How Progress Learning Helps Anthony ISD Navigate the Teacher Incentive Allotment Program

We recently sat down with Jaime De La Torre, Director of Instructional Support at Anthony ISD, in Anthony, Texas to chat about how Progress Learning has impacted his school district. Jaime wanted to find a solution that could alleviate the workload for his teachers while offering comprehensive TEKS-aligned coverage across grade levels and subjects.

When he found Progress Learning, he realized he had found exactly what he was looking for. Keep reading to discover his and his teachers’ favorite Progress Learning features and how they’ve impacted Anthony ISD.

Teacher incentive allotment program

Anthony ISD is a Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) district. The TIA program in Texas aims to recognize and financially reward top teachers. However, for Texas districts like Anthony ISD, identifying and designating top teachers for the TIA can be challenging without the right tools and data.

Initially, Jaime was looking for a screener tool to evaluate student performance at the beginning and end of the year to determine which teachers qualified for the TIA. He started talking to other districts and spoke with a neighboring district, Fabens ISD, who was using Progress Learning for this exact purpose. Jaime saw all the great benefits Progress Learning offered Fabens ISD, and he decided to subscribe.

Now, with the help of Progress Learning, Jaime creates district-level assessments as beginning-of-the-year and end-of-the-year measures. “We’re going to be using that data to determine qualification for our teachers based on their student progress and their own independent teacher evaluations,” said Jaime. Before Progress Learning, only 60% of Anthony ISD educators were eligible for TIA. Today, that number is up to 85%.

These pre-built assessments have also helped alleviate Jaime’s workload. “I, myself, am the one that makes those assessments. It can be very time-consuming for anybody else if we were not using this program. But being able to literally quick pick and it’s already basically designed for us, that makes it a great resource,” said Jaime.

Robust TEKS-Aligned Item Bank

Although Jaime originally got Progress Learning to support his district’s TIA efforts, he soon realized there was a lot more to the program than beginning and end-of-year assessments. The robust item bank from Progress Learning offers thousands of high-quality, TEKS-aligned questions and instructional resources that teachers can use in their classrooms. “The instructional materials available are so robust that we could cover more grade levels and more contents. So that was a big selling point for us,” said Jaime.

Jaime admits that, at times, the robust item bank can be overwhelming. But that’s not a bad thing. “It is extremely robust. The amount of questions and available resources can be a little bit overwhelming because it’s so much. It’s a pro and con, right? I don’t know that we have any other tool that has so much,” Jaime reflects.

Beyond the item bank, Progress Learning offers even more — which Jaime soon discovered. “Once we started looking at the actual materials, then of course we took it to the next level and we utilized it for our unit testing, for formative and summative assessments with all our classrooms,” he said. From thousands of TEKS-aligned questions to our suite of assessments, Progress Learning’s content has helped educators at Anthony ISD streamline their teaching like never before.

Data Reports

One of the standout features for Jaime was Progress Learning’s data reports, specifically the Usage Reports. These reports provide valuable insights into teacher and student engagement. “I really like to get in [to Progress Learning] and look at the Usage Reports. We have to double-check that people are actually using it. When we give our beginning-of-the-year and then middle-of-the-year assessments, we’re looking at those growth measures,” said Jaime.

In addition, these reports help Jaime streamline his work and facilitate data-driven decision-making at the district level. “I’m also preparing data reports for our district-level administrators. We speak about those in campus leadership.”

Remediation

When we asked Jaime what his teachers’ favorite tools were, he responded, “The remediation has been the best tool for the teachers that they progressively have used throughout the year.” His teachers appreciate the convenience of being able to assign remediation after they give an assessment or assignment. “Anytime they give the assessments or assignments and they need to assign remediation, they really like that. They really like that component of Progress Learning,” he emphasized.

Above all, Jaime said that teachers enjoy being able to offer targeted support for students who need it the most. “That’s been the best for them. They’ve seen students benefit from that, being able to have that resource.”

With Progress Learning’s support, Anthony ISD has been able to designate high-performing teachers for the TIA, streamline administrative tasks, facilitate data-driven decision-making, and provide robust instructional resources and remediation. Teachers at Anthony ISD feel better supported, which in turn, allows them to deliver high-quality education to their students.

Thank you for partnering with us, Jaime and Anthony ISD! It’s been amazing seeing how you’ve grown. Wondering how Progress Learning can support your district with the TIA? Get in touch below to get started.