Monthly Archives: October 2015

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Public Information from the IL State Board of Education

“Nothing matters more than the ownership of a vision.”
– Bill Hybels

This post is a press release from the Illinois State Board of  Education regarding the release today of all school district report cards in the state. From time to time I use the blog to share public information as another avenue to inform the public on the macro/grand scale of public education in Illinois.

 

IL

For Immediate Release
Oct. 30, 2015

2015 Report Card released with new features to better reflect school climate and student progress

Changes underway to report the first Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) scores

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) continues to enhance its Report Card with new metrics and features available this year that show a more complete picture of school climate and students’ progress toward college and career readiness.For more information on the 2015 Report Card and its new metrics and data, visit the ISBE Hot Topics page at www.isbe.net/hot-topics.htm.

“Illinois’ award-winning Report Card is a model for other states to provide in-depth, meaningful data about school learning environments in an easily accessible format,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “It’s a valuable tool that helps parents and community members understand and evaluate a school’s landscape, climate, academic performance, strengths, and opportunities.”

The 2015 Report Card at www.illinoisreportcard.com currently includes information about postsecondary enrollment, freshmen on track, principal turnover, teacher retention, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, and district-level financial information.

imagesReport Card data involving student academic growth and achievement on the state assessment is not yet available as Illinois awaits district-, school-, and student-level results for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test. The Report Card will be updated with district- and school-level data later this school year.

The 2015 Report Card is also available to the media at ftp://ftp.isbe.net/schoolreportcard.

In addition to enhanced returning features, this year’s Report Card includes the following new metrics and features:

  • Percentage of Eighth Graders Passing Algebra I: This metric reports the percentage of students who have passed Algebra I by eighth grade. Courses taken during any summer session are NOT included in this calculation. A student enrolled at any Illinois public school on or before Sept. 30, 2014, and on or after May 1, 2015, is assigned to the last district enrolled for the school year. This metric, as required by Public Act 097-0671, provides a more detailed look at students’ math comprehension before they enter high school.
  • Enhanced Educator Data: This feature reflects data gathered from ISBE’s Employment Information System (EIS). Several educator characteristics are now viewable on the Report Card in new displays, including teacher demographics, teacher retention, pupil-teacher ratio, teacher education, teacher salary, principal turnover, pupil-administrator ratio, administrator salary, and pupil-certified staff ratio. This is the first year the Report Card will offer completed educator data from the 2013 and 2014 school years. This metric was implemented in response to Section 10-17 a (2) (E) of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/10-17a).
  • Health and Wellness Metric (Coming Soon): This metric, which will be updated on the Report Card site later this year, will report the average number of days that each student attends physical education class per week. The metric is in response to theEnhance Physical Education Task Force, which recommends enhancing physical education to increase student wellness, and Section 10-17a (2) (B) of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/10-17a).

ISBE staff is also modifying how the Report Card will display results from the first administration of the new PARCC test. Students in grades 3-8 and some high school students took the PARCC test beginning in March 2015. In September, the state released preliminary statewide results for the PARCC test. Once roithe district- and school-level results are available, parents and community members will be able to see how many students performed at each of the five performance levels in English language arts and math by grade level in elementary school and by course level in high school.

The 2015 PARCC scores are taking additional time to produce as Illinois educators and their colleagues review students’ work to determine the performance level threshold scores. The new PARCC test replaced the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and the Prairie State Achievement Exam (PSAE). As such, the PARCC results will be represented on the Report Card separately from the previous ISAT and PSAE data. The 2015 PARCC scores provide a new baseline for measuring student progress moving forward. Therefore, the PARCC test results cannot be compared to ISAT and PSAE scores.

Additional information about how to access and interpret PARCC scores on the Report Card will be released later this year. More details about what to expect from the PARCC results are available on ISBE’s new PARCC Place website and posted on the Hot Topics page atwww.isbe.net/hot-topics.htm?col2=open#CollapsiblePanel2.

ISBE has produced the School Report Card since 1986 for every public school and district in Illinois. In October 2013, ISBE unveiled a new, redesigned Report Card that provides a more complete picture of student learning and school climate in a user-friendly format. In 2014, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) identified Illinois as having the best report card out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for its accessible accountability reports.

