Will District #150 implement the 5Essentials Survey?

Source

The District is known for picking and choosing which State requirement they will comply with. Hopefully they will choose to comply with the 5Essentials Survey; it could provide some very useful information:

Survey dates: February 4 –March 31, 2013
Web site: https://illinois.5-essentials.org
Details: 5Essentials Frequently Asked Questions
Sample: Student Survey Questions

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey, required to be implemented this school year by legislation passed in 2011, represents the first attempt by a state to administer a statewide survey of learning conditions to teachers, students, and parents.

Between February 4, 2013 and March 31, students in grades 6-12 will be given time during one of their classes to participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. The survey is conducted online through the University of Chicago, on behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education.

In taking the survey students have the unique opportunity to comment on and make an impact on their own school environment. While staff will administer the online survey:

Students’ identities will be completely confidential.

Teachers or administrators will never see individual responses to survey questions only summary level responses, such as the percentage of students’ who agree homework assignments help them learn the course material.

If you are the parent of a middle or high school student and you do not want your child to participate in this survey, please contact your junior high or high school student’s school office on Monday, February 4. To view student survey questions, click here. Please DO NOT have your child take this survey at home to avoid duplication of information.

ABOUT THE SURVEY
Across Illinois, parents, teachers, and high school and junior high students are being invited to take part in improving their school environment by participating in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. This survey was designed to generate a detailed picture of the inner workings of our schools by gathering individual thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness.

The 5Essentials Survey identifies five indicators that can lead to important student outcomes, including test score gains. The research shows that schools that are excellent in 3 out of 5 show 10 times the potential for improvement. The five indicators that effect school success are:

Effective leaders
Collaborative teachers
Involved families
Supportive environments
Ambitious instruction

Based on 20 years of research conducted by the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research in more than 400 schools, the 5Essentials have been shown to be strongly predictive of school improvement. For more information about the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, or to view sample school reports, please visit https://illinois.5-essentials.org.

Statewide summary results will be shared with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) this summer. School-level results will also be sent to schools this summer. A portion of the results will be part of the 2013 school report cards, typically released by ISBE at the end of October.

Rampant speculation about AYP scores

Speculation is rampant that only two schools in District 150 may have made AYP for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Scores that currently appear on the ISBE website appear to be incomplete. However, one of our more astute education bloggers "Jon" speculates as follows:

He who laughs last, laughs best

With all that is going on with Manual lately, it got me to thinking about Dr. Kherat. When I followed the link on the "What's going on with Manual Academy" post below to re-read an earlier post. The post reads:

Sources tell 1470 WMBD Dr. Kherat has accepted a job in the Springfield School District's Central office, where she will serve as a turnaround officer. This evening, WMBD31 reported that Kherat expressed her dislike of the the constant changes required by the turnaround process as one of her reasons to leave Manual.

Just a littlle bit ago Emerge Peoria got word that all 150 Principals were called to a meeting. That tidbit was followed up by this post:

Sharon Crews said...

And guess who the presenter from Springfield is at the principals' meeting-Sharon Kherat. Disgruntled employees-fired or resigned, may come back to haunt Lathan. Thursday, 10/06/2011

From what I can find, Dr. Kherat is listed as a Transformation Officer for Springfield Lanphier. The State of Illinois recently created a State turnaround office and they need highly qualified professionals. It is possible that Transformation Officers may work in more than one location. Dr. Kherat would certainly qualify, considering her turnaround experience at Manual. How ironic would that be, if at some point, Dr. Kherat had some input in the turnaround efforts of District 150?

About the Illinois State Board of Education's ("ISBE") turnaround office:

On January 1, 2010, a Task Force reporting on "Innovation, Intervention, and Restructuring", advised that the ISBE should create an effective process for monitoring and oversight of the turnaround school effort. It was highly recommended that the ISBE create a designated unit within the agency that has authority and resources to oversee the lead and supporting partners’ efforts as well as to track and share best practices and collect data on effectiveness. The ISBE was advised to develop an oversight office whether or not they receive funding through Race to the Top.

Turnaround/transformation officers provide coaching to district and school leadership as well as professional development for school administrators engaged in school turnaround and transformation. • Lead, in collaboration with school principal and district leaders, school transformation and turnaround initiatives to meet the requirements of school improvement grant 1003G including progress monitoring and reporting. • Evaluate instructional programs and provide professional development and feedback to teachers • Support family and community engagement initiatives as outlined in district SIG plans • Provide guidance and support on initiatives to the school site on a daily basis.

