Rosebud-Lott ISD in Texas is a 2A rural school district nestled between the towns of Rosebud and Lott and affectionately known as the Cougar community. What began as a partnership with ANet to improve accountability processes through the Texas RSSP grant has blossomed into a district-wide movement fueled by strategic collaboration, inspired leadership, and a relentless commitment to student success.
Today, Rosebud-Lott is not just progressing—it’s showcasing educational growth and innovation.
A Community Rooted in Growth
Natalie Parcus is a lifelong member of Rosebud-Lott ISD who has been a student, an Assistant Superintendent, and everything in between. By the time the ANet partnership started and Dr. Rosebrock became the superintendent, she already knew something had to change. The data was clear: not all first graders mastered foundational skills, less than 70% of students met math standards, and there were cohorts of students who struggled with state assessments year after year. But since she grew up in the community, she knew that folks are willing to grow, especially if it means that's what's best for students.
And in the last two years, they’ve seen that growth. They’ve progressed from a D-rated school to a B-rated school. Beyond ratings, RLISD educators are aligned to their strategic vision, consistently engaging in professional development, and striving to put faces to their data as they make data-informed decisions.
Creating Instructional Infrastructure: How RLISD’s Strategic Plan and Weekly Touchpoints Created a Strong Foundation for Leadership
Purposeful Strategic Alignment
The work with RLISD centered around holistic and sustainable processes, actionable data, and true partnership. ANet Coach Heidi Waterstradt utilized the momentum of a new superintendent, Dr. Jim Rosebrock, and the admin team’s expertise around strategic planning to support their goal creation.
In creating their strategic plan, Dr. Jim Rosebrock emphasized simplicity and focus: "An organization with too many priorities is dead." Under his leadership, the district identified five core principles and embedded them through every aspect of operations.
The process was intentional and involved all stakeholders at RLISD. One activity to help refine and internalize the district’s new instructional priorities was a "catch ball" activity that had stakeholders catch a beach ball and comment on the priorities that their hands landed on or suggest revisions. Several activities like these created discussion and collaboration around the strategic planning process and buy-in towards the operational behaviors needed to make the strategy a reality.
The Power of Weekly Touchpoints
ANet District & Systems Coach Heidi, whom Dr. Rosebrock describes as "part of the Cougar family," supported the leadership team in translating those operational behaviors into everyday practice. From the outset, ANet helped institutionalize weekly leadership meetings. What initially seemed like a heavy lift became what the team calls "sacred time," where they make sure to sync up and discuss priorities and data. With Coach Heidi guiding the process and using a structured agenda, these meetings evolved into powerful touchpoints for reflection and planning.
The format is simple in nature. Heidi Waterstradt keeps the rolling agenda that they use each week. In the document, they have:
- their notes for the upcoming discussion,
- the action items each person said they would do the week prior,
- and a section for action items for the following week.
Part of the time together is following up and reporting on their individual action items, and the other part is discussing instructional priorities and student data.
The leaders at Rosebud-Lott lauded the accountability as one of the most important pieces of this rhythm. This “sacred time” created a space for collaborative discussions and allowed leaders to ground themselves in current practices and align on priorities. The weekly touchpoint also clarified what to look for during classroom observations and how to engage more meaningfully in data meetings—making the time not just consistent, but transformational. And so, the partnership with ANet became not just another meeting or obligation. As Natalie Parcus puts it, "It’s a plus. It’s an advantage."
The weekly touchpoints combined with the strategic plan created the foundation for the educators at RLISD to put their work into action.
Turning Insights into Action: How Professional Development and An Emphasis on Data Yield Positive Outcomes
Professional Development At Every Level
Professional learning is a key component of success at RLISD. “Professional development helps us grow,” said Secondary Principal Jerrod Barton. “We have to grow people, because not everybody has the capacity walking in the door on how to be a teacher. Even if you go to school, you student teach, you’ve learned all those things. There are things you don’t know how to do in the real world. And so growing our people is so important.”
Tier 1 instruction was a focus of their district-wide professional learning. A pivotal realization for RLISD leadership was that Tier 1 instruction was insufficient. The team had been focused on Tier 2 supports, leaving some students unable to catch up post-COVID. The professional learning process to accomplish their goal was incremental and led to coherence and support.
- The RLISD team strengthened three educator learning structures to consistently come back to: robust PLC structures, modeling, and feedback.
- Leadership received job-embedded professional learning to take the priorities discussed in the weekly touchpoints and infuse those priorities into their educator learning , so across the district everyone was on the same page.
