Fort Worth ISD welcomes newest class of teachers amid literacy-focused overhaul

FORT WORTH, Texas - One day after Fort Worth ISD approved changes to improve student reading scores, administrators welcomed the newest class of teachers.

The school district is making hiring and budget changes to improve reading scores in the district. The plan includes some role restructuring.

Wednesday was the district’s second annual Teacher Signing Day.

Fort Worth ISD’s Student Literacy Plan

What's new:

School board members voted unanimously on Tuesday night to restructure literacy roles in the district.

The plan eliminates certain employee positions and creates new ones.

For example, new demonstration teachers will spend half of their day working with students on literacy. They’ll also serve as instructional coaches for other teachers.

The new plan also includes support for math, a subject in which just 26% of Fort Worth ISD students are meeting standards.

What they're saying:

Woodrow Bailey is Chief of Talent Management at Fort Worth ISD. He will lead the implementation of many redefined roles pertaining to instruction.

"That’s the push right now that’s happening to really redirect and focus all our attention on literacy, student achievement," he said. "Dr. Molinar went through line by line, exactly the roles, the new roles that are being created. But again, it’s really about getting all of your resources together and focusing them back on the classroom."

"We are going to be laser focused on literacy and reading support for our students, as well as our teachers," said Superintendent Karen Molinar. "Any position that is being funded through state funding that impacts campuses must be working with students directly so we can measure the growth of that position,"

"I don’t even know where to start. I just want to say thank you for listening. As you were going through the presentations, I could visually see the face of people that I’ve met with saying this is what we need and this is how we need to address this," added Wallace Bridges, a Fort Worth ISD trustee.

What's next:

Fort Worth ISD will shift $22 million around in the budget to cover the costs.

The new roles also allow for additional compensation for teachers through a state fund if they meet the goals for students.

The changes impact more than 160 current employees and are expected to take effect next school year.

Bailey says the realignment plan is an additional incentive for the roughly 50 college seniors who have accepted teacher residencies with Fort Worth ISD. 

Half of all Fort Worth ISD’s students aren’t reading at grade level

The backstory:

In January, Fort Worth ISD approved a strategic plan aimed at addressing the district’s issues with lagging reading scores.

Current data shows that only 32% of third graders in Fort Worth ISD read at grade level. Districtwide, less than half of all students are reading at grade level.

The plan includes four main priorities: 

• Student academic excellence
• Student and family engagement
• Employee effectiveness and retention
• Operational alignment and efficiency

The school board also promised to make literacy a top priority as it moves forward. 

The plan is more than a year in the making and follows criticism of former Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Angelica Ramsey, who did not present a proposal for consideration until late summer 2024. It was rejected amid claims that it lacked transparency. 

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