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Reflections from AASA Personalized Learning Summit

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
– John C. Maxwell

Recently I had the good fortune to enhance my leadership knowledge by interacting with superintendents and school system leaders from 24 US states and the District of Columbia at a Personalized Learning Summit through the American Association of School Administrators, the AASA. The amazing experiences of my peers and colleagues help strengthen my ability to lead and serve in the community where I have the privilege of working as the superintendent of schools. My recent leadership journey brought me to the beautiful state of Utah with majestic mountain tops and vistas – quite impressive for an Illinois native like myself! We visited schools, an amazing public library space, we watched a film and interacted with the director/producer, and we engaged in thinking, planning, defining, and leadership development.

engagement

I am so grateful to have a Board as supportive as the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Board. They encourage me to seek professional growth and development opportunities on behalf of the school district. I am a better and more impactful leader as a result of the amazing and powerful leadership experiences in which I can lead and participate. Leaders came from all over the USA: IL, OH, KY, TN, ME, NJ, NY, AK, CA, AR, MN, MA, MI, MO, VA, ID, UT, OK, WY, GA, WA, AL, TX, AZ – all in all 24 states and the District of Columbia. The richness of experience and the depth of differences, similarities, scale, creativity, etc. was really impressive. Regardless of our community or district demographic we all serve for the same calling. Our collective aim is to improve educational outcomes for all chilren in all settings.

 

We superintendents all serve school boards, communities, students, teachers, school systems and the business world. We all aim to support engaged learning environments designed to support and strengthen student learning for all students. We all have a calling to serve and a mission to improve our systems.

As I have written in the past, we are committed to engaged learning, personalized learning, and community engagement. As I have also written in the past, we have but ONE chance to support a child’s learning experiences in public education. The child has one chance at 1st grade, one chance at 8th grade – it’s imperative that we act with urgency to provide the BEST, most excellent educational system for ALL children – all the time. During my time in Utah – a really beautiful and rugged terrain and part of the world – I felt the sense of urgency to act, lead, support our awesome teachers, to support our precious students, to lead with passion! One of the amazing learning institutions I visited on the journey is called Innovations Early College High School and Career & Technical Center. Wow! What an impressive place for a public high school student to learn, grow, excel, and become a productive member of society.

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I took notes during my visit to Innovations High School in Salt Lake City and I’m sharing highlights in this post. During the visit we had the chance to meet the principal, teachers, students, parents, the superintendent, we toured the school, and we learned what a high school – a public high school – open to ALL students – looked like in a personalized learning environment. The visit was powerful and the lessons will be shared with the leadership team and Board of Education in my district. Lessons learned will be applied to improve the already great education in DPS109 so that we may become OUTSTANDING – for ALL learners every day.
Some of the highlights of this innovative and quite different school where students have a voice in their pace, goals, future, planning, and learning (see image below from one of the walls):
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-Every child has an adult mentor and they meet weekly
-Integrated coursework
-Teacher collaboration
-The content is personalized, individualized, and differentiated – truly personal pathways
-Flexible teacher day
-Class meetings are designed like our traditional “classes” – students may attend meetings for direct instruction from and with teachers and tutors
-One on one small groups meeting coaching
-Competency based assessments
-Tied to state standards
-Teacher has access to online system
-Counselor role for teachers
-Constant professional growth, weekly PLC (professional learning community)
-Weekly Faculty meetings
-80% mastery – students do not complete courses until they master content
-Traditional school system doesn’t work for everyone
Some highlights of our conversations with parents about why they or their child chose Innovations:
Parents chose school because “Daughter was bored at traditional school, they came here for a change”
The parents like that the students must prove competency in subjects – no social promotion!
Other parents “Wanted child to love school and enjoy learning – they get to go at own pace  – this school benefits all learners [lo med hi] – the children are genuinely engaged”.
Another parent shared that “My child wanted to come here after a rough time in gifted program at traditional Jr. High. She is twice exceptional and she didn’t fit in. [Child] petitioned mom to agree to enroll in this new concept school”. Mom reports that now the family is very pleased.
A parent commented that at Innovations all personnel have “respect for students”, she went on to comment that it’s “inhumane how we treat kids” in traditional schools.
leadimage
Overall this was a really cool school with impressive organization. Personalization, innovation , and engagement are real here – every day for ALL children.
Other highlights include career and technical certifications, dual enrollment with local community college and so much more!

