Fort Worth ISD (FWISD) has three priorities: elementary literacy, math in the middle years and preparing all students for success in college, career and community leadership. So, how did the district use a long-range master planning process to make progress on these academic goals? In 2016, Superintendent Kent Scribner and his team made a unique, but a strategic decision. They released an RFP for an education consulting company to lead their master planning process and hired engage2learn to facilitate Innovative Learning for the Future which included:
- Engaging the community to create a vision for learning
- Designing the FWISD Learning Model
- Collaborating to ensure the master facilities’ plan was aligned to the vision for learning
As a result of this process, they were able to pass the largest bond in school history with 78% voting in favor. The district committed to rolling the FWISD Learning Model out to every classroom in the district over the next five years. Superintendent Kent Scribner says, “Preparing students to lead in the 21st century is our responsibility. We believe the FWISD Learning Model is what our students need and deserve. It is what learning should look like in every classroom.”
However, the district leadership did not stop with a framed model on the wall. They are investing in individualized, job-embedded coaching for every educator who volunteers to set the pace and implement this learning in the classroom or on the campus. The rollout has gained momentum starting with over 100 teachers and leaders in year one on 23 campuses who were all volunteers. In year 2, the rollout has grown to 265 teachers, 51 leaders, and 80 coaches on 48 campuses. This is called the Year of the Coach in FWISD, as e2L coaches at every level of the system including building coaching capacity to exponentially increase coaching capacity for 19-20 to be able to roll out even more classrooms across the district.
Along with the increase in momentum, educator growth has increased in understanding and application of the e2L 12 Life Ready Best Practices that are the foundation for the FWISD Learning Model.
