In 2015, Arlington ISD (AISD) partnered with engage2learn to finalize a strategic design process, create a learner profile, and design the Active Learning Cycle (ALC) as a way to modernize teaching and learning in every classroom in AISD and ensure every learner has the opportunity to acquire the skills in the learner profile. As Dr. Marcelo Cavazos says, “The Active Learning Cycle is the way to ensure that our learners can be successful while they are with us and after they exit out system.”
The systems to support this culture shift included engage2learn facilitating the design of a responsible roll out. In year zero, engage2learn focused on leadership development and awareness and at mid-year a pilot group of six school leaders were selected to lead the implementation. Simultaneously, engage2learn facilitated the district through a series of leadership meetings and stakeholders groups to design a set of Cultural Tenets to support Active Learning. As a result, every employee became a contributor to and coach of the AISD culture within their realm.
In 2017, the second cohort of school leaders were selected using a readiness rubric to identify that their schools were prepared to become the next wave of implementers. The five-year responsible rollout began to take shape with the number of schools to come online each year determined by the coaching capacity developed in the district. engage2learn, as the innovation support, coaches the first team of teachers at each school while building capacity within school leadership and coaches to take over and support the rest of the school implementation over time. As always, the goal of engage2learn is to build capacity within a locally-designed solution and use proven processes and expertise to launch innovation successfully.
Arlington ISD has had a successful launch as the results are already rolling in with educator growth and learner growth on the rise in those cohort schools. The culture of coaching and high performance is spreading across the district in concert with Active Learning for all! And, the future is bright because Superintendent Cavazos and his leadership team understood that capacity building and intentionally designing a culture based on coaching was the key to supporting a sustainable change.
First published September 19, 2015.