LM April 2024

April 2024 Leadership Matters

Teacher Vacancy Grants 3 Leaders Discuss Impact in Their Districts

Plus IASA Welcomes Dr. Dawn Bridges as new

School Leader Evaluation Plan Q&A Legal Corner: Supreme Court Ruling on Social Media

Associate Director of Professional Development

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Curious how Teacher Vacancy Grants are impacting schools? In our cover story, IASA checks in with three superintendents to learn how the state grants are making a difference in addressing the teacher shortage in their districts. TEACHER VACANCY GRANTS

12 Dr. Dawn Bridges joins IASA as new Associate Director of Professional Development 16 School Leader Evaluation Plan Podcast—Q & A

Winners of 2025 Moon-SAFE Scholarship

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Elevating Education

IASA PD Opportunities

Videos from the Districts

Supreme Court’s Ruling on Social Media and First Amendment Rights

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IASA Calendar of Events

words, a person must actually be invested with the authority to speak for the government body and appear to speak with that authority on a particular subject. The Court admitted that sometimes what constitutes state action is clear, but other times, the line between private conduct and state action is more difficult to draw. And, of course, state officials retain their own First Amendment rights to speak about their jobs as private citizens, which adds an additional level of complexity. To determine whether an official was acting in an official capacity or as a private citizen on social media, courts must look at factors like whether the account was designated as personal or official, whether individual posts expressly invoked the official’s state authority, and the immediate legal effect of the posts. Additional contextual factors like the official’s use of government staff to make posts may also be relevant in unclear cases. Obviously, this ruling by the Supreme Court has significant implications for school districts. It is without question that local school board members and school superintendents are state actors under Section 1983 as these officials wield the authority of the state. School districts and officials may feel the easiest and most direct way to connect with members of the public is through social media, especially for school board members who are up for re-election. However, school officials and school districts must proceed with caution when maintaining a presence on social media. Current law, in light of the Court’s decision in Lindke v. Freed , in no way prohibits a district’s or school official’s interaction with the public via social media. However, it most certainly prohibits the blocking or restriction of any individual from school district or school official social media accounts, even if the officials’ account is a private one—depending on how the account is utilized. While this prohibition will always apply to any official school district social media account, it will only apply to an official’s account when the official, with the authority of the state, uses that authority to speak on subjects related to their position. Updates regarding board of

Scan here with your phone’s QR code reader to get the IASA APP— Don’t have a QR reader? Go to or and search for IllinoisASA. 0 LM April 2024 attorney with any questions regarding the Court’s ruling and compliance with the law. Furthermore, it is very likely that the school district’s insurance will not cover a lawsuit like the one in Lindke v. Freed , leaving the costs of defense the sole responsibility of the school district or the individual. This alone should be enough reason for a school district and its officials to carefully consider their social media presence. Technology can be difficult to keep up with, but do not let it land your district in a lawsuit. Patrick Simon is an attorney with education action, appeals to the public to gather its opinion on a particular subject, and posts regarding the use of snow days are examples of subjects which likely implicate the Court’s new ruling. While the Court’s ruling will certainly raise additional questions going forward, for now, to avoid liability, school public officials should stop using their personal social media accounts to speak regarding matters related to their position on the board of education or unblock or remove restrictions so all users may interact with their account. Or, an official can simply create a separate social media page for their position and post any updates there, so long as other users are not blocked or restricted from that page. School districts using social media should also ensure that no users are blocked or restricted. If a district wishes to avoid the issues related to disparaging comments or arguments, some social media has settings to turn off commenting completely for all users, effectively changing the nature of the social media account from interactive, to a simple message board for school related news and events. The district also has the option of dropping the use of social media and only utilizing its website. Most importantly, a school district should contact its

Volume 12, Issue 4 April 2024 Leadership Matters 24090

2648 Beechler Court Springfield, IL 62703-7305 217.753.2213 800 Woodfield Road, Ste. F109 Schaumburg, IL 60173-4717 847.466.5075

Jason Nevel Director of Communications jnevel@iasaedu.org

Marjorie Gladish Graphic Designer mgladish@iasaedu.org

1200 West Main Street Marion, IL 62959-1138 618.364.0501

www.iasaedu.org

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Message From the Executive Director Coming Soon: IASA Sponsored Program to Help Schools Vet and Manage Vendors

Dr. Brent Clark

Last November, the Boston office of the FBI issued a warning after multiple reports of suspicious men trying to gain access to a Massachusetts school without authorization.The alarming events

both the district and the vendor for each employee that is background verified and is in service to the district. Verified employees will receive a hard copy and digital verification SSID badge if approved through the SSID portal.

