How Plano ISD Builds Future-Ready Skills Today
Success Stories
Plano Independent School District
Plano, TX
Plano Independent School District is a large, dynamic district in north Texas that takes a student-centered approach to everything they do. When the district realized educators needed more support and guidance to ensure they were meeting student needs, they took a fresh look at their Strategic Plan and leaned on Discovery Education for help.
Turning Complex Ideas into a Simple, Effective Plan
Plano ISD’s Strategic Plan has always focused on student learning outcomes. But at one point, the plan felt too big and complex to manage, and the district needed to do more to increase teacher effectiveness. “For years we worked with an instructional model to increase teacher effectiveness . . . ensuring they understood the what,” explains Mary Swinton, “But we’ve learned over the years the how was not as tight as it could be.”
In 2023, district leaders refocused the Strategic Plan’s instructional model on high-yield strategies that align teaching across content areas and reinforce the how behind teaching excellence. They also simplified the goals and strategies so they could easily assess their progress and model them effectively for campuses.
“We’ve really come a long way over the past few years,” says Laurie Taylor, Chief Learning Officer at Plano ISD. “Today our Strategic Plan has five pillars, all of which focus on strong student outcomes.”
From Strategy to Success: How Plano ISD Brings its Vision to Life
The district’s academic teams are intentional about how they can best serve their teachers and students through the Strategic Plan. According to Laurie, “our teams really live within the plan’s first three pillars,” and Discovery Education works alongside them to ensure their success.
Pillar One: Teaching & Learning Pillar One
Teaching & Learning, prioritizes student growth through engaging, differentiated instruction. The district uses Discovery Education’s research-backed SOS Instructional Strategies to help teachers design learning experiences that boost student cognition and engagement, meeting the goals of Pillar One. These strategies are easy for the district to model across campuses, ensuring consistency in teaching practices.
Pillar Two: Life Ready
One of the biggest priorities for the district is preparing students for their future, which is Pillar Two of the Strategic Plan, Life Ready. “We’re all about creating opportunities for students to explore career pathways, starting as early as elementary,” says Laurie. “That’s why we launched Plano for Your Future, which brings CTE opportunities into middle schools.” Educators also use Discovery Education to bring real-world, career-focused learning into the classroom.
Jennifer Collins, first-grade teacher at Centennial Elementary, uses Experience regularly to introduce career pathways to students: “My students love researching different careers in Experience,” Jennifer explains. “I don’t know what their careers will be in 20 years, but I can help them learn to be problem solvers, explorers, and deep thinkers with real-world learning in Experience.”
Pillar Three: Talent Acquisition, Support & Growth
The third pillar, which is Talent Acquisition, Support & Growth, helps teachers grow in their craft through targeted professional development. It’s critical that teachers feel supported and invested in, especially by their district leaders. As Mary Swinton puts it, “Our teachers have shared with us that the professional learning provided by Discovery Education, whether that’s resources within Experience or through the DE professional learning team, is one of the reasons they stay in Plano ISD.”
Mission in Motion: Empowering Every Student to Succeed
Since the revision of the Strategic Plan, Plano ISD can confidently say that its mission is in full effect: educating, inspiring, and empowering every student to activate their unique potential in a dynamic world. The results are palpable. Leaders like Mary and Laurie recognize the positive impact of their efforts and attribute much of this success to their strategic planning and laser focus on student outcomes. But they also contribute their success to the longstanding partnership with Discovery Education, which played a key role in bringing their Strategic Plan to life.