This site provides information and resources to support School Improvement Planning in Austin ISD through Campus Improvement Plans (CIPs) and Targeted Improvement Plans (TIPs). All campuses are required to complete a Campus Improvement Plan each year. Some campuses will be identified for additional intervention based on A-F Accountability raitings. These campuses will be required to complete a Targeted Improvement Plan (TIP) in addition to their CIP.

School Improvement in Texas is outlined in Texas Education Code 11.253 under Subtitle C- Local organization and governance (planning and decision making). TEC 11.252 addresses District-level planning and decision making and describes district improvement planning. TEC 11.253 deals with campus-level planning and decision making and outlines requirements for campus improvement planning. TEC 11.254 (Appendix C) addresses the state’s responsibility for the planning and decision making process. Additional legislature and policy addresses specific aspects of programing and school operations that are often referenced within a CIP. 

Austin ISD board policy (BQ Local A and BQ Legal A1) reflects state policy and requires that “Each school year, the principal of each school campus, with the assistance of the campus-level committee, shall develop, review, and revise the campus improvement plan for the purpose of improving student performance for all student populations, including students in special education programs.” 

In January 2023, Campus and District Accountability worked with the Office of School Leadership to launch a Campus Improvement Planning redesign process. Information and a survey were shared with principals in January with the goal of engaging in a transparent and inclusive process to develop solutions for improved campus improvement planning. Central Office teams worked collaboratively with committee members to ensure campus improvement planning efforts are supported through systems, not silos. This work was grounded in the idea of "Strategic Abandonment" or what Leo Babauta calls "The Art of Subtraction" with the goal of making school improvement planning LESS work with MORE impact. Our resulting redesigned process utilizes a new timeline that allows for CIP development to begin in Spring/Summer and continue throughout the year with guided quarterly data reflection workshops. Another improvement is to use a single platform, Plan4Learning, and eliminate requirements for “submission” of PDFs in BLEND or anywhere else. Here is a table summarizing improvements and strategic abandonment:

School Improvement Planning in Austin ISD will continue to be reflective and iterative as we work collaboratively to honor our district vision to be "Austin’s home for inclusive learning: high expectations for all children, high outcomes for every student."

The document below (also linked here to open in a separate tab) includes guidance and information about school improvement planning in Austin ISD. This framework is in draft form and is open for comments to allow staff to add comments with feedback and considerations to help us ensure clarity and ease of use.

Accountability Performance Reporting Data Tracker School Improvement Assessment Support