Midland ISD’s Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Ashley Osborne, has been hired to cultivate educational talent development at the national level.
According to a Midland Independent School District (MISD) news release, Osborne has been tasked with enhancing the district’s educational programs since 2023, with improving literacy programs as a chief priority. To accomplish this task, she implemented a phonics-based curriculum across the district from kindergarten through second grade, resulting in 60% of students improving their reading skills. Moreover, kindergarten and first-grade students showed even more improvement in their reading skills.
Osborne’s career will shift to becoming senior partner for the National Center for Grow Your Own in October, according to the news release. The program is a partnership between school districts and educator preparation providers (EPPs) to select candidates—paraprofessionals, graduating high school seniors, and career changers—from local communities to earn their degree and educator license in order to teach. During her time with the district, students showed improvement in academics, which led the district to grow its pre-kindergarten program by adding 629 pre-k seats for a total of 1,405 seats for the 2024-2025 school year.
"I am so proud of Ashley. Having worked with her for over 18 years in two different districts, I have seen her step up and lead in a way that transformed our work," said MISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Howard. "She built the talent team from scratch prior to coming back to Midland ISD, and she has established this work here in a short time. I am not surprised at all that she has been tapped to lead this work at the national level. Ashley has invested deeply in our work here in Midland ISD since she began in January 2023," Howard said.