District links school decision-making to performance, keeps core requirements
Fort Worth Independent School District officials on Aug. 11 published the detailed rules for an "earned autonomy" framework that will classify every campus into one of three levels: Elevate, Emerge or Exemplar. The move follows the district's announcement a week earlier that eight campuses would receive greater flexibility under the new system.
Under the framework, higher academic ratings come with greater freedom for campuses, while lower-performing schools receive more centralized support and direction. But district leaders made clear that autonomy is not unbounded: all schools must follow the district's new instructional model, administer district assessments and adhere to teacher and principal evaluation requirements.
What each level means
The district described the three tiers as a spectrum in which the district retains more control over lower-rated campuses and cedes more authority to higher-rated campuses. The Elevate level represents the most intensive district oversight and support.
- Elevate: District defines the instructional program and model; campuses use district-assigned lessons and cannot substitute or supplement them without approval.
- Emerge: Most FWISD campuses fall here; schools have more leeway than Elevate campuses but operate within district guardrails.
- Exemplar: Intended for higher-performing campuses and associated with greater autonomy, though district requirements remain in place.
District materials list concrete operational differences for Elevate campuses. The district sets the master schedule, directs staffing models and ratios, designs and directs professional development and restricts hiring outside vendors or coaches to coach classroom instruction. Purchased services also require approval from the regional office.
"We want to see them sustain that success. It’s not fair to them to rely on those services and support mechanisms that got them there to just pull the training wheels off," Superintendent Peter Licata said when explaining why campuses must show consistent improvement to move out of the Elevate classification.
Placement in Elevate is tied to state accountability measures. According to the district's guidance, a campus is placed in Elevate if it:
- Earns an overall D or F rating;
- Earns an F for student achievement; or
- Scores 70 or lower on the state measure of how well it is closing achievement gaps.
To leave the Elevate category, a campus must reach at least a B rating for three consecutive years, a requirement the district says is intended to ensure gains are sustained rather than temporary.
Middle tier offers measured flexibility
The district characterized the Emerge tier as the middle ground. Most FWISD campuses are assigned to this group, which permits more local choice than Elevate but still keeps significant district oversight. The published rules emphasize that even Emerge and Exemplar campuses must implement the district instructional model, participate in assessments the district requires and meet evaluation standards for educators.
Officials have not removed all centrally directed supports for higher-rated schools; the framework is designed to balance campus-level initiative with systemwide expectations intended to protect instructional consistency and equity across the district.
Implications for Fort Worth families and staff
For families and staff, the framework ties the degree of campus control directly to standardized academic outcomes. That linkage means parents at higher-rated schools may see more local decision-making about schedules, programs and staffing, while parents at lower-rated campuses will continue to interact with schools where the district prescribes key elements of instruction and operations.
District leaders framed the three-tier structure as both a support mechanism for struggling campuses and an incentive structure encouraging sustained improvement. The requirement that a campus earn a B for three consecutive years before moving out of Elevate reflects a focus on long-term gains, not one-year rebounds.
| Level | Primary features | How placement is decided (district guidance) |
|---|---|---|
| Elevate | District-directed instruction, schedules, staffing, PD; limits on outside coaches/vendors | D or F overall; F for student achievement; score ≤70 on gap-closing measure |
| Emerge | More campus choice within district guardrails; majority of campuses | Middle-range performance (district assigns most campuses here) |
| Exemplar | Greater flexibility tied to high academic ratings; still must follow district instructional model | Top-rated campuses (framework links autonomy to performance) |
The full operational rules released by FWISD will guide how principals, teachers and parents experience those differences in daily school life. The district's phased approach and the explicit standards for moving between levels aim to ensure changes in autonomy are accompanied by sustained academic growth rather than short-term spikes.
As the district implements the policy, campus communities across Fort Worth will be watching how the new structure affects classroom instruction, staffing decisions and local control of programs — and whether the framework yields the longer-term improvements district leaders say they want to see.
