As we continue our Bright Spots blog series, we turn our focus to another school district: Grand Prairie ISD (GPISD), which has become a leader among Dallas County’s 14 traditional school districts in overall student enrollment growth (increasing at a 3X faster rate) while closing achievement gaps with the state. And GPISD has done so with one of the region’s higher economically disadvantaged student populations (72% vs. 59% for the state) and one of its lower operating revenues (~$5,600 per student).
As shown in the following charts, GPISD has seen significant achievement growth at the Postsecondary Readiness standard level across the board, while its economically disadvantaged students have grown notably compared to the state across all subject areas.
One of the key factors driving these achievements has been GPISD’s steady transition since 2012 to a robust district-wide school choice model — allowing for open enrollment across a diverse set of schools with varied program and curriculum options. Their transition is driven by their strong belief that parent and student selection of a school model that resonates personally with them leads to higher student attendance and less mobility during the school year – both critical factors influencing student achievement.
At the same time, GPISD has found that campus leaders and teachers able to educate within a model that they help create and that resonates personally with them (i.e., fine arts, single gender, leadership, environmental science, career and technical, etc.) will be more engaged, taking fewer personal days and reducing the district’s teacher substitute costs.
The result: GPISD over the last 5+ years has increased student achievement, most markedly within its schools of choice while higher student revenues and lower substitute teacher costs have helped pay for the increased transportation and marketing costs associated with their choice model. Most importantly, ten of the 14 choice schools that have been in operation for at least one year were recognized by the Texas Education Agency in 2014-15 as being in the top 25% of the state in terms of student progress, with three of these schools (Dubiski, Collegiate Prep and Grand Prairie Fine Arts) receiving all seven possible TEA distinctions. Strong parental and taxpayer satisfaction also led in 2015 to GPISD’s 70%+ passage of a special tax ratification election called by their Board of Trustees, creating $0.13 per $100 valuation of additional annual revenue ($14mm) locked in gong forward and targeted toward teacher pay, early childhood, and ongoing capital improvements.
For more about the history behind GPISD’s decision to embark upon a school choice system, an overview of their current portfolio offerings, and a description of their parent outreach efforts, you can download this complete bright spots PDF here. To automatically recieve the next installment in this series, fill out the form below or check on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag “#DallasBrightSpots”.