stirred up fears among parents that children were not safe at school, forcing superintendents to respond to families and review protocols and procedures, again. We all know that a superintendent’s number one responsibility is to provide students with a safe environment, and we are held accountable when crisis situations are handled poorly. Ensuring student safety is multi-faceted, but one way to provide another layer of security, and manage risk, is to vet more of the people that enter school buildings and campuses. In Illinois, thousands of vendor employees enter schools annually. While there are background check systems in place for school parents, guests and district employees, there is no comprehensive system available to school districts to vet and manage their school vendor employees. That’s why IASA is excited to introduce Safe School ID Check (SSID), a new IASA Sponsored Program that gives schools the tools and the power to fully vet and manage every vendor employee who enters their schools—at no additional cost to the district (see below). Within the next week, IASA will officially launch the new program. The announcement will include links to three upcoming Zoom sessions in May that will be led by our safety partner in this venture. The virtual meetings are your best opportunity to learn about SSID and ask questions, so I encourage you to register. If a school district opts into SSID, then a Board resolution and a notice to all vendors serving the district would be the initial steps, and we will have samples of both. Once notified, the vendor would then access the SSID portal to register and upload employee documents for background verification. The results of the verification process would be available to

Registration in advance of being on school district premises is advised to give the system time to properly perform the verification process through the local, state and federal databases before providing an SSID access badge. SSID performs extensive background checks on each employee registered. There will be quarterly, automated re-verification for frequent vendor employees and annual automated re-verifications for infrequent vendor employees. Districts will retain final control of who they allow on school premises. Once a vendor employee receives an SSID badge it would be usable at other participating districts, and the subsequent employee would not have to be re-verified for each district within the given timeframe. There is a fee for this service and the vendor would be responsible for the fee. An early adopter period will run from June 1 through September 30 for vendors to process their employees at $99/badge, beginning in October the regular price of $129/badge would be in place. SSID badges are individually issued and cannot be shared amongst vendor employees. More detailed information about this IASA Sponsored program is forthcoming in the upcoming webinars and informational materials. I hope this column puts SSID on your radar and becomes another useful tool for your district as we all work together to make our schools a safer place for all.

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W

e asked three Illinois superintendents about their staffing challenges and how Teacher Vacancy Grants are helping.

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Harlem SD #122

IASA Region:

Superintendent:

Kishwaukee

Dr. Terrell Yarbrough

Size:

Enrollment:

Adequacy %

preK–12 6,111

75%

We have ongoing challenges with specific positions in the district including paraprofessionals, substitute teachers, custodians, bus drivers, food service workers, special education teachers, ESL and bilingual teachers and social workers. Our greatest need has been in the paraprofessionals category but that has started to improve this year. Depending on the type of job, we will see anywhere from just a few applicants to over 20 applicants. How does your district plan to use the Teacher Vacancy Grant to address staffing challenges? We are using the grant to pay student teachers during their student teaching experience; we are also supporting our support staff by giving up to $6,000 in tuition reimbursement and by continuing their pay and benefits while they are student teaching for us. We are also letting our students in our educational pathway know about the opportunity. Our hope is that we can get 15–20 people to complete the program at the end of their senior year and then join us as support staff while we are reimbursing them for attending college to become a teacher. We are always looking to retain our diverse student population as they become working adults in the community. How big of an impact will this grant have on your district? We anticipate that this will have a significant impact. We are starting to get universities reaching out to us about our program. We have an increase in student teachers and our support staff have been utilizing the funds that are available through the grant. We can see the initial impact of the grant this year. Our student Describe the staffing challenges in your district, including issues with vacancies, how many applications you receive for job openings and any other related challenges caused by the teacher shortage?

By Jason Nevel IASA Director of Communications

How three dist are filling th Teacher Vac

teacher number has increased. This year, we have 18 student teachers, and this is the highest number we have seen since records were kept on the number of student teachers. By integrating our education pathway and the benefits of the vacancy grant, we are hoping to increase our numbers of student teachers while increasing the diversity of our student teaching population. How will your district sustain the programming beyond the term of the grant? That is a good question. While we would not be able to sustain it at the current funding amount, we would

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Quincy SD #172

IASA Region:

Superintendent:

Two Rivers

Dr. Todd Pettit

Size:

Enrollment:

Adequacy %

preK–12 6,240 76%

Describe the staffing challenges in your district, including issues with vacancies, how many applications you receive for job openings and any other related challenges caused by the teacher shortage? Currently, Quincy Public School District has 18 certified teaching positions unfilled for the 2023–2024 school year. 75% (14/18) of the unfilled positions are considered hard to fill positions. The elementary openings include five general education positions (4th grade, 3rd grade, 5th grade co-teaching, Physical Education, and 5th grade special education co-teaching) and two special education positions. The middle school openings include five general education positions and three special education positions. At the secondary level, we have three general education positions (math, Spanish and history) and one special education position. Over the last five years, the number of unfilled positions from the previous school year has increased, despite increasing recruiting efforts and increasing salaries (including starting salaries). In addition, Quincy Public School District has implemented a stipend for all special education teachers. The stipend is meant to incentivize teachers in special education to stay in special education positions and encourage them to come teach at QPS. Quincy Public School District has combined classes, utilized long-term substitutes, repurposed staff, and bought planning periods to cover unfilled positions, all while staying compliant with licensures and certifications. The unfilled positions are contributing to the number of resignations we see each year. Teachers are feeling overwhelmed, overworked and spread thin because of the extra work being added to their daily workload. A 2022–2023 survey given to teachers who have resigned from Quincy Public School District (and willing to complete the survey) shows 62% of the teachers who resigned from QPS this year (2022–2023) were in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th year in education, 29% were in years 5–10 and 10% were in years 11–20. This data tells us our focus should be on the retention of our non-tenured teachers serving in teaching roles in their 1st through 4th years. continued...

