Comprehensive Guide to School Improvement Planning and Plan for Learning System Management
Transitioning System Views and Finalizing the 2025-26 School Year
System Navigation for Record Retention
When accessing the learning plan home page, the system defaults automatically to the 26-27 school year.
To view or edit the 25-26 school year, users must navigate to the top of the interface and select the correct year from the drop-down menu.
Status Indicators and Green Checks
Under the "Plan Status" section (found under the "Home" tab), administrators should see "pretty little green checks."
A green check is required for every formative assessment period: October, December, March, and June.
While some users may see the status of the entire district, most will only see their own campus-specific data.
Summative Evaluations for Performance Objectives
There is a secondary column for "Summative Evaluations."
The Summative Blind Spot: These evaluations do not appear when clicking the button to "highlight unevaluated strategies." This button only tracks strategies, not performance objectives.
Administrators must manually review the performance objective sections to ensure these are marked.
There are approximately 5 to 6 performance objectives per campus.
For 25-26 to be fully closed out, administrators should see five checks (four formative strategic checks plus the summative objective check), not just four.
District Priorities and Strategic Architecture
The Four Universal Priorities
Every Campus Improvement Plan (CIP) and the District Improvement Plan (DIP) share the same four board-approved priorities:
Student Growth Together.
[Priority name not explicitly re-stated but identified as one of the four].
[Priority name not explicitly re-stated, jokingly referred to as Arnold and sports app].
I Can.
Consistency of Objectives
The Board approves priorities and performance objectives; these generally do not change throughout the year.
While one or two campuses might have added unique performance objectives, it is not required by the district.
The Differentiation of Strategies
While Priorities and Performance Objectives are uniform, Key Strategic Actions (KSAs) are campus-specific.
Strategies are the "how": the methods used at a high school will vary significantly from the methods used at an elementary campus like Denny Ray.
The "Living Document" Philosophy
The improvement plan is described as a "living, breathing document."
It is explicitly defined as the "lesson plan for the school."
Just as a teacher adjusts a lesson plan between class periods if something is not working, administrators have the authority to move items or change strategies next week or next month to ensure effectiveness.
System Language and Future Infrastructure Changes
Reversion of Terminology
Starting in the 26-27 school year, the term "Key Strategic Action" is being replaced with the simpler term "Strategy."
The speaker noted the difficulty of saying "Key Strategic Action" quickly and preferred the streamlined language.
This change is not retroactive; plans from previous years (like 25-26) will still display the language "Key Strategic Action."
Strategic Coverage Requirements
Under the "Financial Integrity" section, some campuses lack strategies.
District requirement: There must be at least one strategy for every single performance objective.
While it is easier to generate strategies for curriculum and student achievement, strategies must also be present in other required areas to ensure compliance.
Title I Specific Mandates
Title I schools have specific requirements, such as a transition plan for Pre-K and Kindergarten.
This requirement often applies to high schools as well.
The district administrator may manually insert these strategies into campus plans to ensure federal and state compliance.
User Management and Access Control
Managing Personnel Permissions
Administrators are responsible for granting system access to their campus leadership teams.
Procedures: Top right corner Gear icon -> Drop-down menu -> "User Setup."
Recommended Users to Add:
Assistant Principals (APs).
Counselors.
Administrative Assistants.
Campus Leaders involved in the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA).
Campus Education Improvement Committee (CEIC) members.
Administrative Responsibility
The principal is ultimately responsible for the plan.
While others can input data, the principal must proofread and edit the content to ensure it reflects campus needs.
Administrators have the right to remove users who have left the campus or whom they no longer wish to involve in the CEIC process.
The Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA) Process
The Four Multiple Measures of Data
The system has simplified the data collection from eight sections down to four primary measures (e.g., Demographics).
Data input is located on the left-hand side under the "Needs Assessment" tab -> "Summary."
Structure of the CNA Sections
Summary: A narrative overview of the data section.
Strengths: Can be formatted as a paragraph or bullet points; there is no rigid rule other than the requirement for it to be present.
Problem Statements: Specific issues identified from the data.
Root Cause: The underlying reason for the problem statement.
Rules for Success with Problem Statements
Problem statements must be "short, sweet, brief, and specific."
Metaphor for Implementation: One "cannot eat the whole elephant at one time; you have to eat it one bite at a time."
Avoid complex, multi-system problem statements that cannot be addressed by a simple strategy.
Example: A problem statement like "Student attendance is down" paired with a root cause like "They never thought they had to come back to school after COVID."
Prioritization via the "Gold Star"
Campus administrators (or "Cabinet" at the district level) decide which problem statements are priorities.
This is done by clicking the gold star icon next to the statement.
A prioritized problem statement MUST be addressed by at least one strategy.
Not every strategy needs to be linked to a priority problem statement, but every priority statement must have a strategy for the system to show a "Green" status (e.g., "8/8").
Stakeholder Engagement and Legislative Compliance
Required Meetings and Documentation
Evaluations of strategies should occur at least four times per year, typically during CEIC meetings.
Mandatory documentation for every meeting includes:
Sign-in sheets.
Meeting agendas.
Meeting minutes.
Stakeholder Requirements
Texas Education Code (Non-Title I): Sets the baseline for required stakeholders.
Title I Requirements: Includes additional stakeholder groups.
The Business Member Requirement: Title I schools are specifically required by the TEA to include business members and community members in the planning process.
Recruitment and Engagement Strategies
For a school with 300+ students and 500+ parents/guardians, the requirement is to have at least two parents present at a meeting.
These do not have to be the same two parents for the whole year.
Administrators are encouraged to seek "colorful input" from people who think differently than they do.
Due Diligence: If stakeholders (like business partners) cannot attend, administrators must document that they sent the minutes and requested feedback to demonstrate a "good faith effort" for TEA audits.
Communication and Public Transparency
Posting to Campus Websites
All agendas, minutes, and sign-in sheets must be sent to Shelley Murphy.
She is responsible for posting these documents to the campus website for public view.
The sign-in sheet is critical as it proves the presence of legally required stakeholders.
Scheduling Accessibility
Federal/State guidelines recommend varied meeting times to accommodate different schedules.
Varying times (e.g., 5:00 PM vs. 5:15 PM or different days) ensures that a community member who works every Tuesday at 5:00 PM still has an opportunity to participate eventually.
Professionalism
Because these documents are public-facing, it is imperative to proofread for spelling and grammar.
The CNA drives the improvement plan; without a completed CNA, there is no valid lesson plan for the school.