District Comparison

Before I get into this comparison, it should be noted that FWISD is currently in search of a new Superintendent. The District Improvement Plan is from the previous Superintendent and it is called Eliminating The Achievement Gap. This plan is has been ongoing since the 2010 school year.Let me address the similarities in the two plans. Both district plans include hiring highly qualified staff to meet the needs of the students. The AISD plan addresses the alignment of resources to help the district meet their goals while the FWISD plan is using an aggressive reform initiative to improve the achievement of all students. I would venture to conclude that these would address using resources to meet the goals of the district. AISD strategic plan includes the development of a well-rounded educational plan to help student compete in a today’s economy. I believe these two plans address the developing students who are able to contribute and compete in the global society in which we live. Both plans used a large stakeholder base to develop the plan. These stakeholders included parents, community members, and staff members. Neither of these plans included financial resources specifically tied to the plan. In the material that I originally accessed from our lecture, Appendix A from AISD did include specific mention of the funding resources. While this did not reference how much from each source contributed to the budget of the district, at least there was a point of reference for the funding. They both include portions of the SMART format, but the one area that is probably most notable is the lack of measurability. Both plans include statements such as “increase” or “more”, etc. While these do indicate direction, they do not provide measurable indicators.The AISD plan uses language that is included in the FWISD plan. This language addresses accountability measures such as TAKS and other references that are moving out of the education language. The Austin plan uses just as much as the FWISD plan. Both plans do address the accountability issues.The difference that I noticed is that the FWISD plan incorporates more references to technology, communication, facilities, and instructional strategies. The Appendix A of AISD does provide a resource list connected to funding of different parts of the plan. Both of the plans are for urban school districts and have specific strategies they are pursuing to help them meet the needs of the districts. Both plans have used a strong cross section of their stakeholders to develop the plans.