tricts in Illinois he gaps with cancy Grants

continue to try to support our staff by continuing with tuition reimbursement at a lesser amount and potentially funding our support staff as they student teach with us. We are trying to grow our own teachers by starting them in the pathway, as well as growing our staff by supporting our staff who are in support positions. Sustaining the programming really depends on the financial state of the district and the funds that are available by grants such as these. Even if we do not receive the grant funds, we will have developed a robust education pathway, and we hope that those students will choose us when it comes time to student teach and then gain full time employment.

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Vacancy ... cont’d.

How does your district plan to use the Teacher Vacancy Grant to address staffing challenges? Quincy Public School District plans to utilize the Teacher Vacancy Grant in three ways. First, QPS plans to provide New Hire Teaching Incentives for both general education teachers as well as special education teachers for the 2023–2024, 2024–2025, and 2025–2026 school years. Giving New Hire Teaching Incentives will allow Quincy Public Schools to increase the amount of new teaching hires added each year. The New Hire Teaching Incentive will be tiered for three years. The first year a new teacher will receive $750 at the end of the school year. The second year the teacher will receive $1,000 at the end of the school year. And the third year, the teacher will receive $1,250 at the end of the school year. The New Hire Teaching Incentives will be paid to the teachers in good standing with Quincy Public School District after they complete their first, second and third years teaching in a full-time, full-year role for QPS. A prorated amount will be given to a teacher hired midyear. To prevent current staff members from resigning their positions, then reapplying, the signing bonus is available to only new certified teachers to QPS. Effective August 2023, teachers who resign from QPS over the 2023–2024, 2024–2025, and 2025–2026 school years are not eligible for the bonus. During the 2020–2021, 2021–2022, and 2022–2223 school year, Quincy Public School District hired 171 new teachers. Approximately 50 teachers are anticipated to be hired each year for the 2023–2024, 2024–2025, and 2025–2026 school years. The teaching bonus cost per year would be $37,000 for the 2023–2024 school year, $87,500 for the 2024–2025 school year, and $150,000 for the 2024–2025 school year. Secondly, QPS plans to increase the special education stipend from $450 a year to $900 a year. This stipend will be paid to all special education teachers in our district. The total cost for this stipend is $45,000 per year. This could incentivize teachers who hold their LBS1 and are teaching in a general education classroom to switch to a special education placement. Lastly, the grant fund will provide an allotment of money for every teacher to use for supplies for their classrooms. During the 2023–2024 school year the teachers will receive a $200 line of credit to a local school supply store. During the 2024–2025 school year the teachers will receive a $150

line of credit to a local school supply store and during the 2025–2026 school year, the teachers will receive a $100 line of credit to a local school supply store. QPS plans to utilize the grants funds for all teachers, and certified special education staff including SLPs, school social workers, and school psychologists in addition to deans, counselors and academic coaches and interventionists. These support staff members provide small social groups, one-on-one social emotional teaching and the support necessary for teachers to be able to teach more effectively. The support staff can assist with helping students put words to their trauma/behavior which can help the student to reengage back into the classroom and engage in the curriculum with the least amount of disruption to the teacher and the instruction. How big of an impact will this grant have on your district? The impact is unknown as we end the 2023–2024 school year and disburse the funding for year one. How will your district sustain the programming beyond the term of the grant? We will not sustain this program beyond the grant term due to revenue constraints.

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Gallatin CUSD #7

IASA Region:

Superintendent:

Shawnee

Dr. Judy Kaegi

Size:

Enrollment:

Adequacy %

preK–12 695 73%

Describe the staffing challenges in your district, including issues with vacancies, how many applications you receive for job openings and any other related challenges caused by the teacher shortage? Teacher recruitment and retention in our rural prek–12 unit school district go hand in hand. Using this grant, Gallatin CUSD #7 has worked to retain the talented teachers we have

