Being Executive Director of Accountability and School Improvement is a dream come true for Robert Trejo.
He loves data, math and numbers. Trejo and his wife, Abigail, a mathematician, named their children Einstein and Euclid.
That passion for figures translates into wanting to share information with principals to help improve student outcomes.
It was this specific job that drew Trejo to ECISD.
“One more thing that I mentioned this in my interview, the accountability system really puts together my two biggest loves in education. One is mathematics. That’s my background, and then the other one is school improvement — to support student outcomes. This was the perfect role that I had been looking for; my dream job and so I landed here,” said Trejo, who is from El Paso.
When he was a principal, Trejo said he leveraged the accountability system.
“(I was) very fortunate in my career to have been given the opportunity to turn around schools. Even as an assistant principal, when the first accountability system rolled out my principal said, ‘You’re in charge of that.’ It was the biggest project that she could have handed me because the accountability system, once I understood it and I knew it’s fair, it’s consistent, and we can use it to really make decisions, to drive and make our programs for kids better. I used it and I leveraged it to turn around comprehensive high schools when I was a principal,” Trejo said.
There are a lot of requirements in the accountability system, but it’s fair.
“That’s why we’re here, right, so that we can understand it, learn it, and then make decisions to provide opportunities to kids. Once we understand it … we can adjust our practices and do what’s right and best for kids,” Trejo said.
Trejo has been in education since 2004. He has been an assistant principal, principal, worked in central office.
He earned a bachelor’s in mathematics with a minor in physics and his master’s in mathematics from the University of Texas at El Paso. He is working on his doctorate in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in mathematics education from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Since he arrived and has been networking with central office personnel, Trejo said they have been very welcoming and receptive to what he saw as a need that his office can bridge.
“We want to make sure that our office provides systems to create data literacy capacity. And what does that mean? It means providing those that are our boots on the ground, like our principals, our assistant principals, our curriculum coaches, our counselors, our coordinators, all those people that are involved in the day-to-day operations with kids, the data that they need so that they can make adjustments on the spot, real time, on demand and give kids and themselves the best opportunities to showcase all the hard work that they’re doing for their communities,” Trejo said.
The only way to do that is if they are able to monitor data live, accurately and on the spot.
“My main goal is to be able to bridge that gap so that they have the data tools and the reports to go alongside those data tools to make those decisions. I’m glad to report … that that work is well underway. We’re calling them data tours where we look at data that has been historical, formative in the past, and things that are happening right now, so that they can make … data-driven decisions,” Trejo said.
He said it makes the work more streamlined. It’s ensuring that they have the right data so all the work they’re putting in gives them the best return on investment for students.
“It’s not more work. I would say it’s … looking at the right data pieces to guide our work and ensure that it’s producing the desired outcomes for kids,” Trejo said.
The actual data will let you know if things are going in the right direction. He has been visiting the campuses to go through the data with them.
“It’s very tailored, because every single campus is unique. They need to look at their data to support their kids and their communities. That’s what’s exciting, that every single story that data can tell is unique to that particular campus, that particular community, and the principals and the educators in those schools can in turn, internalize it and support them,” Trejo said.
Alicia Syverson, associate superintendent of Student and School Support, said the district is thrilled to have Trejo serving at ECISD.
“The state accountability system is complex and has so many different nuances across elementary, middle school and high school. Mr. Trejo stood out of the crowd during the selection process based on his expertise around accountability, experience as a successful campus leader and his enthusiasm about supporting data literacy among district and campus level teams. His ability to build systems and process for sustainability is top notch and is already visible in his new role. He was a respected leader in his previous district and is cultivating meaningful relationships with campuses through support and service. I am excited about the products and support coming from Mr. Trejo and his team. He is a valuable member of the team and I am thankful he chose ECISD,” Syverson said.
