Richardson ISD will focus on academic growth, staff retention and strengthening instruction in its 2026-27 District Improvement Plan.<\/p>\n
District officials presented proposed objectives to the school board on Sept. 17<\/a>. The plan is set for official board approval on Oct. 15.<\/p>\n The overview<\/p>\n Every school district is required by the state to annually develop, review and revise a data-driven District Improvement Plan, said Jennie Bates, assistant superintendent for school leadership and superintendent support.<\/p>\n Bates highlighted five priorities for the 2026-27 DIP:<\/p>\n Growth: Ensuring 100% of students and staff meet growth goal expectations<\/p>\n Talent: Recruit and retain qualified, diverse staff<\/p>\n Instruction: High quality instruction for all<\/p>\n Engagement: Strengthening communication and connections with community<\/p>\n Stewardship: Ensure transparent stewardship of district resources<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re basically putting the culture of the district into a document,\u201d school board President Chris Poteet said.<\/p>\n Bates said this year\u2019s DIP is aligned with RISD\u2019s Strategic Plan 2023-2028<\/a>, and is also based on results of the past year\u2019s DIP, 2026 academic performance, teacher survey results, student performance goals, District Planning Committee feedback and other measures.<\/p>\n The details<\/p>\n Bates said the District Improvement Plan, and RISD\u2019s district-wide \u201cNorth Star Goal<\/a>,\u201d targets individual growth for each student and staff member rather than a flat academic benchmark.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not always about a number, it\u2019s about the growth in all of our students and that\u2019s what we strive for,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n To reach 100% of students and staff meeting their individual growth goal, the district plans to implement multi-tiered systems of support to identify and address both academic and behavioral needs of students.<\/p>\n On the behavioral side, this includes strengthening the district\u2019s counseling program, trauma-informed care and character education programming.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to ensure that our students, when they come to us, they\u2019re ready to learn,\u201d Bates said.<\/p>\n The DIP also includes objectives to increase training and support for students who receive special education, multilingual and gifted-and-talented services, said Kristin Leeper, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning.<\/p>\n Leeper said district officials are also working to refine and enhance core instruction and improve accountability systems for evaluating instruction. RISD will continue to work toward all graduating students meeting the statewide standards for College, Career and Military Readiness<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n While all initiatives will be applied districtwide, Leeper said RISD will prioritize supports and resources for \u201cschool improvement<\/a>\u201d campuses identified by the Texas Education Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n Zooming in<\/p>\n District officials also laid out objectives to improve recruitment and retention of teachers and staff. Chris Goodson, assistant superintendent of human resources, said RISD aims to maintain or decrease the current turnover<\/a> rate and expand the pool of \u201chighly qualified\u201d applicants for open positions.<\/p>\n He said the district will provide greater professional learning opportunities and implement roundtables with teachers to address retention.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to hear from them early and often, so that we are getting information back and not having to wait for an exit survey to wonder why they left,\u201d Goodson said.<\/p>\n RISD also plans to develop and implement a performance management system for all employee groups, which Goodson said will be designed to provide support for staff members to improve and meet their own outcome and growth goals. Supervisors will receive training on how to document performance and provide actionable feedback.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is really an emphasis on providing consistent and calibrated leadership expectations for how supervisors work with their employees,\u201d Goodson said. \u201cIt\u2019s about supporting people, it\u2019s about ongoing communication.\u201d<\/p>\n Also of note<\/p>\n