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experience. Turnover is occurring in our district to some extent as new teachers go to a district that has a higher pay scale. Due to the extreme teacher shortage, it is easy for a veteran teacher with 20 years of experience to be picked up by those higher-paying districts. This turnover, and lack of qualified teacher applicants, make building and sustaining consistency in our instructional programs throughout the school district difficult. Secondly, using this teacher vacancy grant, we are focusing on mentoring teachers with three years or less experience in the classroom. Designing and establishing a formal mentoring program helps us create a positive and supportive work environment to provide our newest teachers with better working conditions where they teach and students are engaged in learning. The Teacher Mentor Director is accountable for mentors and mentees through monthly and weekly meetings with mentors, with reports filed with the Teacher Leader. How big of an impact will this grant have on your district ? First, we have reimbursed tuition to “our own” paraprofessionals who are employees and parents of Gallatin County CUSD #7. Possibly, 6–8 paraprofessionals are working toward their PEL. (A list of universities our paraprofessionals attend is pre-approved based on acceptable tuition costs.) Reimbursement for tuition for paraprofessionals employed with the district to obtain a Professional Educators License and for certified teachers employed in the district to acquire an endorsement in any hard-to-fill subject area or needed positions in the district (i.e., middle school and high school Mathematics, K–12 special education, preK–12 physical education, preschool, elementary, 9–12 industrial technology, HS driver’s education, etc.) began this year Secondly, we encourage veteran teachers to mentor mentees as we utilize this grant money to focus on mentoring teachers with three years or less experience and those who need help after year three. Designing and establishing a formal mentoring program has allowed us to create a positive and supportive work environment to provide our newest teachers with better working conditions where they teach and where students are expected to learn. We have created a Teacher Leader’s position paying a stipend for the Mentor-Mentee Program’s accountability. The Teacher Leader works with administrators and the teacher’s association and together we designed and

employed. We have diligently recruited talented, capable teachers for our open positions. However, we still have six positions to be filled and no applicants to fill these positions in our rural area (i.e., high school science, physical education, middle school math, special education, preK–12 instructional leader, and elementary teacher). These positions are posted this school year, and we have received no applications for PE, high school science, Jr. High Math, preschool instructional leader, or elementary teacher. We received only one application from a special education candidate last week. We have identified numerous causes for our district’s need for teacher vacancy support; however, the list continues. We realize there is a lack of students attending or graduating from education programs in all universities; there is no one to walk up to your table at job recruitment fairs; rural districts have a lower pay scale, and rural school districts such as ours require more travel time to and from the district. Many teachers drive 20 miles to work every morning and 20 miles to return home. There has also become a need for more access to secondary education content (i.e., physical education, math, science, English, ESL); more and more students are in online teaching programs to get the needed content. One of the most common issues we have dealt with is that after completing their bachelor’s degree in education, the teacher candidate must take multiple expensive tests (some states up to 9), and many still need to pass the required tests successfully. How does your district plan to use the Teacher Vacancy Grant to address staffing challenges? To address challenges, we have focused on our paraprofessional employees enrolled in or desiring to become teachers. Every paraprofessional enrolled in a teacher education program lives in our school district community. We know that reimbursing tuition to “our own” paraprofessionals and community members will allow us to retain these teachers we help put through teacher education programs; this is their home and their children’s school. We have also encouraged our veteran teachers to return for endorsements in hard-to-fill areas. Working with our community members and current veteran teachers will help fill positions and improve longevity. As a rural district, we serve a high percentage of low-income students. However, we know our students are not the cause of turnover because every substitute teacher in our region wants to be at the top of our substitute teacher list. Schools and students pay a price when new teachers leave the profession after only two or three years, just when they have acquired valuable teaching

continued...

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Why Support

?

What is IPAC? IPAC is a statewide, non-partisan Political Action Committee (PAC), organized by members of the Illinois Association of School Administrators. It is funded by contributions from indi vidual school administrators and the IASA. The dollars are dis tributed strategically as campaign contributions to legislators from both political parties aligned with our educational mission. Why support IPAC? A well-funded IPAC is an essential tool to get legislators to listen to our challenges and support our mission. Your donation ensures IASA keeps its seat at the table, secures face-to-face time with legislators and continues to have meaningful input on education policy. This partnership plays a key role in advancing IASA legislative priorities, reducing unfunded mandates and limiting legislation that could be harmful to school districts. Contributions are also vital in IASA’s ability to block or amend unfunded and curricular mandates introduced each legislative session.

What has IPAC accomplished? The dollars have been integral to the success of Vision 20/20, the passage of Evidence-Based Funding and other key legisla tive victories that have improved public education in Illinois. Your contributions also help block or amend short-sighted legislation that has unintended consequences on student learning. How much are IPAC Annual Contributions? Our goal is to have every IASA member support IPAC. Annual contributions are $100. How is your contribution spent? IPAC contributions position IASA to have legislative success. The funds are used to make strategic campaign contributions and pay costs associated with attending legislative outings and events. Attending these events increases our face-to-face time with legislators, enhancing our advocacy efforts.

Scan QR code (or click here) to contribute to IPAC today: to contribute to IPAC today:

Questions? Contact Ashleigh Knudson at 217–753–2213 or aknudson@iasaedu.org.

A copy of our report is filed with the State Board of Elections and is or will be available for purchase from the State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois 62704. Contributions to IPAC are not deductible as charitable or political contributions for federal income tax purposes.

