After 21 years in the classroom, Janet Harrison says she can tell when a student needs extra help. What worries her now is whether a more scripted, district-wide approach to teaching will let her meet those needs in real time. Harrison, a demonstration teacher at J.P. Elder Middle School, said the new model can make it hard to pause and reteach when students come in behind.
The district’s state-appointed leadership is rolling out standardized instruction for more than 68,000 students, arguing the changes are research-based and meant to lift academic performance. Superintendent Peter Licata, who has just weeks on the job after being appointed by the state education commissioner to reverse years of decline, used a simple image at a recent meeting: a 14,000-seat arena. Then he said aloud that almost twice that many students — 24,914 — are not proficient in reading.
Licata and Deputy Superintendent Daniel Soliz describe the overhaul as a way to create consistent, grade-level expectations across more than 130 schools and to strengthen support from principals and central office staff. Lessons are expected to run from bell to bell, with third graders receiving third-grade-level reading lessons and assignments designed to build mastery of specific skills. Administrators insist the changes are about improving teacher supports, not blaming individual educators.
Part of the shift reorganizes central office into four regional hubs to handle operational tasks — like building repairs — so principals can focus on instructional quality. Soliz said the intent is to free school leaders from daily logistics and get them back into coaching and classroom work that accelerates student learning.
But teachers on the ground describe tension between uniform expectations and the realities of classroom gaps. At O.D. Wyatt High School, physics teacher Jamie Avalos said much of her time is spent helping students reach the baseline understanding needed for that day’s lesson. “I’m having to bridge all these gaps that they come in with, and it costs a lot of instructional time,” she said. “And yet we’re expected to stay on pace.”
Harrison echoed that stress, saying district-provided, highly scripted lessons can leave little room to slow down when students struggle. “I can support the best I can, but it doesn’t always feel like I can take the time I need,” she said. District leaders respond that consistent curricula help students who move between schools, so transfers aren’t set back by different teaching methods.
Student mobility is a large factor: more than 16,000 students changed schools during 2023–24, and over four in five of those students come from low-income families. Soliz recalled growing up in South Texas and moving between schools each year, saying a standardized approach kept him from falling behind. At a board meeting, a member asked whether a child switching from one middle school to another would pick up where they left off; Soliz said the methods would be consistent, though specific pacing could vary.
The highest-stakes element of the plan is the new Elevate Network, a group of 19 chronically underperforming schools that have repeatedly earned D’s or F’s. Those campuses will get a more structured teaching model plus extra staff, coaching and resources. Instruction there will follow a two-part cycle: whole-class lessons with checks for understanding, followed by small-group reteaching for students who need it and mastery labs or enrichment for students who have already mastered the content. District leaders also approved staffing changes intended to place higher-qualified teachers at Elevate campuses and to use pay incentives to attract effective educators.
Superintendent Licata framed the work as urgent and student-centered. “Everything we do has to revolve around what is best and most successful for students,” he said, adding that struggling children cannot afford to lose another year. District officials say the standardized approach and added supports aim to lift outcomes across the system while keeping principals focused on improving instruction for all students.
