Schaumburg Community Consolidated

School District 54

District Information

District Name: Schaumburg Community Consolidated School District 54
District Address:  524 E. Schaumburg Road, Schaumburg, IL 60194
District Phone: (847) 357-5000
District Fax: (847) 357-5006
Superintendent: Edward Rafferty
Superintendent Email: EdRafferty@sd54.org

Demographics

Number of Students:  13,864
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 13.1%
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 14.6%
Percent of Special Education: 15.6%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

• White 49.8%
• Black 6.8%
• Hispanic 18.3%
• Asian/Pacific Island: 19.5%
• Other 5.6%

Schools in District:

Elementary Schools

Aldrin
Armstrong
Blackwell
Campanelli
Churchill
Collins
Dirksen
Dooley
Einstein
Enders-Salk
Fairview
Fox
Hale
Hanover Highlands
Hoover
Lakeview
Lincoln Prairie
Link
MacArthur
Muir
Nerge
Stevenson

Junior High Schools

Addams Jr. High
Eisenhower Jr. High
Frost Jr. High
Keller Jr. High
Mead Jr. High

Student Achievement Data:

The following charts demonstrate the percentage of students who meet and exceed state standards based on Illinois standardized tests. In charts with two numbers, the first number represents District 54 students and the second number represents all Illinois students. The first chart only lists District 54 scores as state scores have not yet been released for 2009.

All Grades	Math	Reading	Science
2008-09	93.1	87.5	88.7
2007-08	93.5	87.4	87.0
2006-07	91.9	85.0	90.6
2005-06	89.9	82.7	90.5
2004-05	80.4	76.2	84.5

Source: Illinois Standards Achievement Tests, Illinois Measures of Annual Growth in English and Illinois Alternative Assessments.

 

Grade 3	Math	Reading
2007-08	94/85	82/72
2006-07	95/87	82/73
2005-06	92/85	79/70

 

Grade 4	Math	Reading	Science
2007-08	94/84	83/74	85/76
2006-07	95/86	86/73	91/80
2005-06	92/85	82/73	90/79

 

Grade 5	Math	Reading
2007-08	92/81	85/73
2006-07	93/83	82/70
2005-06	90/79	79/68

 

Grade 6	Math	Reading
2007-08	94/83	89/79
2006-07	93/81	86/73
2005-06	93/79	85/72

 

Grade 7	Math	Reading	Science
2007-08	91/80	89/78	89/79
2006-07	92/79	86/73	90/73
2005-06	90/76	81/72	91/81

 

Grade 8	Math	Reading
2007-08	91/80	91/81
2006-07	92/81	90/82
2005-06	89/79	88/79

Source: Illinois Standards Achievement Tests

 

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

District 54 is the largest elementary school district in the state of Illinois featuring a diverse collection of 27 schools. Prior to the implementation of PLC principles, there was tremendous variance in schooling experiences for students across the district. In four short years, PLCs have been instrumental in bringing the entire school system into focus and in providing students with the educational experiences they truly need in order to be successful. Today, more than ever, District 54 is living up to its credo of “Ensuring Student Success.” PLC implementation has been the number one factor in our resurgence.

Fairview Elementary School gained 24 points on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test for reading in four years. In 2005, 69.5 percent of its students were meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, as measured by the ISAT. In 2008, 93.8 percent of students were meeting or exceeding state standards. The school’s principal and staff credit this achievement to the concepts adherent in the PLC model: data-driven instruction, teacher accountability for all students, a school schedule with intervention time, identified essential outcomes and common assessments.

Fox Elementary School saw an even greater gain. In 2005, 59.5 percent of Fox students were meeting or exceeding state reading standards on ISAT. By 2008, 91.3 percent of Fox students were meeting or exceeding standards. This increase occurred at a school with a mobility rate of 21 percent and a low-income rate of 28 percent, where 35 different languages are spoken by the students and their families. Math scores also climbed from 76 percent in 2005 to 98 percent in 2008.

In addition to evaluating district, school and individual results on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and other assessments, District 54 conducted a Benchmarking Study over the last three years. As part of this study, our consultant (the Chaos Group) compiled a ranking of the 765 school districts in Illinois, based on academics, finances and value/expectations. Our ranking rose from 143 in 2006 to 96 in the state in 2008.

 

Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

Our PLC journey began in the summer of 2005, when all administrators read Whatever it Takes and attended staff development on PLCs facilitated directly by Dr. Rick DuFour and Becky DuFour. This two-day training proved to be critical in ensuring a common vocabulary and shared understanding of the PLC framework was in place across District 54. In addition to small school teams from all buildings, SEA and SEEO union leadership were invited to participate in this initial training to clarify concerns and solidify an understanding of the direction our district was heading. Many administrators immediately took the information to their buildings and started book clubs and other professional development opportunities.

The first step to forming collaborative teams is having all staff members involved in drafting the mission, vision, collective commitments and goals. At a district level, a Board Goals Committee was created during the 2006-07 school year to write such a document. This committee included board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, parents, community members and students. In addition to offering input, committee members were responsible for sharing information with their colleagues as the mission, vision, collective commitments and goals were being developed.