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Vacancy ... cont’d.

the teacher to repay the tuition reimbursement. We plan to reinvest our investment in another educator. Through local district funds, we will continue the classroom supplies to new and district teachers. Team building is something we do now; we know if we invest in our teachers, we build a team that will teach and require learning. District funds will continue team-building activities throughout the year. The one-day-a-week free lunch bar incentives and monthly appreciation days will be something that have become so popular we must sustain both of these for our staff using local funds. Trying to find ways to improve wages and benefits will help our recruitment and retention. In our planning three years ago, we reviewed our school’s salaries and gave an increase of 6 percent for three years to our teachers. This year is the last 6 percent, and we return to the bargaining table this spring. We know the monetary investment in our staff has helped; we had only two teachers leave the district last year. Background on Teacher Vacancy Grants The state of Illinois awarded $45 million in teacher vacancy grants to 170 school districts in FY 24. The districts are participating in a three-year pilot program that is subject to appropriation each year. Gov. Pritzker has proposed allocating an additional $45 million in FY 25 to the 170 school districts. At this time, no more applications are being accepted by ISBE for the grant program and it will not be extended beyond the 170 initial districts.

established a formal mentoring program in the district. Resources are created for the active engagement of mentees/mentors; the Teacher Mentor Leader is accountable for both mentors and mentees by the Teacher Mentor Leader through monthly meetings and weekly meetings with mentors, with reports filed with the Teacher Leader. Possibly, 6–8 paraprofessionals are working toward their PEL. (A list of universities our paraprofessionals attend is pre-approved based on acceptable tuition costs.) Currently, we have 6 Mentors with one mentee each and two mentors with two mentees. Longevity of Current District Teachers: All first year and veteran teachers hired into the district received $500 for classroom supplies to retain district teachers. All teachers in the district received $250 for classroom supplies. We have planned teachers’ mental and physical health activities, such as field trips for team building for the entire staff (movie, bowling, escape room, etc.). Weekly teacher appreciation is provided through a free lunch bar to staff one day a week. (e.g., Potato Bar, salad bar, taco bar, etc.) Monthly teacher appreciation days (classroom supplies, school memorabilia) and monthly drawings for teachers and paraprofessionals to earn incentives. (gift cards to local restaurants, oil changes, tire rotation, school supplies, massages, and other incentives.) This school year has been a very productive year where everyone feels needed and appreciated. How will your district sustain the programming beyond the term of the grant? The formal mentoring program has been established successfully. We see the benefits of a positive and supportive work environment that we have provided to our newest and veteran teachers due to the relationship building between the mentors and mentees and the improved working conditions where teachers can teach, and students can learn. The lead teacher and mentors pass their knowledge to the next generation of Gallatin County CUSD #7 teachers. The young teachers who benefit from this mentoring training will keep this established program alive. District funds, Title II, or 21st-Century grant funding could continue to sustain this program. Being able to reimburse tuition to “our own” paraprofessionals, who are community members, will allow us a pool of up to 6–8 teachers when all finish their programs. Those paraprofessionals receiving tuition reimbursement have signed a 4-year contract to stay with the district. Leaving before the contract ends will cause

How Is The Teacher Shortage Impacting Illinois? Read the IARSS Educator Shortage Survey.

Click here for complete report.

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Baker

Graham

Lyke

McGinthy

Suits

Yandell

SAFE Board Selects Six Illinois Educators for Moon Scholarship Awards

Six Illinois educators have been selected to receive monetary awards as recipients of the 2023–2024 James V. and Dorothy B. Moon Scholarships. Each scholarship is a minimum of $2,500. Those selected by the School Administrators Foundation for Education (SAFE) Board of Trustees include: • Kelsey Baker, Assistant Superintendent, Effingham CUSD #40 • Marla Graham, Principal, Arthur CUSD #305 • Lisa Lyke, Director of Curriculum, Will County SD #92 • Patrick McGinthy, Principal, Gillespie CUSD #7 • Jordan Suits, Principal/Lead Administrator, Lick Creek CCSD #16 • Rebecca Yandell, Assistant Superintendent, New Simpson Hill SD #32 “Dr. Moon’s vision was to help up and-coming educators in Illinois by assisting them in pursuing graduate studies.” said Dr. Chad Wagner, President of SAFE. “Ultimately, this program is designed to help produce people who are well-prepared to become superintendents and tackle the challenges facing public education in Illinois.” The Moon Scholarship was established by the late Dr. James V. Moon, a distinguished educator and superintendent in Illinois. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide grants to assist individuals in the pursuit of graduate study leading to improved competency in the superintendency. To qualify, an applicant must be a resident of and a practicing school administrator in Illinois, be a graduate of

an accredited college or university, hold an administrative certificate in Illinois, be of good character, and be enrolled in an advanced degree program at an accredited college or university. The application process includes, among other things, a response to a practicum question, three letters of reference, a statement concerning involvement in professional development programs, and a statement indicating a commitment to superintendency. Applications were judged based on good scholarship, evidence of strong communication skills, abilities and

strengths as indicated by the letters of support, potential for contributing to the quality of K–12 public education in Illinois through the superintendency, and demonstrated participation in professional development programs. Recipients are required to contribute to the further development of the superintendency in Illinois for a period of two years following completion of their degree program in which they accepted payment of tuition, fees and/ or textbook expenses on their behalf. Information and applications for the 2024–2025 Moon Scholarships will be available in the fall on the IASA

this program is designed to help

produce people who are well-prepared to become superintendents and tackle the challenges facing public education in Illinois.

