Leadership Matters December 2013

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Matters DECEMBER 2 0 1 3 I ASA MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Leadership

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In this month’s issue

Additional Items

2648 Beechler Court Springfield, IL 62703-7305 217.753.2213 800 Woodfield Road, Ste. F109 Schaumburg, IL 60173-4717 847.466.5075 in early 2014. District 109 plans to move toward a 1:1 learning environment district- wide by the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year. Cover photo: Students in Marcie Faust's 6th grade language arts class at Caruso Middle School in Deerfield may work on Chromebooks at their desk under Faust's direction, or in groups with classmates to complete research and writing assignments. Faust is one of 40 District 109 teachers who received an innovation grant to pilot 1:1 learning with Chromebooks in her classroom  Technology in today’s classrooms not really about devices, but new ways of teaching, learning P. 9  Rico named director of IL Center for School Improvement P. 12  Communicate your story through data visualization P. 14  IASA News in Brief P. 16  Getting to know your IASA Board Members P. 18  Illinois Superintendent of the Year reception to be held at AASA National Conference P. 18  ISDLAF+ Update P. 18  IASA Calendar P. 20

Clark, legislators discuss ‘Long Road to Pension Reform’ P. 4

IlliniCloud: The silver lining in technology for Illinois schools P. 6

Technology evolution: More student ownership of learning P. 10

What is your district’s position on online classes? P. 11

IASA Newsletter Editor Michael Chamness mchamness@iasaedu.org

Assistant Editor Mary Ellen Buch mbuch@iasaedu.org

1200 West Main Street Marion, IL 62959-1138 618.364.0501

Volume 1, Issue 12

IASA members step up big time in aftermath of devastating tornadoes School superintendents are

part of a special fraternity, and that was never more evident than in the aftermath of the devastating tornadoes that cut a deadly and damaging swath through several Illinois communities on November 17.

Message from the Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark

The tornadoes destroyed hundreds of homes, including the homes of three school superintendents. As the news of the disaster spread, we received several calls from superintendents asking how they could help. We decided to send out a statewide email giving our member superintendents the opportunity to contribute to a disaster relief fund for those superintendents that lost their homes and all of their belongings. We set a very ambitious goal of raising $12,000. Your response was overwhelming. Within three days, the goal had been exceeded, and as of December 2, the amount donated was $14,300. All of the money over the original $12,000 goal will be distributed to superintendents in the affected areas to assist students who lost school supplies in the tornadoes. Illinois superintendents always have helped each other out on a variety of issues and situations, but this disaster really illustrated how deep and caring those professional and personal relationships go among our members. While that response was pouring in, another equally impressive response was happening: The three superintendents who lost their homes and possessions – Dr. Chad Allaman and Dr. John Tignor, both from Washington, and Bill Mulvaney, superintendent of the Armstrong Township School District and the Armstrong Elementary School District -- quickly and selflessly focused on their communities and went about the business of getting school restarted and kids back in their classrooms. It’s one thing to talk about dedication and commitment to our duty of providing the best possible educational opportunities possible, but it is really inspirational when you see people like Chad, John and Bill rise to the occasion in the midst of their own personal crises. School administrator rated third most stressful occupation Speaking of performing under stress, I recently read a very interesting study on that topic in Business Insider magazine. The magazine asked career

information expert Dr. Laurence Shatkin to study the 747 occupations identified by the U.S. Department of Labor to find out which jobs were the most stressful. That study found that the job of education administrator was the third most stressful occupation, behind only first-line supervisors of police and detectives and mental health counselors, and ahead of air traffic controllers, pilots, surgeons, a sampling of other occupations that made the top 10 list. The study took three main factors into account: 1) the stress tolerance for each job, which measured how often employees face high-stress situations; 2) the consequences of employee errors, which measured how serious it would be if mistakes were made; and 3) the job's time pressure, which measured the strictness of deadlines. All factors were based on a scale from zero to 100 for prevalence in each job, where a higher rating signaled high stress levels. The results for education administrator were: stress tolerance 94.2, consequence of error 54, and time pressure: 53.8. I realize that superintendents probably don’t need a study to understand how stressful the job is, but this study confirms for everyone else what we already know. One thing that helps cope with those pressures is the fact that we all became educators because we wanted to do something to help provide great educational opportunities for children. That’s what IASA is about, and I’ve never been prouder of our members. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season! MATT DAYHOFF/PEORIA JOURNAL STAR A tornado struck and destroyed much of the Devonshire subdivision Sunday in Washington. The town's water tower still stands.

