Elmhurst schools set aside time for intervention

This school year, Elmhurst Unit District 205 has implemented dedicated time for interventions and enrichment in all of its elementary and middle schools.

The district is calling this Acceleration Time to reflect its mission of accelerating learning for all students. Acceleration Time is a major component of the district's new middle school schedule.

District 205 follows the Professional Learning Communities model of school improvement, in which teachers collaborate on each student's learning needs by focusing on the following four questions: 1) What do we want our students to learn? 2) How will we know if each student has learned it? 3) How will we respond when some students do not learn? 4) How can we extend and enrich learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency?

Acceleration Time addresses questions three and four.

Furthermore, Response to Intervention, or RtI, is the law in Illinois. RtI is organized around three tiers of achievement. Typically, 80 to 85 percent of all students demonstrate mastery of proficiency standards with the support they receive in their classroom. This is considered Tier I instruction.

Students in Tiers II and III need more intensive supports to reach proficiency on standards. Districts are required to have processes in place to identify students who need extra assistance to be successful.

Professional Learning Communities and Response to Intervention are systems that support one of the district's important guiding principles, which is to personalize learning for students.

In addition, PLCs and RtI promote shared ownership of students, with all staff taking responsibility for the learning of all students.

During Acceleration Time, students are flexibly grouped and receive individualized support based on need. Their placements are reassessed frequently as teachers move through units of instruction and as students improve their skills.

Students who achieve proficiency. or improve to the point that they have mastered learning standards. participate in enrichment opportunities tailored to student interest. This type of frequent review of data and student growth decreases the chance that students will slip through the cracks.

Students not making expected progress after four to six weeks will receive a change in intervention that would include increased individualization.

Some examples of middle school enrichment units include experiences such as the "Wonder" book study with an acts of kindness service project, sketch noting, learning American Sign Language, coding, and solving "crimes" with forensic techniques.

Acceleration Time is just one example of District 205's first belief statement in action: All students must learn and grow.

• David Moyer is superintendent of Elmhurst Unit District 205. During the school year, his column runs monthly in Neighbor.