90-day reviews help schools' improvement process
Accountability for student learning. Continuous improvement. Data-driven decisions.
These are several of the phrases that are used to define the type of work that occurs in every District 54 school on a daily basis.
Our teachers and support staff constantly look for ways to improve their teaching and student learning. Their No. 1 goal is to help every student achieve at the highest level possible. Over the past several years, our district has clearly defined its goals and expected outcomes, regularly monitors student progress at both the individual school and district levels, and makes adjustments to the instructional program, as necessary.
Winning sports teams, successful businesses and effective school districts are relentless about seeking out and using data to improve their current performance. Following an accountability practice that many businesses utilize, we have incorporated a 90-day review cycle into the school improvement process.
District 54's school improvement plan calls for an increased emphasis on accountability and building-wide responsibility for student learning. Throughout the year, staff members work together to examine state, district and classroom assessment data. This information helps to determine how their students are progressing and becomes the foundation as they develop their building and individual student learning goals.
The school improvement process also requires school teams to present their plan to the district early in the school year. After approval is received, the plan is again formally reviewed with this same team every 90 days.
The emphasis in these meetings is to support schools in refining their instructional practices to improve student learning. In addition, the information that is shared by each school team is utilized as the basis to continuously fine-tune the types of district-level supports that are provided.
The concept behind the 90-day review cycle is that it is a long enough period of time to significantly impact student learning, yet short enough to allow for any adjustments that are needed based on student growth data.
The school improvement model that we use includes the following seven components:
Ÿ An instructional plan to engage all learners
Ÿ Specific support systems to strengthen interventions for struggling learners and enrichment opportunities for advanced learners
Ÿ The monitoring of classroom and district assessments
Ÿ A professional learning plan to continually build the instructional expertise of our staff
Ÿ An emphasis on sustaining a culture that supports collaboration and the professional learning community framework
Ÿ Strategies that promote the philosophy of “success for all” and “failure is not an option”
Ÿ A focus on strengthening parent and community partnerships.
We currently are in the process of completing this year's second 90-day review. In preparation, each school has been evaluating their action plan, carefully analyzing student performance data, monitoring individual student growth, and refining their instructional programs to address areas in need of improvement.
District 54 students continue to experience high levels of achievement, as evidenced on state, district and local assessments. An independent benchmark study that was recently completed indicated that our students continue to make significant growth in every area.
Our educators are passionate about helping their students be successful and committed to doing whatever they can to meet District 54's mission of ensuring student success.