Clark, legislators discuss ‘Long Road to Pension Reform’ Leaders call legislators back to Springfield for special session

TRS was paying out $2.1 billion per year in benefits in 2004, but will pay out almost $5 billion this year. He said TRS took in $8.3 billion last year. Ingram noted yet another cautionary item, saying that in the near future retired members may exceed active members. Biss and Senger both said the 10-person conference committee got very close to an agreement on pension reform, but then punted the issue to the four legislative leaders when the group could not quite close the deal. “We have talked this issue to death and we have screamed this issue to death. It’s time to pass a bill,” Biss said. “I am cautiously optimistic, generally pessimistic, but hopeful.” Much like the original SB 1, the new SB 1 decimates the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), raises the retirement age and caps pensionable salary in order to reduce the promised pension benefits by as much as $160 billion over the next 30 years. The COLA represents the biggest single cost (Continued on page 5)

The panel discussion at last week’s Joint Annual Conference in Chicago was titled “The Long Road to Pension Reform.” The topic could not have been more timely with the General Assembly scheduled to return to Springfield on Tuesday (December 3) to tackle the pension issue. The panel on November 22 included two members of the conference committee on pension reform, State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) and Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville), who is running for Congress. The panel also included Richard Ingram, executive director of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark. It was moderated by Ben Schwarm, deputy executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB). Ingram gave an overview of the pension issue from the TRS perspective. What was a $19.4 billion TRS unfunded liability 10 years ago has grown to $55 billion because of underfunding by the state. Ingram said the formula should be Contributions (C) plus Investments (I) equals Benefits (B), but that formula now is C + I = B - $55 billion. Ingram said

no way for school districts to pay for it,” he said, noting that in the spring of 2012 pension reform negotiators and stakeholders “were the closest we’ve ever been to pension reform that we could have swallowed, but it fell apart because of the cost shift.” Ingram, the TRS executive director, said the normal pension costs for TRS employees currently is 6 percent of payroll, but he predicted that would decrease because of the Tier 2 reduction of benefits for employees hired after January 1 of 2011 and if legislators cut Tier 1 employees’ and retirees’ benefits. If a gradual cost shift ever passes, Clark

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savings for the state. This proposal calls for cutting the current annual 3 percent compound COLA to 3 percent compound of the lesser of a retiree's pension annuity or the retiree's number of years of service times $1,000. Following the presentations by Ingram and the two legislators, Clark defined his role on the panel as that of a “color commentator,” and then offered his opinion about what is happening with pension reform. He said he thinks the potential passage of a pension reform bill that slashes retirement benefits from public employees and retirees is really about three things: 1) the next election, 2) a cost shift to local school districts, and 3) taxes. Clark noted that the timing of the special

said school districts would need some flexibility from the state. “School districts should have the opportunity to opt out of mandates that don’t fit your district,” Clark said, prompting a wave of applause from the mix of school administrators and school board members that filled the room to capacity.

IASA Executive Director Dr. Brent Clark said he thinks the potential passage of a pension reform bill that slashes retirement benefits from public employees and retirees is really about three things: 1) the next election, 2) a cost shift to local school districts, and 3) taxes.

session, the day after the filing deadline for next March’s primary meant that legislators couldn’t get any farther away from a possible primary challenge. He laid out a possible scenario that included:

Clark also mentioned looking at the possibility of including normal pension costs outside of the tax caps, perhaps as part of the IMRF levy that already is on the books, and said that restoring General State Aid (GSA) to full funding also would be critical to allow school districts to take on the employer pension costs. There were several questions about the drastic cuts to retirees’ COLA, which everyone agreed was the biggest financial piece of pension reform. “If someone were to do a historical autopsy of the TRS system, other than the state failing to make its payments, I think they probably would make one change: Going back to a simple COLA instead of a compound COLA,” Clark said, referring a 1989 law that made the COLA compound. When questioned about reducing the COLA, Biss allowed that “ideally it should be in line with Social Security,” which includes an increase tied to the full CPI. “No doubt, the best way would be to use the CPI like Social Security does – if we could afford it,” Biss said. However, tying the retirement benefits to actual inflation would not generate the $160 billion in savings that some legislative leaders are seeking.

