Georgetown ISD staff shared some updates about changes made in the classroom to address the district's strategic goal of enhancing student learning, growth and progress Dec. 4.

What's happening?

Earlier this year, the district adopted four strategic areas of priority: student learning and growth; student and staff well-being; staff recruitment and retention; and community and connectivity. During the workshop, Terri Conrad, GISD's chief strategist for learning design, provided an update on steps taken at the classroom level to improve student learning this fall.

The specifics

Conrad shared district staff created additional guiding documents for teachers to use when planning for both the curriculum and State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness as well as provided extensive professional learning opportunities in the fall.

Some specific content areas were targeted for additional support, she said, including:

• Targeted tutoring for emergent bilingual students
• Dual-language lesson support and coaching
• Coaching for secondary teachers providing sheltered instruction for English learners

More broadly, Conrad said district teachers have received additional framework and resource training; staff have brought back support days for first-year teachers; and staff are working with new teachers who do not have an education background to "fill their tool box" of instructional strategies.

Administrators have also resumed learning walks, which she said helps gain a sense of the instructional and behavioral climate in classrooms.

What they're saying

"Anybody [who has joined the district] since the 2020 school year is still a new teacher," Conrad said. "In the last several years, I know that we just weren't able to provide them with those same supports. I'm really glad that that's starting to happen again."