District 54 task force focuses on whole child success
When District 54 adopted the mission of Ensuring Student Success, we were not referring only to academic success. Rather, our focus has always been on supporting the development and growth of the whole child - academically, as well as socially and emotionally.
What do we mean by the whole child? The District 54 Strategic Planning Committee has developed three goals:
• District 54 will ensure success of the whole child grounded in the belief that each child deserves to be healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged utilizing comprehensive approaches and programming.
• District 54 will perform in the top 10 percent of all schools, as measured by state and local assessments, in reading and math growth and proficiency.
• District 54 will close the achievement gap for all students in reading and math, as measured by state and local assessments.
The first goal places a heavy focus on social-emotional learning. Social-emotional learning deals with a student's ability to manage their emotions, demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behavior, maintain positive relationships, control stress and develop other interpersonal skills to achieve success not only in school, but also in life.
I'm excited to share that this year the District 54 Social Emotional Task Force was created with 98 members representing all 28 schools and all grade levels. The task force examined current practices related to social-emotional programming in the district and wrote social-emotional learning outcomes modeled after the outcomes we have for core subject areas such as math and literacy.
These essential outcomes define what goals we have for students at the end of each grade level, and are based on the core principles of positive psychology, resiliency research findings and Illinois' social-emotional learning standards.
As I mentioned in previous articles, all of our employees have been trained on Harvard researcher Shawn Achor's work on the impact of positive psychology. We know that when we are positive, our brains are more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient and productive. This is what we want for our students.
The Social-Emotional Learning Task Force also developed lesson plans; designed professional development for staff; created guidelines for how to embed social-emotional instruction across the school day; and discussed how to provide rich home/school connection.
The staff training also focuses on what the adults in the school can do to supplement the lessons, such as modeling these social-emotional competencies; positively greeting their students by name each day, providing a classroom culture that is welcoming; asking questions to help students solve problems on their own; and giving students choices.
The Task Force presented specific recommendations to the District 54 Strategic Planning Committee March 6 and will present to the school board in April.
In keeping with the positive psychology principles and in celebration of #54Happiness Month in March, I want to express my gratitude to the members of this task force who are truly focused on whole child success.