FWISD Educational Recovery Plan Well Underway
The Fort Worth ISD was well-prepared for the state testing data released by the Texas Education Agency today.
“This was not unexpected,” said Superintendent Kent P. Scribner. “And, we are happy to have this opportunity to share our plans moving forward. Helping our students with this task is not unsurmountable – and, in fact, it has opened the door for some new ways of doing things.”
The District has made an unprecedented push for summer school this year – called Summer Launch – available to ALL students. Usually, about 5,000 students attend summer school but this year there are 15,000 students in class. And the vast majority of these students are attending in-person.
Additionally, we are working with our community partners –like Read Fort Worth and the City of Fort Worth, to name just two --in more than 100 locations where enrichment courses are being offered for young people. We are ensuring all youth summer learning programs are incorporating literacy instruction and that they are aligned with the District.
FWISD’s efforts are not just about summer school. Our plan for the new school year is to overcome learning loss through an aggressive and comprehensive plan that includes:
- Freshman Success Teams at all FWISD high schools to ensure that 9th graders start off with the supports needed to succeed in high school and beyond.
- An expanded focus at all FWISD high schools on every student’s college, career, and military readiness utilizing Collegiate testing (PSAT/SAT) multiple times in the school year. Collegiate test preparation will be imbedded into the curriculum and program certification opportunities will be expanded.
- High-Impact tutoring will involve working with partners to provide our students before or after school targeted tutoring services. We are looking for groups who have trained and vetted tutors, a platform with embedded high-quality curriculum, and strong tutoring sessions aligned with research-backed principles of high impact tutoring.
- An increase in social, emotional supports to our students. Lessons will be integrated into our curriculum to support student well-being, increased counseling, and social-work support will be present on campuses, and wrap-around community support services will be available for students and families.
- Strong internet connectivity by the first day of school, August 16, 2021 will provide 25% of our families most in need with the broadband access they need for success. This is Phase One of the District’s plan to make sure all students have robust connectivity.
“We recognize that the past 16 months have been extraordinarily difficult for our families, our students, our teachers and staff,” Dr. Scribner said. “We now have an opportunity to respond to these data with initiatives and solutions to accelerate student learning to regain and surpass pre-pandemic levels of learning. With the support of Board Trustees, we are committed to doing that work.”
Lastly, the real heroes have been, are, and will continue to be our teachers. Our frontline educators have had to teach in ways they had never anticipated – in ways WE never anticipated.
This summer, with our record-breaking number of students in Summer Launch, our teachers also responded in record-breaking numbers! They came forward to teach, many giving up their summer vacations and some much-hoped for time off in the post-COVID environment.