Midland ISD Academic Audit

Overview

<p>Midland Independent School District (MISD) is currently seeking a vendor to conduct an academic audit across our districts during the upcoming school year (SY 2020-2021). This process will help MISD identify and later disseminate strong instructional practices across the district. This information will be used to refine and adapt MISD’s academic approach to ensure that all students are learning and growing from year to year.</p> <p>The goal of this audit is to provide additional texture around best practices within the district to ensure a rigorous set of 21st-century schools that meet every Midland student’s needs. This work will be even more important in light of COVID-19, as being able to codify and disseminate strong instructional practices identified in the audit will ensure students are learning across in-person and remote environments.</p> <div>This academic audit should be a comprehensive, multifaceted process that incorporates stakeholder engagement, data collection and analysis, benchmarking, and next steps/implementation support. The vendor will ultimately be supporting the Central Office’s work around academics, which includes supporting instructional initiatives across the district, achieving academic goals, and promoting equity. We envision the following steps as a general outline of this process:</div> <ul> <li>Vendor meets with MISD to explore and narrow the district’s needs and goals for the audit. Vendor and MISD finalize a scope and processes for data collection, time frames, etc.</li> <li>Vendor meets with a variety of stakeholders, including students, campus staff, central office staff, and others to conduct interviews and gain a clear and cohesive understanding of the District’s current instructional approach. These interviews should also determine the community’s perspective on the district’s successes and areas for growth.</li> <li>Vendor conducts school site visits to gain additional information and context on MISD’s academic approach and how this approach is varied or consistent between schools. Vendor collects evidence of instructional best practices from a variety of schools.</li> <li>Vendor conducts a thorough review of district performance data, goals, and prior interventions.</li> <li>Vendor researches benchmarks of highly effective systems and structures from other cities and districts that have shown consistent and sustained growth toward college and career readiness. These benchmarks function with coherence and expedience to support campus implementation of best instructional practices. The benchmarks help inform the vendor’s recommendations.</li> <li>Venor identifies systemic barriers throughout the system that impede implementation of instructional improvement efforts.</li> <li>Vendor drafts a comprehensive report of recommendations related to instructional strategy and supports the development and implementation of short, intermediate, and long-term goals related to instructional approach.</li> <li>Vendor offers suggestions and guidance in pursuing and securing funding pathways that support increased opportunities for MISD students and allow MISD to implement its revised instructional approach.</li> <li>Vendor collaborates with MISD to design and carry out an implementation strategy with different cost and duration options and a focus on sustainability/scalability.</li> <li>Vendor drafts and disseminates information about the audit to the public to further engage and inform the MISD community.</li> <li>Vendor provides progress updates (at least weekly) to district administration for the duration of the audit.</li> </ul> <div>At every step in this process, the vendor should have equity at the forefront, ensuring that the outcomes of the audit are particularly focused on improving educational opportunities and results for students who have previously been underserved by the district.</div>