Priscilla Dilley always had an idea that she\u2019d go into education, even if her career path led in a different direction.<\/p>\n
Dilley, who now serves as Arlington ISD\u2019s chief academic officer, was born in Brazil and moved to the United States when she was 11. She couldn\u2019t speak a word of English and was brought into classrooms initially with little to no support.<\/p>\n
But a support system grew around her as her parents, church members and educators helped her learn the language alongside her curriculum. Now, she has been working to give back that support for two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what really drew me to education and thinking about specifically how I can also be of service to the community around me,\u201d Dilley said.<\/p>\n
Dilley attended Dallas Baptist University and began working at a mortgage company post-graduation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t graduate with an education degree, just started going straight into the business world and just hated it,\u201d Dilley said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Education drew her in a way that business couldn\u2019t, she said.<\/p>\n
After leaving the company, she found a job as a teacher in Irving ISD before finding her way to Fort Worth ISD \u2014 where she climbed the ranks and eventually made the move to Arlington ISD.<\/p>\n
Dilley was hired at the beginning of the school year to replace Steven Wurtz, who left his post after 13 years with Arlington ISD. She was previously the chief of schools at Fort Worth ISD.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Dilley\u2019s experience and passion for student success is exactly what we need on our team in Arlington ISD as we strive to create something exceptional for every student we serve,\u201d Superintendent Matt Smith said in a news release after her hiring.<\/p>\n
A future vision<\/p>\n
Arlington ISD has one of the largest pieces of a successful district in place, Dilley said: good educators. The next step is to help them as they teach, she said.<\/p>\n
Much of the upcoming work will be based on reflection, she said. Placing the right supports for teachers and campus leaders will be important as Bluebonnet Learning math is rolled out across the district, as well as data evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really where I am at now: Let\u2019s capitalize on what is working, and then let\u2019s look at our opportunities and see where we can continue to flourish and blossom,\u201d Dilley said.<\/p>\n
As for her academic philosophy, Dilley said she believes that all students have the ability to succeed and educators must steer them in the right direction.<\/p>\n
That belief has driven her push to have continued support and coaching for teachers, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can put shiny initiatives and programs in our schools, but if we don\u2019t have the right people to move the instructional needle, it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Dilley said. \u201cThe philosophy has to be: we have to get it right with the people we have, and make sure that we support them through this initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing underperforming campuses<\/p>\n
Dilley has a history of working with underperforming campuses. One of her first positions in Fort Worth ISD was as a principal at a turnaround school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From there, she joined the district leadership team focusing on other turnaround schools and later became the head of the Leadership Academy Network, six Texas Wesleyan University-run FWISD schools focused on improving low-performance schools.<\/p>\n
Dilley said all six campuses had to be reconstituted, a scenario where a team of interventionists is assembled by the state and decides which educators will remain after years of consistently low performance. Under Dilley\u2019s leadership, the campuses saw major academic improvements<\/a>.<\/p>\n That process taught Dilley how to quickly develop teachers and put them in a good position to effectively educate students, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m working with the Arlington ISD team now to build this same kind of system of how we can really continue to coach and develop our educators so that they are just top-notch in front of our students,\u201d Dilley said. \u201cWe already have just so much talent, so how we can replicate that talent is what we are trying to accomplish with all of our brand-new teachers coming in. How can we get them to also be at the exact same performance level of the teacher down the hallway?\u201d<\/p>\n Similar to her process in Fort Worth, Dilley wants to evaluate what instructional processes and supports are leading to the gains some of Arlington ISD\u2019s underperforming campuses have seen and replicate them in areas where they are needed.<\/p>\n In the latest academic accountability ratings, two schools avoided a fourth year of F ratings, which would have put Arlington ISD one year from possible state intervention.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related coverage: 2 Arlington ISD schools pushed off state intervention, future risk remains<\/a><\/p>\n Dilley said extra support like additional coaching for teachers and extra resources paired with an intentional look at curriculum made the difference at those schools.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking sure we have all the systems in place where we are looking at data, where we are planning for instruction, where we are making sure we have the tools we need for monitoring student performance, those are all pieces that lead to school turnaround efforts,\u201d Dilley said.<\/p>\n Bluebonnet implementation<\/p>\n During a March meeting before Dilley was hired, Arlington ISD trustees approved the use of the state-developed Bluebonnet Learning math curriculum in a 4-3 vote.<\/p>\n Dilley said the curriculum\u2019s rollout has gone well so far, emphasizing the district is helping teachers familiarize themselves with Bluebonnet.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we go into campuses, we are seeing teachers really dig into the curriculum,\u201d Dilley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said that the instruction lays out the math concepts students need to know in a conceptual way.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very different than what math instruction looked like years ago of, \u2018Hey, here are some tips and tricks,\u2019 but now students can look and understand the math,\u201d Dilley said. \u201cWhat you see in classrooms is this new, renewed engagement of students in the math.\u201d<\/p>\n The work isn\u2019t finished, however. The district plans to gather feedback from students, teachers and parents and look to make adjustments based on that feedback, Dilley said.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time we are sitting with a group of people and finding out what those trends are, what do we need to adjust, and then going back to the drawing board and saying where do we need to shift to make sure that it makes sense to them so we can be good leaders in this process,\u201d Dilley said.<\/p>\n Curriculum, like Bluebonnet math, will help the district\u2019s goal of not teaching for the test, but rather preparing students for their life outside of school, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is super important that we stick to the fundamentals of teaching, the fundamentals of good instruction,\u201d Dilley said. \u201cThere\u2019s always a time and place for us to be able to say, \u2018Here\u2019s how the instruction translates into a test,\u2019 right? Making those connections, but not just spending time over here where we\u2019re teaching them a format. That\u2019s not going to do anyone any good.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris Moss is a reporter for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@arlingtonreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n