Website at https://www.iasaedu.org/Page/120. Questions can be directed to Jodi Gillespie at 217–753–2213 or at jgillespie@iasaedu.org. Anyone wishing to contribute $25 or more to the SAFE scholarship fund can do so by sending a personal check made payable to SAFE to the IASA office at 2648 Beechler Court, Springfield, IL, 62703–7305.

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Membership Drive FY 2025

ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

TO ALL SUPERINTENDENTS:

Have you changed your email address? @

Will you be retiring this year?

Are you a new superintendent?

Will you be changing districts this year?

Please let us know your status change immediately. We don’t want you to miss any important IASA news or information!

Click here to contact IASA or call Ashleigh Knudson at 217–753–2213

Membership enrollment information will be coming in May!

Got Great School Videos? Send your school videos with a short description

to jnevel@iasaedu.org. We want to highlight what’s going on in your school districts on our magazine’s Videos from the Districts page.

Monthly e-magazine of Leadership Matters

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IASA Welcomes Dr. Dawn Bridges Incoming Associate Director of Professional Development

By Jason Nevel IASA Director of Communications

Dr. Bridges’ background includes three decades of educational experiences from different sectors. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Suburban School Superintendents Association, a role she has held since 2021. The Suburban School Superintendents Association is a national organization that provides members with resources, tools and professional development opportunities. In some ways, Dr. Bridges views her role as a “connector for superintendents.” “People will come to me and say I need help with X,” Dr. Bridges said. “I have relationships with superintendents across the country and therefore am able to connect them with a peer who is already doing the work.”

The seeds of how high-quality professional development can elevate a school district were planted for Dr. Dawn Bridges at Antioch CCSD #34. She was a principal under the tutelage of Dr. Heidi Wennstrom, then the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction before later moving on to the superintendency at Butler SD #53. Recognizing the critical link between professional development and student achievement, the district made a strategic decision in the early 2000’s to invest significant resources in teacher training programs. Dr. Wennstrom spearheaded the initiative and recruited Dr. Bridges to help transform professional development opportunities for the staff, which included building professional learning networks.

Dr. Bridges is also the co-lead of the AASA Social- Emotional Learning cohort and most recently worked at Right At School, where she served as Vice President of Educational Affairs. Right At School provides before and after-school enrichment in elementary schools across the nation. Much of her focus at Right at School was around inclusion and ensuring all kids had equitable access to after-school programs. “We strived to help school districts create ecosystems of support and care before, during and after school,” Dr. Bridges said. “Student learning doesn’t always happen between 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. We tried to help districts reimagine what the entire school day experience could

“We dedicated resources into building great practitioners, which included investing a lot of money and time to make sure our teachers were of the highest caliber,” Dr. Bridges said. “We wanted our teachers to be lifelong learners and to work collaboratively with each other.” Passionate About Professional Development Dr. Bridges comes to IASA with a passion for professional development and years of experience helping districts in urban, suburban and rural settings. She will begin on July 1, replacing Dr. Courtney Orzel, who will return to the superintendency at Lemont-Bromberek CSD #113A on June 30 after four years with IASA.

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Dr. Bridges poses with fifth grade students on the playground.

before later becoming the superintendent of

look like by incorporating more wraparound services.” Before her time at Right

Darien SD #61. Throughout that

formative year, she developed a close connection with Ms. Kelly, who was the first teacher to make her feel that she could achieve anything she set her mind to. Mr. Johnson also played a pivotal role in her desire to become a lifelong educator because of the support, love and care he showed her younger sister, who was born with Down Syndrome. Growing up with a sister with Down Syndrome fueled Dr. Bridges’ lifelong passion of inclusivity and equitable programming for all students, especially kids with special needs. “My educational mission has always been around leveling the playing field for all kids and providing them the resources and support they need in order to be successful,” Dr. Bridges continued...

at School, Dr. Bridges served as Director of Professional Development for Discovery Inc., a worldwide edtech leader. The job put her in touch with school leaders from all types of school settings. “Our focus was on how you can improve instruction at the classroom level and build professional development pathways and opportunities for staff within districts,” Dr. Bridges said. Educational Mission Growing up in Darien, Illinois, Dr. Bridges attended Darien SD #61 and later Hinsdale Twp HSD #86. During her fourth grade year, she was inspired to pursue a career in education due to the influence of two significant figures in her life—Ms. Kelly, a teacher, and Mr. Johnson, who was then the principal

Dr. Bridges loves the opportunity to talk about her sister, Renee (above left) who was born with Down Syndrome; the sisters presented together (above right) at the recent District Administration conference.