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

In DPS109 we are on a path toward transformative learning environments, we are proud to differentiate and individualize education. Our journey will lead us to personalized learning pathways!

Stay tuned as our adventure in education continues!

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Structural Change – What is School? – #Engage109

“Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away.”
– James B. Stockdale

We in education are grappling with perhaps the largest challenge to structural schooling in the history of the modern era! What is school for? Are we optimizing the greatest force for supporting and sustaining our democratic way of life? How do we ensure that the public school system is fully functional and designed to support a future unknown in this Information Age?

I’m a student of leadership. I’m a student of structural change. I’m working to lead our school system and our community for educational needs of today and not for yesterday’s needs. Beyond rhetoric and admiration of problems, I subscribe to proposals of change and I subscribe to what I am and what we are “FOR” not “against”.

I’ve often wrote about how it is incumbent upon us in education to focus on the newness, freshness, and excitement for each student each day. Every day is a new day for our students. Only one time to “do” first grade, for example; in most school experiences there are no “do overs” for these high impact life experiences. Often I ponder questions like these:

How can we make school, the system created in the 19th Century, relevant for today’s learners?

How can we make school, the system from Horace Mann’s era, meaningful for today’s learners?

How can me make school, the system resistant to change for so long, open to change for our future?

There are some ways to change school systems, but most have not been done so there are not many examples of effective structural change. We in change leadership are pioneers embarking upon the very essence of society and the essence of our place in history. From the 1980’s “A Nation at Risk” to the 2000’s “No Child Left Behind”, to today – we have been

The major findings - distilling from millions of studies on what works.

The major findings – distilling from millions of studies on what works.

bombarded by what is “Wrong” with schools. Well, the Illinois Vision 20/20, of which our district is on record supporting, and creative leaders like Sir Ken Robinson and John Hattie are sharing thoughts and research (proof) about what changes can do.

In pursuit of my own leadership development and growth I am studying personalized learning. This year’s focus from the superintendent’s office is PIE: Personalization, Innovation, and Engagement. This year we are co-hosting innovationa community screening of the film Most Likely to Succeed on November 9, 2015, at the Deerfield High School Auditorium. From an email I sent to the community:

Click to learn more about the film, and to view the trailer.
The educational leaders of both school districts have chosen to show the film community-wide because we believe that it will generate important conversations that will help guide our schools’ transformation. It will allow us to start forming our collective vision of what the education of students in the School District 109 & 113 communities should look like. After the evening screening of the film at Deerfield High School, Joe Taylor, Assistant Principal for STEAM Instruction & Director of Instructional Technology at Deerfield High School, and Marcie Faust, Director for Innovative Learning for District 109, will be part of a panel discussion and Q&A session, moderated by District 109 Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld. The panel discussion will last 25-30 minutes.

Please click here to RSVP so we can get an idea of the number of people who will be attending. This isn’t a binding RSVP – if your plans change at the last minute, or friends convince you to join them, please come. We want you there!

 

personalizationI’m part of a national leadership team studying innovation and personalization from Utah. Please see this TEDx Video about this topic:

I’m convinced we can and we will change education for the better and we will Engage, Inspire and Empower our students for now and more important FOR THEIR FUTURES!

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

National Principal Appreciation Month

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“Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it.”
– Mia Hamm

More reflections from the WGEDD conference in celebration of National Principal Month, Illinois Principal Appreciation Week (10/19-10/23). Research reinforces that great principals are second only to great teachers in the classroom in terms of impact on student learning and growth. In DPS109 we are fortunate to have great, dedicated principals in our schools. We are fortunate too for the great associate, assistant principals and directors and coordinators and district administrators – as a team we lead for students. As superintendent of schools one source of reward and pride comes from guiding, coaching, mentoring, evaluating, and leading the principals. I learn so much about student learning, teacher teaching and impact and student learning from spending quality time with principals.

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As part of my professional growth and development I attended the What Great Educators Do Differently conference in Deerfield. At this conference I listened, learned, led, reflected, hit my “reset button” and gained a great deal from the palpable energy from the hundreds of participants representing 19 US states and Canada. The multiple perspectives allow for multiple options to solve problems of practice.