Legislators passing pension reform in early December, knowing full well that it likely would be tied up in a court challenge; After the March 2014 primary passing a cost shift to local school districts; After the general election in November of 2014 passing a bill to deal with income taxes, possibly extending the temporary increase or looking at some sort of progressive income tax. The topic of a potential shift of employer pension responsibility from the state to local school districts sparked a lot of discussion. Clark said if the $160 billion pension reform package contains some of the elements that have been reported – raising the retirement age, a salary cap and the decimation of the COLA – he has been advised that based on the pension protection language in the Illinois Constitution those elements would be unconstitutional, though the Illinois Supreme Court would make the final determination. However, he said there is no constitutional protection against a cost shift, though it is a political hot potato for many downstate legislators. “It’s constitutional, but it’s a train wreck if there is

IlliniCloud: The silver lining in technology for Illinois schools Technology in the classroom

By Michael Chamness IASA Director of Communications

With reform groups and government entities all trying to “fix” public education, a project called IlliniCloud provides an interesting juxtaposition: a self-driven solution that relies on collaboration and the sharing of resources and ideas. “It’s an Illinois-based initiative that’s by K12 schools for K12 schools,” summarized Jim Peterson, the technology director for Bloomington District, who doubles as the chief technology officer for IlliniCloud, a consortium of more than 400 school districts from seven states, including more than 200 Illinois school districts. “Our goal is to provide resources for school districts at scale. By leveraging shared resources to meet common K12 technology demands we can do it cheaper, faster and better than districts are able to do by themselves” Simply put, IlliniCloud facilitates school districts to share hardware, applications, services and IT support. Throw in built-in security features, ongoing upgrades and a never-ending search for more efficient ways for schools to do business and it is evident that the benefits to school districts go beyond the estimated 30 percent to 60 percent savings for the above-mentioned items. IlliniCloud is non-profit and Peterson and other Illinois technology leaders have volunteered their time and excess capacity within their own districts to bootstrap its development. “Now that we have critical mass of member districts, and a series of grants and state projects that provided a catalyst to expand our services, we have built a sustainable cost recovery model that charges districts only for what they use -- a model that responsibly expands what the cooperative has built, and one that districts can count on year after year,” Peterson said. The group for the most part utilizes existing resources, such as using the state’s Illinois Century Network for bandwidth and school districts’ data centers across the state. They don’t spend money on research and development or buy the newest gizmo. Instead, they wait for a product or service that is used by peer groups or developed within a school district. Then they try to deliver it to all of their members. “It’s kind of like Walmart,” Peterson said. “We

fight for new licensing models with vendors as a whole, versus the 800 plus districts divided, trying to get CPS prices that rarely happen. Quite simply, if they want to be on our shelves, they have to change their pricing models that are more education friendly. “We don’t really need to create or buy new things. I cringe sometimes when I hear about somebody going out and spending a lot of money on the newest technology promised to boost achievement or another state or federal program that rarely has adoption in K12. It is our feeling that there are many highly effective individuals, organizations, and institutions throughout our state. Using cloud services is simply a tool to help them efficiently expand their reach to students and staff they are trying to serve regardless of school size, geography and tax base. We see great projects that take root out of the places like the Illinois Math and Science Academy, our state universities, state agencies and regional centers, or organizations like the Illinois Computing Educators. Our goal is to leverage those efforts, find the best ways to integrate tried and true K12 technologies, and invest our dollars wisely.” IlliniCloud has been able to access federal E- Rate funds and also received a $5 million grant from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for school (Continued on page 7)

includes mandated state reporting and popular educational applications. Technology in the classroom

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districts in Bloomington, Dekalb, Murphysboro, Belleville and Niles to build cloud infrastructure. Other than a nominal annual membership fee that ranges from $500 to $1,500 based on student enrollment, districts pay only for the IlliniCloud services they use. Those services include:  Massive scalable computing resources using data centers across the state;  Enterprise-level storage solutions like File Blimp, a service that facilitates connecting every student with their files and gives them the ability to share files in a school-controlled environment;  Disaster recovery backup, the

Identity as a Service was built to make it easier for teachers and students to use the ever-growing list of cloud and district-based applications using one login and password, and allowing those applications to understand the role of that person in their district. This allows districts to securely connect their own districts logins using the identity service to nearly any educational application that exists. “This is very powerful in my own district. We have 32 web-based applications, from online assessments like NWEA’s MAP, to instructional applications like