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IASA’s Senate Bill 7 Performance Rankings Tool improves efficiency in your district by generating reports needed to comply with Senate Bill 7 and other related laws, freeing you up to focus your time and energy more on supporting your students and staff. The program provides districts a method of managing district positions aligned to local qualifications, teacher’s credentials and performance ratings. It’s proven, affordable and used by districts across the state. Senate Bill 7 Compliance Made Easy 2023–2024 Software Now Available for Purchase

What’s new? The 2023–24 file has been enhanced in response to user ideas and is ready for you to purchase and download. Updates include: • Teacher race column added with teacher data and the Sequence of Honorable Dismissal. • Added columns for storing another cycle of evaluations. • Enhanced cues on Data Check Worksheet. • Data Transfer Support from previous files. • Updated SB 7 website with new Support Request form. • Password reset available.

Affordable The annual licensing fee is $300 for members and $600 for non-members. Find the access request form at: http://www.iasasurveys.org

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Please note that previous versions of the IASA Senate Bill 7 Performance Rankings File are no longer supported. Also, the service method for the 2023–2024 software will be via email only.

This software was originally reviewed by the Senate Bill 7 teams from the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Illinois Education Association (IEA). The 2023–2024 version of this software builds on the knowledge gained from hundreds of users.

Dr. Bridges with mentor, Dr. Heidi Wennstrom

Bridges ... cont’d.

When she begins at IASA on July 1, Dr. Bridges said her top priority is to

said. “Ms. Kelly and Mr. Johnson showed me the real impact an educator can have on a child. They were courageous and passionate leaders who put the needs of students first.” After graduating from Benedictine University in Lisle, Dr. Bridges began her career in education at Schiller Park SD #81, where she taught middle school language arts. While there, she was encouraged to become a Department Chair and later focused her efforts as a primary level reading specialist. That experience of helping students and teachers across multiple grade levels brought her to Antioch CCSD #34 and later to Community Consolidated #181, where she served as

gather feedback by listening to superintendents about what professional development opportunities they want to see moving forward. She also hopes to learn more about existing IASA academies, workshops and cohorts. One area of PD she could see incorporating more in the schedule is developing opportunities for superintendents to conduct site visits to schools to learn about successful programs firsthand. “I have big shoes to fill,” Dr. Bridges said. “Dr. Orzel has built a robust PD program and figured out different ways to support superintendents across our large geographical state and from diverse backgrounds.

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for five years. During that time, she earned her doctoral degree, deciding to focus her research on building collective efficacy in school districts through the creation of leadership teams and ongoing professional development.

For me, a lot of listening in the beginning and then continuously looking for opportunities to best support IASA members. It’s an honor to take the torch from her and continue to build on what she’s developed.”

Welcome to the IASA staff, Dr. Bridges!

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School Leader New Evaluation Plan GROWING LEARNING LEADERS LEADING LEARNING ORGANIZATIONS

By Jason Nevel IASA Director of Communications

The School Leader Evaluation Plan has been selected as the state’s new default principal and assistant principal evaluation plan beginning July 1, 2024. To answer all your questions, IASA recorded a podcast with the Illinois Principals Association and a superintendent who piloted the plan in her district. This story is a condensed and edited version of the conversation on the podcast.

Dr. Kay Dugan Retired Assistant Superintendent IPA Trainer

Dr. Jason Leahy IPA Executive Director

Dr. Jill Griffin Superintendent of Bethalto CUSD #8

to do that. You need people in those leadership positions to carry that forward and make things happen. Otherwise, good school improvement doesn’t occur. We think that the evaluation plan can help us focus on the turnover and retention piece. Q: Let’s dive into that more. What are the key reasons for how the new Evaluation Plan can reduce the turnover rate and help retain principals? KD: The buzz that’s been around for many years is that the existing plan just doesn’t give school leaders the impact they want to truly support principals. Superintendents are searching for something that has more impact and is more research based. Developing this model was a big lift, but it was needed. To me, evaluation of our teachers or principals can be the best

Q: Let’s start with the issue at hand. What does the data say about principal turnover and retention? JL: Well, it’s not good. I have talked with superinten dents throughout the state and they’re having difficulty finding principals. They either have no candidates or a small pool of candidates. And some of the people are not quite up to the standard of individuals they’re seeking. There’s just a lot of data out there that supports this issue both nationally and here in the state of Illinois. I think the statistic that I like to share the most is, if you were to hire four new school leaders today into new positions, whether they’re rookies or veterans, only one of those individuals is still going to be in that seat in five years. When you think about change research, and what it takes to improve a school, the research tells us it’s five to 10 years

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Illinois’ New Default Evaluation Plan

Click on cover image at right for pdf of Evaluation Plan.