- Once the coherence was woven into the fabric of their teaching and learning cycles, leaders were able to see which teachers needed additional PD to support tier 1 instruction.
Through these efforts, RLISD strengthened Tier 1 instruction so all students had access to the rigor and support they needed to succeed.
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The job-embedded professional development occurred throughout the year beyond the focus of Tier 1 instruction. The partnership is built to work alongside leaders, adaptable to what they’re experiencing. Principals Jerrod Barton and James Whatley both experienced the job-embedded support in their roles. When describing their experience with ANet, Elementary Principal James Whatley expressed his gratitude for Coach Heidi. “I’ve really appreciated Heidi’s affirmations if I’m doing something right. Being a principal can be a lonely job, and getting that positive feedback, or getting that affirmation that doing it this way is the right thing to do, or let’s look at this a slightly different way, that helps a lot,” shared Elementary Principal James Whatley.
Principal Barton shared Principal Whatley’s sentiments, and emphasised how essential professional learning is for their roles. He mused, “If I’m expecting my students to grow every year a full academic year of growth, shouldn’t I grow a full academic year as well?”
Data as a Catalyst for Change
Melissa Mirick, the Rosebud-Lott Data Fellow who joined in 2022, experienced firsthand the power of data at Rosebud-Lott. Mirick became a conduit between data and action, equipping teachers with insights, supporting board presentations, and creating data newsletters to aid everyone at RLISD. These data structures she credits to the partnership. "Heidi became a thought partner," she said. "It’s about positive movement."
The change gives leaders the ability to consistently flex their data-informed decision-making muscles. Now it’s a holistic data system with several components:
- Mirick can take the district’s instructional priorities and pull the right data to track progress towards those priorities.
- She’s then able to analyze and segment that data to each school through regular data newsletters and email communication, which allows the school leaders to know what’s going on and how they can use this information to refine their instruction.
- In their weekly meetings, they’re able to bring student work and student data they’ve collected to affirm and discuss the information they’re getting from Mirick and provide further evidence of progress towards their priorities.
- ANet Coach Heidi Waterstradt is there to offer thought partnership and perspective during their discussion.
At RLISD, data doesn’t exist in silos or in the abstract–it’s actionable and tied to goals and priorities. All stakeholders are involved in the gathering, analysis, and decision-making surrounding data.
Because of the work the educators did culturally, data goes beyond just the numbers they examine on paper or a screen. When discussing a student, they know who that student is and mention them by name, adding context and observations to help make a holistic assessment of student progress.
The sense of community is palpable at Rosebud-Lott, and it enhances processes like their data analysis into a vehicle to make the choices best for their students.
Coherent and Intentional Practices Drive Achievement
The Impact on Students
The district changes are felt at the student level. Freshman Daniel Rincon described this shift in his teachers in the last few years. He noticed a new willingness to change instruction in real-time if a student is struggling and more small-group or one-on-one supports for students. When asked how this shift made him feel, he said, “It makes me feel really good, because I actually know I’ll learn something that day and it’ll be stuck in my head.” Jayana Green, another Freshman at Rosebud-Lott High School, feels similar to Daniel in that the teachers challenge her. “I see the teachers are a lot harder on us, and I like that…it helps you take responsibility for your actions.”
When asked about a teacher who exemplifies these traits, Daniel and Jayana both describe a strong relationship between them and their middle school English teacher and Coach, Mrs. Hicks. Her encouragement and tenacity made a positive impact. Daniel shares that one of the best things about her is her ability to see what makes each student special and encourage them to keep going. “She always said, ‘You can do it. You can do hard things. Keep going!’” Daniel recalled as he described his experience in Mrs. Hick’s class. Jayana agrees, sharing that Mrs. Hicks did a great job of helping her feel supported. “She’s always been helpful to me, like if I’m struggling with something, she doesn’t dumb it down. She helps me through it and talks to me like a normal person…it makes me feel supported. It feels like I have an adult I can lean on if I need help,” said Jayana.
Experiencing Achievement
Now a "B" rated district with sights on an "A," Rosebud-Lott is delivering stronger instruction and experiencing greater coherence and clarity. Their goal—for every student to achieve one year’s academic growth annually—drives every decision and can be seen in the classroom. Dr. Rosebrock emphasizes that this wasn’t a personnel change—it was a systems change. "My admin team is the same here as it was when we got a D," Dr Rosebrock shared. “The transformation came from redefining systems and aligning around core principles.”
This is a story not just of improvement, but of empowerment—where every stakeholder has a seat at the table, every action is tied to purpose, and every choice is student-centered. In Rosebud-Lott, transformation isn’t a buzzword. It’s a lived experience.