Pearson SuccessNet, and content providers like Discovery Education. Each of these has its own login,” Peterson said. “The identity project also demonstrated the great collaboration between our friends at the University of Illinois, who helped us not only build and test it, but to make sure it was affordable for all districts. Higher education has been doing identity for years and, coincidentally, the

“We want to provide services to school administrators that can get them out of the business of technology infrastructure so that they can focus on teachers and kids...We want to deliver

importance of which again was illustrated in November by the devastating tornadoes that struck several communities in the state;  Infrastructure as a Service, including for applications like transportation, food

information to teachers that they can use with individual students in the classroom. That’s where achievement happens.”

service and student information -- services that might otherwise cost $6,000 to $10,000 apiece, but can be obtained for as much as a 60 percent savings through IlliniCloud; and  Software as a Service, including lecture capture and online meeting services, a tool that enhances professional development opportunities. In addition to saving money, Peterson said IlliniCloud also can help provide some peace of mind for school administrators and parents. For example, regarding the ability for students to share files, Peterson said that is monitored and controlled by school administrators much the same way as they control students’ use of school lockers. Recently, IlliniCloud has been focused on expanding several key services like data, identity and portal. Data as a Service came from demands around data automation and validation and is designed to help ease the data burden facing school administrators. The initiative not only addresses data between a district’s own internal systems, but also

—Jim Peterson, the technology director for Bloomington District 87, who doubles as the chief technology officer for IlliniCloud

U of I is where the core technologies we use were developed. We are very fortunate they were able to extend their expertise to K12.” The third initiative, portal, is the result of IlliniCloud’s collaboration with the U of I’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Northern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University. It is focused on a portal of applications that are built among Illinois partners and allow other vendors to easily integrate. “This presentation layer is simply a standard- based approach for delivering a common look and feel for applications, apps that can use identity and data that districts may elect to provide. In a way, it’s much like the iTunes app store, but it’s being built in a way that understands data around the user to make it more meaningful to them and stays within the K12 cooperative,” Peterson explained.

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Technology in the classroom

an English teacher in Teutopolis and before computer geeks were cool. “I’m a teacher at heart; I got into it for teaching,” he recalled, adding that he secured a grant from the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan. A few years later, he partnered with the NCSA at the U of I on a teaching game called Good News Bears, where students got to invest a hypothetical $1 million and then tracked their investments, learning about the stock market and the importance of saving and investing. He said IlliniCloud now is working with schools like the University of Wisconsin, Boise State

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These collaborations resulted from the Illinois Shared Learning Environment (ISLE), which the IlliniCloud joined as the only K12 partner. “We wanted to make sure that we took part in ISLE so K12 had a voice in the decisions around data, identity and the middleware for a statewide P20 system. This will ultimately be very important to districts,” Peterson said. Because nearly all of the funded ISLE projects were scoped to be delivered to K12, they were able to design and manage the core information sharing elements of ISLE and they are

and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that developed games for teaching purposes, trying to reach students where they learn best. IlliniCloud is governed by a 15-person board of technology officers co- chaired by Vicki DeWitt, director of the Area 5 Learning Technology Center (LTC) in Edwardsville, and Mindy Fiscus, director of Murphysboro’s Area 6

dedicated to protecting the data that is collected. “We have created an environment that is safe, something parents and school administrators can trust. When it comes to collecting data, no one can see someone else’s data. We can’t even see the data we collect from a school district and we would never give that data up.”

LTC, two of the seven LTCs operated under the auspices of ISBE. Any district interested in becoming part of the IlliniCloud can get details and fill out an application form by going to the IlliniCloud website at www.illinicloud.org . Peterson said there are a couple of main reasons school districts don’t take advantage of what IlliniCloud offers: 1) many districts don’t know about it, and 2) the contractual cycle districts might be in with regard to IT services. Despite the high-tech nature of what IlliniCloud represents, Peterson said the group has not lost its focus: students in the classroom. “We want to provide services to school administrators that can get them out of the business of technology infrastructure so that they can focus on teachers and kids. We want to provide services and tools that augment their tools,” Peterson said. “We want to deliver information to teachers that they can use with individual students in the classroom. That’s where achievement happens.”

