Victoria Independent School District Grows in All Areas of Circle Progress Monitoring

Victoria Independent School District (VISD) offers premier early education with the VISD Head Start and Threes programs located at the Early Childhood Center at F.W. Gross School. Pre-Kindergarten is located at all elementary schools in the district. Their vision is to optimize a planned, purposeful, and playful environment with opportunities for students and families in the Victoria Independent School District. The Pre-K program promotes a safe, nurturing atmosphere that builds a strong school ready foundation to support enthusiastic learners.

The Challenge

The Victoria Independent School District Early Childhood Department faced many challenges in the 2021-22 school year. Lack of staff, attendance of staff and children, needed materials, personal stress for both the teachers and the families, and children’s developmental delays created a year of need for innovation and resilience. Convincing both staff and children to return to the classroom required fostering a positive mindset so students could learn under optimal conditions. District support was at an all-time high, but teachers needed the materials and the guided instructional support for smooth implementation.

The Solution

Looking at data from the Professional Learning Community using the Circle Progress monitoring, the VISD Early Childhood team made changes in the middle of the year. Everyone started to really use those transition times to spiral review using a district created ring. No time was wasted because they were in “the window of opportunity” for teaching valuable information.

They began the year with fun and inspiring staff development (music, lily pads, frog materials on the tables, costumes, etc.) with an intentional three-day training given by Frog Street that continued to add to the support teachers needed and encourage their enthusiasm. The training provided a positive climate that gave a sense of “You can do this, and you will love it!” This provided the encouragement of change that the staff needed to come back from the pandemic and begin anew. Because of the extra monies that were provided from government grants, they had the ability to purchase everything, even the extra third read-aloud list of books for the classrooms. The staff felt valued and supported, which helped them feel secure and take ownership of their curriculum implementation.

In addition, a Core Team was established over the summer to problem-solve ways to create a smooth transition from the old to the new curriculum. This Core Team consisted of an early childhood coordinator, teachers, instructional coaches, and special education facilitators. Many resources were available for parents. A summer book mailout reinforced the need to read at home and featured information about additional learning experiences in the community.

The Impact

To build resilience in the parents and staff, growth was the focus; growth in the children’s learning, not just the number. VISD created a new way to look at their data. “One hop at a time” was their thinking, so that everyone was hopping forward. The end- of-the-year data showed growth in all areas of the Circle Progress Monitoring. Every domain of the Circle Progress Monitoring in Pre-K showed growth from the beginning to the end of the year.