with leadership and getting them deep into self-improvement through the cycle of inquiry. It’s my opinion if school leaders can’t deal with their own growth, and work themselves through that process, they can’t do it for their school. Q: Dr Griffin, can you share why you wanted to implement the IPA School Leader Evaluation Plan in Bethalto CUSD #8? JG: As a sitting superintendent, I’ve been evaluating principals for quite some time, and I found the existing tool to be more of a checkbox type of tool than something that I could really use. I tried to make it a tool of growth and development, but it just didn’t really lend itself to that type of a conversation. I wanted something more meaningful that I could use with our administrators that felt less personal and less subjective and more objective and based on specific information and data. The School Leader Evaluation Plan allows the principal and I to both reflect on the aspects of the job and identify those weaknesses and the strengths. One thing I found myself struggling with was how to address a principal who wasn’t spending enough time on relationships. I wasn’t sure how to quantify that and make it feel less personal to that administrator. When I looked at this tool, it was a strong piece of the dispositional type of work that we could be doing. I felt this tool gave me an opportunity to really help the principal conceptualize those dispositions that help develop building leaders and break down those areas into those essential behaviors that you can use when you’re trying to provide more explicit feedback. Q: Dr. Dugan, do you have anything to add? KD: Jason and Jill reminded of an interesting concept called Wholonomy, where a person recognizes that, to be continued...

professional development. When we look at the School Leader Evaluation Plan, it really checks all the boxes for what so many of us in the field have been longing for. Q: Can you share the key components of the School Leader Evaluation Plan? JL: First and foremost, the basis for the School Leader Evaluation Plan is the leadership framework that we call the School Leader Paradigm. The School Leader Paradigm is a robust leadership framework that IPA developed in collabora tion with several other principal associations across the coun try. It is a framework that encompasses, not only the work that school leaders do, which actually is the true foundation and basis for the evaluation plan, but it also brings in to bear the dispositions of leadership that are so important. It’s those things that are happening in the hearts and mind of a leader that helps them be effective. I have in my almost 18 years at IPA found it’s usually the dispositional side of leadership that gets you in trouble. I’ve never had somebody call and say I’m losing my job because I didn’t raise test scores this year. It usually has to deal with an ethics lapse or an inability to manage the time and complexity of the job. We know through leadership development and support, we have to take that into account. It’s wrapped in an infinity loop that we call our Sue-Finity loop thanks to Sue Holmes here on the IPA team that conceptualized that. Within the infinity loop, there is a cycle of inquiry, so you have this notion of continuous growth. Around that is what we call context. Key leadership context because leadership doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I’d invite people to go to ilprincipals.org, where they can download a copy of the paradigm that lays out more of a complete overview of the paradigm and you can get a sense for what the plan is based on. It is deeply focused on identifying opportunities for growth, where strengths lie

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Evaluation ... cont’d.

invested a lot of time in the process of having great conver sations around data and growth like we had never done previ ously. He was hungry for more when it came to evaluation. We met on Wednesday mornings throughout the pilot, and we started our day together around coffee. We would dive into the tool and have dialogue and conversations around the data specific to his building. We would talk about the three domains. We would talk about the different dimensions and essential behaviors. We spent a lot of time on it. One thing I noticed is it wasn’t me saying this is an area that you need to work on. He would identify his own areas of growth by using the tool. I think he felt like it was a lot less punitive and more supportive and conversational over time. In Year 2, I onboarded the remaining five principals by taking them to the IPA training. Our assistant principals haven’t been onboarded yet. That’s going to be Year 3. We have bi-weekly admin meetings, so we can discuss the tool as a group. Jason and Kay did a good job setting this up. When you think

truly successful, they need to grow in two ways — personally as an independent individual but also interdependently as a member of a larger group or system. I think about Michael Jordan who worked independently developing his personal attributes and capacities, but also recognized the importance of working interdependently as part of a team. The plan is unique in its design because it captures both sides of that equation. It’s anchored in growing and supporting a school leader as he or she independently strives to develop personal attributes while simultaneously growing and supporting a school leader interdependently within that larger ecosystem of a school. Q: Dr Griffin, can you share the steps your district took once you decided to adopt the School Leader Evaluation Plan? JG: Our district was part of the IPA pilot three years ago. My high school principal and I attended trainings and

INITIAL PRINCIPAL EVALUATOR TRAINING & RETRAINING

Want or need to take Initial Principal Evaluator Training or Retraining? We are here to help. Beginning in July, IASA will offer AA #4050 to anyone in need of the training. The 2-day, in-person training will satisfy the requirements for those seeking the Initial Principal Evaluator designation. The previous Initial Principal Evaluation training, AA #2000, will be discontinued as of June 30, 2024. In Message from IASA Associate Director of Professional Development: IASA To Offer AA #4050

Dr. Courtney Orzel

addition, individuals needing Principal Evaluator Retraining for the next five years (through June 30, 2029), will also complete the same 2-day training (AA #4050) which will replace former retraining courses AA #1865 and AA #3000. Dates, locations and registration for AA #4050 are not set at this time. Be on the lookout for an email in the coming weeks with information. As a reminder, each IASA Evaluator Academy is taught by an experienced and knowledgeable educator that will provide you with the tools and skills needed to become a stronger evaluator. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact the IASA office at 217–753–2213.

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