Over the last several years, Arlington Independent School District (ISD) has focused on transforming its approach to academic intervention across its 74 campuses. What began as a patchwork of individual teacher‑selected tools has become a unified and data‑driven multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) anchored by Read 180, Math 180, and NWEA MAP Growth. Through intentional professional development and high expectations for fidelity, Arlington ISD has created a model of intervention that drives student growth.
Building a system of support
Arlington ISD was facing a challenge that may be familiar to many districts: intervention inconsistency. Teachers were using tools they’d picked up at conferences, resources purchased through individual grants, or programs they preferred personally. This variability made it difficult to ensure continuity within the high-mobility district. Julie McGuire, the Arlington ISD director of state and federal Interventions, explained, “We had intervention all over the place. … Senior leadership came to me and said, ‘We need a system of intervention across the district because we have high mobility in our campuses. So, when students go from one campus to the other, we need some continuity.’”
McGuire and her team worked to create a district‑wide system of supports, ensuring students would experience consistent, high‑quality interventions no matter which school they attended. The first major step was strengthening Read 180 at the secondary level by building it into reading classes and defining what fidelity should look like. With clear expectations and strong results, elementary campuses soon requested Read 180 access, and implementation expanded district‑wide.
A similar process followed with Math 180, which began as a small pilot but quickly grew into a full secondary‑level intervention system as strong data and teacher feedback reinforced its effectiveness. The eventual adoption of MAP Growth further unified the system, giving teachers, principals, and district leaders shared data to monitor progress and refine instruction. Arlington ISD moved from scattered programs to a district‑wide, coherent MTSS framework grounded in evidence‑based tools.
Strengthening intervention implementation
To successfully implement their new and improved intervention program, Arlington leaders focused on supporting their students and staff in a few key areas.
Ensuring fidelity through consistent professional learning
To ensure teachers felt confident implementing Read 180 and Math 180, the district launched recurring monthly professional development (PD) sessions. For Math 180, these became known as “Math 180 Mondays,” one‑hour virtual after‑school sessions where teachers met to examine data, review best practices, and troubleshoot implementation challenges alongside HMH coaches and district intervention staff. Read 180 teachers received parallel monthly learning sessions, reinforcing consistency across campuses.
Professional development extended beyond teachers. District leaders met individually with every campus principal to review midyear and end‑of‑year data together and conduct joint classroom visits. These sessions helped principals learn what high‑fidelity Read 180 and Math 180 instruction looks like and ensured PD best practices were reinforced consistently throughout each school.
Using MAP Growth data to drive decisions
With the adoption of MAP Growth as a universal screener and progress-monitoring tool, Arlington ISD gained a complete, year‑round picture of student growth. Teachers could see whether interventions were working, school leaders could confidently speak to rates of progress, and the district could evaluate whether students were placed appropriately in Read 180 and Math 180. As Kristi Eisenhaur, a lead intervention specialist for the district, shared, “Having all students take the same assessment is allowing us to really evaluate if the intervention is working well for a student or not. … We can really evaluate closely: Is the student making progress? Is it the right intervention for the student?”
Centering student conferencing
Another impactful shift in Arlington ISD schools has been the emphasis on student conferencing. During conferences, teachers sat one‑on‑one with students to discuss their current performance, progress toward goals, and what steps they could take next. According to Michelle Webb, an intervention specialist in the district, these conferences helped students understand, “where they are, where they wanted to be, and what they wanted out of that class.”
To build confidence and consistency across campuses, the district recorded real teacher-student conferences. These videos became models that teachers could study, reflect on, and replicate. By seeing the process in action teachers were able to strengthen their approach in leading classroom conversations. A unique structure called C‑Day also helped streamline implementation across classrooms. On C‑Day, teachers dedicated class time to:
- Conference: Meet individually with students to review personalized data and set goals.
- Celebrate: Recognize milestones, academic or personal, large or small.
- Catch up: Give students time for independent reading or completing tasks while conferences were underway.
The celebration component became especially transformative. Webb stated that acknowledging every growth point helped shift student mindsets and build confidence. This culture of celebration energized students who previously struggled to see themselves as successful learners.
Looking ahead in Arlington
The impact of Arlington ISD’s intervention efforts is clear: students participating in Read 180 and Math 180 are achieving remarkable growth, often surpassing the progress of their peers. With a strong foundation in place, district leaders and educators are committed to sustaining and building on this momentum. As Webb shared, “We want to continue the good work that we’ve already done.”
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