magnet and Science and Engineering Magnet were cited by both Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report as offering students tremendous opportunities to be successful as a result of their emphasis on advanced placement courses.

"By looking at TAG and the Science and Engineering Magnet, it is clear to see that setting very high expectations for students really works," said Hinojosa.  "The challenge is to emulate this success at comprehensive high schools throughout the district.  In 2008, you can expect to start seeing some plans at other high schools that will use these two successful schools as models."

TOP TEN ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN DALLAS ISD IN 2007:

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• Community and Mayor line up to support Dallas Achieves-Several Dallas foundations have donated close to $10 million in grants to support the Dallas Achieves initiative.  Leading the way with separate $1 million donations are the Texas Instruments Foundation, the Communities Foundation of Texas and the Harold Simmons Foundation.  In addition, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert has made education one of his top priorities and has already pledged $50,000 of his annual salary to support scholarships through the Education Is Freedom program.
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• Meadows Foundation grant provides Board Governance Training- Via support from Meadows Foundation, Board of Trustee members and the Superintendent are participating in Reform Governance in Action, a two-year education reform training program for teams of education leaders. 
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• TAG/SEM continue domination in Newsweek/U.S. News & World Report-For the second year in a row, the Talented and Gifted Magnet at the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center was named the top public high school in the country by Newsweek magazine.  The Science and Engineering Magnet was named #2.  U.S. News and World Report ranked the two schools #14 and #18 respectively. 
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• Continued progress in implementation of Dallas Achieves-Rolled out a newly designed and rigorous "vertically aligned" curriculum, developed in conjunction with the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) and Institute for Learning (IFL).  Approximately 2,000 campus instructional leaders (principals and teachers) actively participated in five Dallas Achieves Summer Institutes focused on proven methods for teaching and learning. 
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• NCEA Reports Dallas ISD is making "impressive" gains-After a recent best-practice curriculum audit, the National Center for Education Accountability reported that "…by any account, the vigor with which (Dallas ISD) central administration attacked NCEA recommendations is impressive."
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• Central Staff administration management layers reduced-During a comprehensive reorganizing effort, the number of reporting layers in central administration was reduced from 11 to 7.  Additional savings from the reorganization resulted in nearly $9 million available to be reallocated to school campuses.  In addition, a transformation management team was appointed to monitor the district's progress toward meeting its aggressive college-readiness goals.
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• Class loads reduced-High school teachers in the core subject areas have had their class load decreased from 6 to 5 periods.  This has resulted in reducing student/teacher ratios from 165:1 to 125:1 (a change of almost 25%!)  Teachers now have more time for planning – and principals have been trained to work with teachers so planning time delivers maximum results.
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• Continued implementation of bond program-Four new schools opened in Dallas ISD in 2007, bringing the total number of new schools from the 2002 bond program up to nineteen.  One of the schools, Hector P. Garcia Middle School, is Dallas ISD's first ever "green building," meaning that it complies with energy efficient standards established by Leadership of Energy and Environmental Design.  One more new school will open in 2008, in addition to the newly renovated and re-designed Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, which will open in March 2008.
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• Board approves financial incentives to teachers and principals- The Board of Trustees approved financial incentives to attract top principals and teachers to hard-to-staff positions in the Superintendent's Learning Community schools (which represent the lowest performing middle and high schools in the district) as well as reconstituted schools and other schools identified as "hard to staff."  As a result, the schools were close to fully staffed at the start of school, a clear contrast with historical staffing.  In addition, the board approved giving teachers at 59 schools bonuses of up to $8,000 for gains according to the Classroom Effectiveness Index, thanks to a $22 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
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• Community assists in selecting new principals- Teachers, parents and community members have been enlisted to assist the district in selecting principals at new schools or in schools where a principal vacancy occurs.  The result is community buy-in and support for the new instructional leader, as well as a candidate who has a better understanding of the school and community where he or she eventually serves.
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• BONUS:  2 Dallas ISD Schools Receive Blue Ribbon Award- Longfellow Career Academy and Amelia Earhart Learning Center were named Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education, one of the most prestigious education awards in the country.  Blue Ribbon Schools are honored for helping students achieve at very high levels and for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap.
  
  
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• BONUS:  This year, the two AP Placement State Scholars are from Dallas ISD.  Anne Simons, a 2007 graduate of the School for the Talented and Gifted at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center, passed more AP exams than any other female in Texas this year.  She passed 20 exams, with scores of four or five on each of them.  Simons currently attends Brown University and is working towards double degrees in English and French.
  

  
  

  Having passed 20 exams also, the male state scholar for this year is a graduate of the School of Science and Engineering at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center.  Spencer Coffey passed more AP exams than any other male in the state this year.  Coffey is concentrating in achieving a degree in mechanical engineering at Rice University where he currently is enrolled.

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