Comparing+District+Improvement+Plans

A Comparison of District Improvement Plans:
==Although I was not very impressed with Austin Independent School District Improvement Plan as it relates to the budget aspect for their future "goals", I did find some similarities and contrasts between their "Plan" and our "Plan" at McKinney Independent School District.== ==First, let us explore the __similarities__. Both A.I.S.D. amnd M.I.S.D. want to expand their role of communication with the school community. Both districts want to expand/improve in areas such as AVID, Curriculum Specialists, Bilingual and LEP programs, and Instructional Support. Both districts plan to rely heavily on grants to fund these areas for improvement. In addition, both A.I.S.D. and M.I.S.D. are seeking ways to increase the number of students graduating within four years of enrolling into the 9th grade using current school funds.== ==The __differences__ between the two plans are great. First and foremost, A.I.S.D. does not mention any sort of school vision or mission within their improvement plan. I am a firm believer that your vision should be the driving force of your plan and that your plan is a measurable action for your vision. While A.I.S.D. wants to concentrate much on implementing a new, "Policy and decision making process", M.I.S.D. is defining the make-up of its school culture and providing specific ways to "close the achievement gap" among different sub groups "through language programs, reading programs, etc., but also through extra-curricular participation and overall student-oriented clubs and organizations promoting student pride in their heritage." The Austin Independent School District Improvement Plan seems to be relying a lot on the "hope" of grants in order to make any improvements (as is evident when they tried to answer the question of the "role of the Core Management Team in the budget process"). As far as "budgeting" for Campus Improvement Plans, although I felt A.I.S.D.'s plan mentioned very little about actually allocating funds, other than "grants", towards their mentioned needs. Although McKinney Indpendent School District did mention more needs in their plan and the use of school budget funds and proposed grants to meet these needs, I also felt that we, as well A.I.S.D. needed to improve on being more specific on the budgeting aspect for their Campus Improvement Plans.==