Arlington ISD school board member reflects on growth stemming from strategic plan

Arlington ISD trustee Aaron Reich remembers how the district didn’t have a strategic plan to support students when he joined the board 15 years ago.

“I was the primary instigator that we needed strategic plans,” he said at the Jan. 18 board meeting.

Arlington ISD is in its third year of the 2022-2027 strategic plan. Last year, the district focused on supporting students’ well-being, training teachers to check in with students, and providing academic support for students and staff. In 2024, the district will reassess the plan’s success, create a personalized learning plan focusing on district priorities, and provide training to staff, students and parents in effective strategies for social-emotional learning support.

“Embedded in our strategic plan is the mission, the beliefs, the call to action in the ultimate goal of ensuring that 100% of our students will graduate exceptionally prepared for college career and citizenship,” said Christi Buell, now assistant superintendent of school leadership for elementary, to the trustees.

Academic support

The newly revamped State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test, which was only administered online, shifted the training for Arlington ISD principals and teachers.

Principals attended training sessions to analyze the changes made to the state standardized tests as part of the strategy plan, Buell told the Fort Worth Report. One area of change is how students are asked to write in response to a reading selection instead of a stand-alone prompt.

“If you don’t understand that the assessment has shifted, you might not shift your instruction appropriately,” she said. “It can still be good teaching, but they’re not teaching in a way that students are going to be able to demonstrate it.”

What can parents do?

Parents can be an active partner with the district for the strategic plan, Buell told the Fort Worth Report.

They can read with their children at home, encourage them to do homework and provide a comfortable learning environment — those things can all help support students.

“If a child’s having trouble articulating that they need help to a teacher, a parent can also be the advocate to say, ‘I think my child is struggling in this area. How can you help out?’” Buell said.

Career planning

The district is providing career interest assessment to eighth graders, Buell said. Students will then work with guidance counselors to develop their high school plans. Eighth graders also take field trips to the Dan Dipert Career and Technical Center to learn about career options.

Trustee Brooklyn Richardson asked whether the eighth graders went on the field trip before taking the assessment — as it’s difficult to ask an eighth grader to determine their career interests without all the information.

While Buell can confirm that students meet with counselors regularly, she’s unsure about the proper process of eighth graders receiving information before taking the assessment, she said. However, she said she would look into that problem.

Into the future

Throughout the one-hour session, trustees get briefed on the academic calendar and how teachers get designated weekly planning time with curriculum coordinators if they struggle with planning their lessons.

There’s also a literacy plan focusing on the science of reading, which teaches students how to read by focusing on phonics, word recognition, fluency, and text and vocabulary comprehension.

Reich’s district is in its third five-year strategic plan — something he had pushed for. Reich, who announced his decision not to run for reelection this upcoming May, shared thoughts on how much Arlington ISD has grown.

“Just reflecting on where we were and where we are not, it’s just phenomenal,” Reich said.

Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or @DangHLe. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.