Title 1 helps give every parent a voice in their child's education

I have been watching closely as President Obama reviews NCLB and makes revisions. The part I am particularly concerned about is Title 1 as it relates to parental involvement. So far, he has left it alone and I am hopeful that he will continue to be hands off, because it has several components that could actually give schools some help in making a difference in increasing parental involvement.

ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS (for NCLB accountability purposes, charter schools are treated like all other public schools, as they are public schools) are required to have Title I services that include meaningful parental involvement policies (agreed upon by a parental advisory group) and school practices that lead to increased student achievement. I personally believe that development of parental advisory groups are important in urban (inner city) schools, because middle class parents are usually in governance roles (e.g. PTO), even though the larger population is low-income parents, who for what ever reason, are more than likely not inclined to be members of a school's PTO.

State: Channing violates federal parental involvement law

ELGIN — Channing Memorial Elementary School in Elgin is in violation of the parent involvement requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

ISBE’s findings were presented to the Elgin School District U46 Board of Education by Channing parent Krista Badani at Monday night’s regular board meeting.

Badani, of Elgin, is one of 59 parents who filed a complaint with ISBE in February that the school was not involving parents, a requirement to receive federal Title I funds. That was after “parents did everything within our means to bring attention to the problems and get the district to comply with these federal guidelines,” she said.

They joined the U46 Citizens Advisory Council’s Committee for Family and Community Engagement; spoke to the district’s director of communication, chief of family and community engagement and school board; and sent emails and copies of Title I requirements for parent involvement to Gonzalez and U46 Superintendent Jose Torres. They also met with officials from the Kane County Regional Office of Education and sought guidance from ISBE, according to Badani.

“What astounds us most is that even when parents follow protocol and the chain of command, remain polite, and bring forth data and evidence of wrongdoing, this administration and the school board continue to fail by their inaction. … Somehow along the way, the administration has forgotten that this is about what is best for the children and families at Channing, the lowest-performing school in the district,” she said.

Knew about concerns - Torres admitted Monday, “We had heard concerns about Title I parent involvement. We believed they had been addressed.”

No Child Left Behind makes Title I funding available to provide supplemental instructional services for specific students — or entire schools — who have been identified as failing, or most at risk of failing, to met state standards, according to the ISBE website.

And it agreed with parents Channing is in violation of No Child Left Behind by not having a parent involvement policy, a parent-school compact developed with parents or Title I meetings.

30-day deadline - Those findings give the school and district 30 days to ensure parents are part of the school support team, develop a written parental involvement policy with parents and revise its parent-school compact to include input from parents. The document also gives U46 three months to prove a Title I meeting was held at the school and that parents were involved.

Gonzalez took a leave of absence from the school in February, and U46 announced he would not return as principal in mid-March. The district has declined to comment on the reason for his leave and said he has asked to be reassigned to a classroom for next school year. Badani said parents have not gotten a response from the district about Title I funds, but it has met with Stewart.

“She, in turn, has shown us that she is indeed excited to work with families to achieve great things at our school,” she said. “We are confident that together, with her leadership and actions, we will get there.” Source

The changing make-up of the District 150 BOE

Christopher Crawford

On July 1, 2010, the District 150 Board of Education ("BOE") will hold their annual organizational meeting. At that time, they will swear in new BOE member Chris Crawford, who is replacing outgoing BOE member Dr. David Gorenz. They will also elect a Chairman and Secretary Pro Tempore, along with a new President and Vice President. In November, when Rachael Parker takes her seat at the County Board, there will be another vacancy to fill on the BOE.

With the changing political landscape of being a member of a BOE, recently I have been questioning what type of training do BOE members receive. I know that the ISBE offers training - but do local BOE members take it? How do new members of the BOE learn what their role is - history?

The challenges faced by BOE members are huge. As this District is an urban school district where we are dealing with failing schools and issues of equality in education, much of what the BOE does is receiving constant scrutiny from citizens and political leaders alike.

If the board itself does not appear to have a solid understanding of it's governance responsibilities, how is a new BOE member to proceed? If history doesn't reveal what it should look like, how can we the public demand board accountability going forward?

I like these board members, so I won't use the lipstick/pig analogy, but can we trust that this is more than just a change in make-up, or are we destined for more of the same?

Code of Conduct for members of school boards