TCIS Network Newsletter

January 9, 2026

Success Begins with a Teacher: What does 2026 hold for educators?

The AI result of a Google search of predictions for educators in 2026 returned the following trends.

Key Predictions for Educators in 2026

AI Integration Moves Beyond "If" to "How": The focus shifts from banning AI to teaching responsible use, with AI assisting teachers in planning, differentiation, and feedback, while assessments evolve to showcase thinking (projects, performance tasks) over just final answers.
Hyper-Personalization via AI: AI will create precise learning paths and provide advanced virtual tutors, using real-time data to help teachers tailor instruction and manage classrooms.
Literacy & Numeracy as Foundational: Expect a strong push for systemic literacy (Science of Reading across subjects) and early numeracy initiatives, embedding these skills beyond elementary grades.
Human Connection & Teacher Agency: Educators will push back against AI replacing them, demanding tools that empower them as central to learning, with strong curriculum alignment and oversight.
Career Readiness: More K-12 integration of career-connected learning, blending academics with real-world skills and technical fluency.
Assessment Rethink: States may shift from traditional standardized tests to "portrait of a graduate" frameworks, measuring broader skills and competencies.
Teacher Support & Retention: While workloads remain an issue, student behavior is predicted to become a primary reason teachers leave, alongside ongoing recruitment/retention struggles.
Budgetary Pressures & Consolidation: Districts will seek "superproducts" (integrated curriculum/assessment/intervention tools) to improve coherence, reduce costs, and manage vendor overload.
Tech Adoption Divide: Some parents and teachers might opt out of AI entirely, creating a tech-use spectrum in schools, though most will likely embrace powerful tools. (source: Google search)

When reviewing the trends, the importance of the teacher is evident in each bullet. In other words, from AI integration to use of technology, the one consistent factor is the teacher. The skill of the teacher to plan and deliver instruction that meets the needs of each student creates student success. Therefore, TCIS is honored to work with gifted teachers and to honor the following teachers as representatives of all TCIS educators. Finally, TCIS knows school budget can get tight in the spring. To meet this need, TCIS will provide $100.00 in classroom supplies to the first teacher who emails D’Les Gonzales (dles.gonzales@texascis.org). Happy New Year!

My new year’s wish for the 6,569 TCIS students in our IB campuses circles back to the IB mission statement. What values will they take with them as they progress into adulthood? Our dedicated campus staff work diligently to develop students’ academic and social-emotional skills. However, an overarching aspiration is for students to integrate those skills with the learner profile traits in “helping to create a better and more peaceful world.”

If I were asked to select the IB learner profile trait that most encompasses all the others, my choice would be ‘Principled.’ To me, the concept of being principled is also the most powerful attribute in meeting the IB mission statement. The IBO defines a principled person as someone who “…acts with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them” (ibo.org, 2009). Teaching our IB students to be principled may also be the most challenging of the profile traits. It takes time, maturity, and life experiences to formulate guiding belief systems.

As teachers, our purpose is not to indoctrinate students with ‘what’ to believe or any specific ideology. We should, however, help them to understand the many choices in life, their ramifications, and learn to objectively justify their choices. Speaking about equality or fairness is often difficult, but silence can be interpreted as complicity.

Principled individuals are ethically consistent. They are not silent when they witness injustice but speak out for what they believe is right. While respecting differing opinions, a goal for our IB students is to have an ethical character and remain principled as they progress through our program and beyond.

During our last heads meeting, Dr. Davis shared an instructional practice called ABC strategy for students to determine the additional support needed when working independently. The premise of the strategy is extremely smart to ask students to evaluate their own knowledge prior to working on their own. The thought is that students write on their paper either A, B or C based on their own determination of their understanding. The teacher will ask for the students to acknowledge their specific category then groups accordingly.

A stands for students who need a complete re-teach; they do not understand what they need to do and need a reteach.
B stands for I just have a question to clarify my thinking/understanding.
C stands for I’ve got this! I can do it independently. I can demonstrate mastery or be a peer tutor. I’m ready to go!

This strategy is very powerful for students to take ownership of their learning, and it also allows teachers to quickly see who is ready to work independently versus who needs additional help. The next step for the teacher is to get the B questions clarified quickly and then the teacher can work with the A students. Sometimes the clarification from the B students helps the A students clarify their learning. Then the teacher can focus on the A students who need more assistance.

How could you apply this ABC strategy in your own classroom?

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Register for How to Hack STAAR Here!

TCIS has purchased ALL of the Lowman products currently available for you to use. They have moved to a new website. The old website is no longer connected to their database, so no accounts can be updated hence you not being able to reset your password. Therefore each staff member, new or prior to the campus, will need to follow the instructions below:

EVERYONE will need to create a new account and register by following the directions below.

Go to LowmanEducation.com
Click on “25-26 Library” in the top, right corner
Then click on the “Login” button
You can register with the Microsoft Outlook button
If you are unable to use Outlook, use Alternative Login (also using your district email)
You will need to click on “Register as a new user” (don’t skip this step or you will get an error)
Complete your profile to access your library of products.

If you have any questions, you can email support@lowmaneducation.com for customer support. They are very responsive.

This is a new website, so please have some patience. If you are not able to access items by Tuesday, August 19th, please let me know and I will work with you and Lowman to troubleshoot, but feel free to email their support team.