The new mission became the foundation for the next steps. A Goals Communication Committee was formed to ensure that all staff members, parents and students were aware of the new mission, vision, collective commitments and goals. The mission of a school district is essential to its success – however, that only holds true if all stakeholders understand and embrace that mission.

As part of this process we also adopted three goals for the district. One of these goals was that “At least 90% of all students will meet or exceed standards in reading and math as measured by both district and state assessments.”

As more of our schools have met, or are on their way to meeting this goal, they have participated in audits conducted by Rick DuFour, Becky DuFour and Tom Many. These audits have shown that District 54 is succeeding in providing professional learning communities that have positive impacts on students and staff. Each audit did offer some suggestions for improvement. Rather than view the audit as something critical of their hard work, staff has embraced the suggestions. Working as a PLC, our staff members understand that assessment is a valuable tool in ensuring success, not only for students but for them as educators. Therefore, the audits have had a positive impact on our students as we gathered feedback to further our mission of ensuring student success. In addition, the audits demonstrate how PLCs have had a positive impact on our staff, who now view the feedback objectively rather than emotionally and use the advice to better support students.

 

Please elaborate strategies you have found to be effective in the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

In Illinois, all students in third through eighth grade take the Illinois Standards Achievement Test each March. Results are often not available until the fall. In order to provide our staff with more timely assessment data, District 54 began administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment to students three times each year in mathematics and reading.

This adaptive, computerized assessment precisely identifies a student’s strengths and areas where he needs further assistance. Teachers receive immediate feedback (within 24 hours), allowing them to provide appropriate instruction for each individual child. By administering MAP three times each year, we can measure a child’s growth over the course of the year. The results help us tailor instruction to the individual student, and also provide data for the school and the district to evaluate the programs and curriculum we have in place.

Since MAP testing begins in second grade, we also administer the Illinois Snapshot of Early Literacy (ISEL) three times a year to measure reading growth for our kindergarten and first-grade students.

In addition, school PLC teams have developed common assessments that test student’s progress toward meeting our District 54 Essential Outcomes. Teachers use many tools including common assessments and reading unit checkpoints; rubrics to assess math exemplars and writing portfolios; and matrixes to seek commonalities in skill growth and areas of weaknesses.

During the 2008-09 school year, a District 54 Common Assessment Task Force conducted intensive work to support the work of our school teams in designing, administering and utilizing the results of common assessments to impact student learning. This group, co-facilitated by Sam Ritchie, will continue into the 2009-10 school year as we continue to strive to improve upon past practices.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

The first step in creating effective systems of intervention is establishing a shared set of beliefs. Our special education and bilingual departments led the charge to help staff embrace the philosophy that ALL of our students have the right to have access to instruction in our core curriculums. While District 54 has long embraced site-based management, the District 54 administration has set some rules in regards to intervention.

Students are not allowed to be pulled out of the literacy block in their classroom to work with a reading specialist. Rather the district directive is that all students should remain in the classroom with their teachers during the core curriculum instructional time and receive additional literacy or mathematics instruction during another part of the school day. Another option is for resource teachers to push into the classroom to assist with students who need additional support.

In 2008 District 54 adopted its Response to Intervention (RtI) plan. The key to RtI is simple: If we provide quality instruction, with ALL of our personnel supporting ALL children, and do this early, we will meet our District 54 goal of ALL students reading at grade level upon entering third grade.

Research states that implementing an RtI process through scientifically based early reading programs, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and early intervening services reduces the need to label children with learning and behavioral needs. RtI identifies struggling learners early and uses data to drive the decisions made about all students.

In School District 54, the RtI process is divided into three tiers of intervention.

Tier I
In Tier I, all students receive high-quality, scientifically based instruction, differentiated to meet their needs in the general education classroom. The MAP or ISEL assessments identify students who may be at-risk for academic difficulties. We have found about 80 to 90 percent of students are successful in the core curriculum when it is implemented effectively.

Tier II
In Tier II, students not making adequate progress in the core curriculum are provided small-group, supplemental instruction in addition to the time allotted for core instruction. Tier II instruction includes instruction, strategies and programs designed to supplement, enhance and support Tier I. Teachers monitor student progress frequently using multiple assessments, such as common assessments, curriculum-based measurement, running records, fluency and behavioral data.

Tier III
In Tier III students receive intensive, strategic, supplemental instruction specifically designed and customized to meet the student’s needs. Typically, this instruction, which targets the student’s skill deficits, is delivered in a small-group or 1:1 that is extended beyond the time for Tier I and Tier II. Progress is monitored even more frequently than in Tier II to determine the impact of the intervention on the student’s learning.

Each school has set a 45-minute intervention block each day for every grade level. During this time, students across a grade level are regrouped based on the instructional needs identified by the data from common assessments. Students in need of additional support work with a school literacy coach or other resource teachers in small group settings. Students who have mastered that identified skill receive enrichment from a gifted education or other resource teachers.