One of the workshops I attended focused on: Great Schools Need Great Principals

Principal Leadership
At an Ed Camp Un-conference experience led by Dwight Carter from Columbus, Ohio @Dwight_Carter on Twitter, I joined 30 educational leaders in this break out session TX, IL, OH, IN, UT, IA, CO, & WI. Together, with perspectives from across the United States we discussed challenges and strategies to overcome challenges focused on 21st Century leadership.

I’m sharing excerpts of my notes of some challenges and strategies:

  • Some challenges shared from leaders (highlights shared by leaders)
    getting all day to day stuff still get into classrooms – Time Management
    technology challenges – use, improve efficacy of it, help teachers learn how to use
    life balance – work/family
    20th Century model of education – leading in the current times against old model
    balancing different places of staff
    using technology in setting where there are banned sites
    addressing facility concerns/challenges
    manger vs leader – manager and leader
  • Strategies to overcome challenges (highlights shared by leaders)
    trading time – go home in evening and do paperwork on weekend – balance
    walk through halls – don’t go back to office for a few hours – be present in school
    work with spouse and family – be conscious about responsibilities and priorities
    ask administrative assistant to schedule class visits – be disciplined
    charge $5.00 if you miss a class visit – idea for accountability
    work with life coach – get external help to manage time and work
    use technology for reminders and make a routine of this
    share leadership – i.e. joint writing of blog, weekly memo, joint presentation for professional learning
    prep walks – meet with teachers while they are on their prep time, not always visit for evaluation

This workshop session, the challenges and solutions discussed and debated, and the whole WGEDD reinforced for me the value of connected leadership and connected educational leaders. The actual practitioners identifying actual problems of practice and taking the time to learn from leaders with many perspectives serves to improve each and every one of our own leadership abilities.

As a superintendent of schools I gain energy from leadership tips, techniques, and strategies so I can support the district and school administrators so they can best support teacher efficacy and excellence so that students can always learn and grow!

Reminder/review from literature/research …
Teachers account for 33% of the effects on student learning…principals account for 25% of the school effects on student learning AND also impact the hiring, training, and retention of teachers (Marzano et al 2005)

42% … “everything else” … who the students are etc.

In consideration of the EFFECT on STUDENT achievement of school and teacher effectiveness, check the chart below (excerpted from a collection of sources including the Marzano team on school leadership):

Consider if a student arrives/performs at 50th %ile (normal/average performance) and then:

A. they are enrolled in an average school placed with an average teacher – in at 50 leave at 50 – no real impact on learning (generally speaking)

B. they are enrolled in the least effective school and placed with the least effective teacher, the student will come in at 50 and leaves at the 3rd percentile (educationally speaking it is possible that the student never recovers)

C. they are enrolled in the most effective school and least effective teacher, they come in at 50 out at 37th – the student still has chance

D. Power of effective teachers: the student is enrolled in the least effective school and most effective teacher, they come in at 50th and leave at 96th

E. Power of the principal/school – the student comes in to the most effective school and is placed with the average teacher, they come in at the 50th and leave at 78th – not as good as excellent teacher and effective school – but see the power of effective school – GREAT SCHOOLS MUST HAVE GREAT PRINCIPALS WHO SELECT AND DEVELOP GREAT TEACHERS – OUR STUDENTS DESERVE THIS!

Essential to work on culture and leadership at school level, select for excellence with rigor and tenacity and to focus our work and our impact on excellence!

personalization

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Superintendent Reflections -#Engage109

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

What Great educators do differently

Today I had the good fortune to learn more about effective leadership and service at the inaugural What Great Educators Do Differently professional conference. Together with educators from 19 US states and Canada gathered for an invigorating set journeyof inspiring experiences centered around greatness and education. The legendary Todd Whitaker was the kick off keynote speaker. The lessons Todd has been sharing for years in the multiple published books and articles about what great educators do differently make sense each and every time I learn from and with him. Great educators love their job, love their work, love the students and love the impact and legacy they make on families and communities.

I am lucky.
I work with hundreds of great educators every day! I lead with great leaders every day! I serve with great educators who do their craft and our work differently every day.

