How Fort Worth ISD is shifting instruction so educators can focus on teaching, students

Superintendent Karen Molinar saw the same problem over and over as she visited classrooms across Fort Worth ISD.

Different classrooms, teaching the same grade level and the same subject — with wildly different expectations.

“We must be consistent,” Molinar said during a May 20 board meeting. 

That edict formed the heart of Molinar’s redesign of instruction ahead of the 2025-26 school year. The strategy, she said, is designed to improve student outcomes in literacy and math while giving teachers more time to focus on teaching rather than planning. 

Gone are the days of scouring multiple websites for lesson materials, designing Venn diagrams from scratch or guessing whether a classroom task is truly aligned to the state standards, she said.

“We’re going to give you the shell,” she said. “Then you can adjust it.”

‘We’re going to provide that’

The district’s new approach to instruction is like a three-layer cake.

The first layer: Educators will double down on their initial instruction of concepts. That means helping pull up students who are behind and pushing those who are ahead even further. Each requires different teaching strategies.

The second layer: Educators ask students toward the end of their class to show that they have learned that day’s lessons.

The third layer: Teach concepts again for students who haven’t quite mastered them or challenge students who already have.

Every instructional component links directly to state standards and supports Fort Worth ISD’s literacy-first approach, Molinar said. That includes expanded writing time, multiple response strategies for classroom engagement and scaffolded supports for emergent bilingual students.

Teacher feedback played a major role in the redesign, Molinar emphasized. 

A consistent theme emerged from surveys, she said: too much time spent planning lessons and not enough time ensuring content reflected student needs.

“What workload can we take off of them?” Molinar said.

The new system includes embedded resources for small-group teaching, assessments aligned to six-week grading cycles and training videos led by demonstration teachers — something Molinar said would especially benefit newer or alternatively certified staff.

“Right now, we’re asking our teachers to create that demonstration of learning,” Molinar said. “Now, we’re going to provide that.”

Bluebonnet math takes root

The redesign comes with a financial strategy, too. 

Trustees learned the district could qualify for up to $7.1 million in additional state funding by adopting Bluebonnet Learning, a set of State Board of Education-approved, high-quality instructional materials.

In an 8-0 vote, the school board approved the adoption of Bluebonnet’s math components. The materials will cost the district more than $1.9 million. The new math curriculum will be rolled out for the 2025-26 school year.

Bluebonnet mirrors the structure of two math programs Fort Worth ISD already uses, Molinar said. That similarity, she said, would help teachers transition without having to learn a whole new system.

“If there’s a better resource for our students and we’re getting funding from the state, it’s our obligation to put that in front of them,” Molinar said. “To make sure our teachers have the best curriculum and the best resources for our students.”

The district’s neighbor to the north, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, adopted the math curriculum in January.

Fort Worth ISD administrators are still working through its next literacy curriculum, a process that has included teachers and their feedback.

Bluebonnet is among the reading curriculums the district is considering. However, the literacy pieces have been criticized as an ineffective tool in teaching students how to read. The optional reading materials feature Bible stories in lessons.

‘Hooray’

The district plans to roll out new public-facing dashboards in the fall, offering insights into attendance trends, test scores and overall student progress.

“Hooray for dashboards,” trustee Anne Darr said.

Internally, principals and assistant principals will receive intensive training on how to monitor and coach teachers using the new framework. 

Instructional consistency — especially when it comes to helping students who are behind to catch up and pushing higher-achievers to go further — will be key, Molinar said.

“We cannot pinpoint what’s working and not working for our students because we’re not consistent,” she said. “If we do not commit to this as a district, we will continue to not know what works and what does not work for our kids.”

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected] or @matthewsgroi1. 

Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected] or @_jacob_sanchez. 

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Related

Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.