The RtI plan includes responses when a student is struggling academically as well as responses for behavioral issues. District 54 schools, like many schools across the nation, have lost instructional time while teachers address behavioral issues in the classroom. To take back that time, many District 54 schools have implemented Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS), a proactive, schoolwide system that teaches appropriate behavior throughout the school. The entire staff team focuses not only on individual students with challenging behavior but on providing positive behavior support to all children.

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

Another way District 54 ensures teachers work collaboratively is by providing them with the time to do so. District 54 dismisses students 30 minutes early every Wednesday so that staff can have additional time to meet to monitor student progress, develop common assessments and discuss appropriate interventions and enrichment. In addition, each school was charged with creating a schedule that allowed for team collaboration. For example, some schools have found time for grade-level meetings by sending an entire grade level to fine arts classes at the same time (art, music and PE).

In addition, District 54 has given our staff the tools they need to perform such tasks. These tools include software such as ScoreAnalyzer, AimsWeb and SWIS to help monitor academic and behavior strengths and areas for improvement.

The tools also include hours of training available to all members of our staff. We have offered PLC training not just to our administrators but to many staff members in our schools. At several schools every certified staff member has attended two days of PLC training. While the administration began this process, it is the staff members who are not encouraging their colleagues to embrace the PLC ideology. The teacher and support staff union leadership was also invited to participate in the initial PLC trainings and have fully supported the process.

Finally, over the last few years, District 54 has formally adopted the Essential Outcomes for literacy, mathematics, science and social science. These outcomes were written by groups of teachers and administrators and are based on the Illinois Learning Standards. Before our district had these outcomes, teachers were not as clear as to what each student was expected to achieve by the end of each grade level. Now the expectations are spelled out and shared not only with staff, but with parents and students as well.

 

List awards and recognitions your district has achieved:

No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Award – presented by the U.S. Department of Education for outstanding achievement:

- Link Elementary School in 2007
- Dooley Elementary School in 2005

Blue Ribbon Award – presented by the U.S. Department of Education to schools for their excellence in leadership, teaching, curriculum, student achievement, parent involvement and community support:

- Adlai Stevenson Elementary School in 1999
- Armstrong Elementary School in 1998
- Michael Collins Elementary School in 1997
- Margaret Mead Junior High School in 1996

Academic Excellence Award – presented to Dirksen, Hoover, Nerge and Stevenson elementary schools and Mead Junior High School in 2009 by the Illinois State Board of Education in recognition of sustaining high performance levels on state assessments for at least three years.

Academic Improvement Award – presented by the Illinois State Board of Education in recognition of the significant gains the schools have made on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test:

- Fox School in 2009
- Fairview and Fox elementary schools and Eisenhower Junior High School in 2008
- Aldrin, Dirksen, Enders-Salk, MacArthur and Muir elementary schools; and Addams, Eisenhower, Frost and Mead junior high schools in 2007

District 54 Professional Learning Communities is included in the new Magna Best Practices Database by the American School Board Journal (one of 85 high-scoring programs selected from more than 340 nominations this year). The Magna Best Practices Database provides the education world with a resource for innovative best practices, proven and practical solutions for big and small district problems, and new ideas. The database is available online at www.asbj.com/magna.

Multiple Those Who Excel Awards – presented by the Illinois State Board of Education. The most recent recipients (those awarded in 2007 and 2008) are as follows:

- Renae Kraetsch, the Reading Recovery teacher at Einstein Elementary School in Hanover Park, received an Award of Excellence and was one of eight finalists for the Illinois Teacher of the Year in October 2007.
- Caron Gibbert, a special education literacy specialist and the department chairperson for the junior high special services teachers, received an Award of Excellence in October 2008.
- The District 54 School Board received an Award of Meritorious Service in October 2008.
- Nella Fasano, the custodian at Anne Fox Elementary School in Hanover Park, received an Award of Meritorious Service in October 2008.
- Katie Schneider, previously a teacher at Link Elementary School in Elk Grove Village and currently a full-time mentor in the district, received an Award of Meritorious Service in October 2008.
- Nicole Fentem, the past president of the Schaumburg Township Council of PTAs, received an Award of Special Recognition in October 2008.
- Ric King, the District 54 controller and director of facilities, received an Award of Special Recognition in October 2008.
- Dr. Nicholas Myers, the principal at Anne Fox Elementary School in Hanover Park, received an Award of Merit in October 2007.
- Doris Reynolds, a bilingual coordinator for the district, received an Award of Merit in October 2007.
- Patti Hlavacek, an instructional aide at Fairview Elementary School in Hoffman Estates, received an Award of Recognition in October 2007.
- Pushpa Khurana, a senior volunteer at the John Muir Literacy Academy in Hoffman Estates, received an Award of Recognition in October 2007.
- District 54 Special Olympics Team received an Award of Merit in October 2007.