I am lucky.
I have a Board of Education that supports vision, strategy, fiscal responsibility and student learning. I am a connected educator, a progressive thinker, a constructivist, an advocate for technology in support of learning, a maker advocate, a relationship builder, an organizational culture believer, etc. I aim each and every day to be different and make a difference.

The work of a superintendent is bizarre at times. It is mired in complex interpersonal relations and organizational psychology. It is also incredibly rewarding to take an immensely diverse and different group of teachers and unite innovationthem in a shared vision on behalf of kids every day. It is incredibly challenging to blend varied experiences, varied interests, varied abilities, etc. I am a student of the Big 5 Personality Theory that (briefly) suggests that people will act and live somewhere on the continuum of the following:

Introversion – Extraversion
Disagreeableness – Agreeableness
Neuroticism – Emotional Stability
Close-mindedness – Openness To Experience
Low Conscientiousness – High Conscientiousness

Ideally we seek and support and multiply more people on the right side of the continuum above. We seek those most likely to support the future. We select one more like our best and we support and equip for excellence!
Over the past twenty years I have been privileged to serve community growth and development as a teacher and as a leader. Nothing is more noble in my opinion (my biased opinion) as teaching and facilitating growth and development of children and communities. I have served communities in three counties with students from 9 villages and towns and from every economic and social group.

Great educators serve all students with respect and honor and dignity. Great educators listen and seek to learn and work within student interest areas to impact education. Great educators welcome parent involvement. Great educators incorporate the most effective techniques, old, new, and not yet imagined. Great educators accept and embrace change.

In the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 in Lake County, Illinois, we have nearly 3000 students in grades PK-8 in six schools with nearly 400 staff members. Each of us brings a wealth of experiences and hopes and dreams to work every day. Each of us tries his or her hardest every day to do better than their best every day because our students deserve excellence.

We have been “moving the cheese” so to speak for the past 30 months as a leadership team. We are aware that our staff have been asked to work harder than in the past. We are aware that our staff are asked to do differently that which they have been doing because our world has changed. Our staff will always be valued for impacting student learning and for leaving a legacy of love, care, high expectations, and great experiences. I hope all of our staff members can move to the right on the Open to Experience continuum as we introduce effective techniques for learning and teaching. We hope that together we can honor the past, celebrate what is universal, and open our hearts and minds to what we may not yet understand. The variety of experiences make us stronger as an organization.

It is incumbent upon us to prepare our students for their future. That means we are open to experience and we are agreeable and willing to try new learning experiences and new techniques in a continual effort to make student learning better today than it was yesterday and better tomorrow than it is today!

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

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Special Education Climate Survey 2015 – #Engage109

“Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence–only in constant improvement and constant change.”
– Tom Peters

Engage, Inspire, Empower – these words drive our vision and our mission in Deerfield Public Schools, District 109. We are Future Ready, we have made great gains in We are Future Ready!science, technology, engineering, and mathematics K-8. We have impressive, world class facilities and we select excellent staff and administrators! We have tons to be proud of.

We never rest on our laurels and we aim daily to go from good to great or from great to more great. Part of this relentless focus on excellence is shown in the data informed leadership from multiple stakeholders. Recently, in partnership with K12Insight, we administered a special education perceptions survey to parents and staff. All staff were invited to take the survey and all parents of children who leadquotehave an IEP were invited to take the survey as well. Survey data like this guides us, informs us, provides check-ins and check ups and allows us to best serve our students.

The presentation made to the Board of Education on Monday, October 5, 2015, is embedded below. We are so proud to show positive growth:

86% of parents were completely or somewhat satisfied with the quality of the special education and related services their child received this year, which is 9 percent higher than in 2014.

90% of employees said special education students are receiving quality services.

And we are equally proud to show in what areas we have growth opportunities:

55% of employees who have been in co-teaching environments said they do not have adequate support from district leadership for co-teaching. Forty-nine percent of employees who have been in co-teaching environment said they do not have adequate support from school leadership for co-teaching.

31% of employees rated assistive technology services and 25 percent rated professional development in assistive technology as fair or poor.

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER

ENGAGE, INSPIRE, EMPOWER