IlliniCloud was born out of an idea Peterson championed for school districts working together. More than eight years ago, the Bloomington and Springfield school districts collaborated by sharing offsite backups at their respective sites, but it simply was not cost effective for just two districts. Now there are multiple data centers located at Bloomington, Murphysboro, and DeKalb. Murphysboro and that district’s chief information officer, Steve Carrington, serve as the fiscal officer for IlliniCloud. Carrington described the simplicity – and success – of the joint effort by saying, “We’re not lawyers; we’re just a bunch of tech guys trying to help schools.” Carrington and Peterson both credit their supervisors and their superintendents, Dr. Barry Reilly of Bloomington District 87 and Christopher Grode of Murphysboro District 186, for supporting the IlliniCloud concept and allowing them to work on the project. Peterson’s interest and intrigue in technology for schools began all the way back in 1991 when he was

Technology in the classroom

Technology in today’s classrooms not really about devices, but about new ways of teaching, learning By Jason Smith, Director of Business Services & Technology, Coal City District 1

“This is the real power behind technology in today’s classrooms. It engages and empowers students in ways that have never before been seen.” — Jason Smith, Coal City District 1

As many districts are moving toward 1:1 learning environments, it is important to realize that these initiatives are focused on changing instruction and not on the devices being made available to students. Schools all across the state are implementing iPads, Chromebooks and Android tablets for students to access information and create products for assessment of learning. Bring your own device (BYOD) allows students to utilize their smartphones and laptops to make them more efficient. Platforms like Google and Edmodo have made sharing resources between students, teachers and the world, a simple and effective day-to-day practice. Classroom teachers are creating opportunities for students to collaborate, communicate, express creativity and to critically think as districts deliver Common Core curricula to students from kindergarten through high school. In elementary classrooms, iPads are used in centers, as part of Daily 5, and for interventions. Apps are leveraged to reinforce, practice and explore concepts from handwriting to phonetic awareness, a n d c o nceptual mathematics to digital music. Interactive whiteboards are being replaced by iPads as common workspaces that can be shared and accessed wirelessly. These mobile devices, along with their Android counterparts, allow students to access the web, acquire curriculum content and express creativity as they build products that articulate their understanding. Teachers are using these devices to monitor progress of students and provide appropriate differentiated experiences for their students by accessing a multitude of apps that meet students where they are. In higher grades, students are using iPads as their backpacks. This single piece of glass and aluminum takes the place of notebooks, folders, textbooks and, in many instances, the need for full computers. Students take their notes, write their essays, produce their videos, take their quizzes and surf the web easily, eliminating the need for even a single #2 pencil. Tablets and smartphones will soon become the primary tool for learning in most middle

and high schools. Chromebooks give students the ability to access the web and be productive as they create word- processing documents, webpages and podcasts. In tandem with Google Apps for Education, schools can manage both content and devices from a single dashboard. This powerful partnership makes the Chrome operating system a viable and economical alternative to other full operating system devices. Students can collaborate as they write and create presentations. On today’s web, students are able to be productive in any medium. From video production to real-time collaboration, sites like Twiddla.com or InfuseLearning.com, Chromebooks offer the best of the web on a device that is just around $250. Schools have realized the power of technology as a tool for learning. They have also come to see that the device is not as important as the skills the device allows them to learn. Those 21 st Century fluencies and skills become the context in which schools are delivering the Common Core. This transition to 1:1 learning environments is about giving students the opportunities to collaborate, communicate through social media, be creative and create products that demonstrate their understanding. Further, it allows for critical thinking. As students explore a topic, they can identify gaps in their understanding, and then use the Internet to find information that they can apply just in time and in a contextually appropriate manner. This is the real power behind technology in today’s classrooms. It engages and empowers students in ways that have never before been seen.

Technology in the classroom

Technology evoluƟon: More student ownership of learning

 Students watch Khan Academy videos on iPads, and then use the “Jigsaw” to share highlights with each other. Our Board supports the continued work of the faculty and the administration in seeking ways to use technology to transform teaching and learning. In October 2013, the Board approved funding of “Innovation Grants” for 40 teachers across each of the six buildings for a January-June 2014 field test of a 1:1 learning environment. Grant recipients in grades 3-8 will receive a set of Chromebooks for their class; K-2 teachers will receive a set of iPads. Those grant winners will have training in December, and will roll out their innovative instruction in January. They will share their experiences with colleagues and the community through blogs posted on a 1:1 web page on www.dps109.org , and they will encourage administrators and other teachers to visit their classroom. Next year, those pilot teachers will be mentors to other teachers when District 109 becomes a complete 1:1 environment. While this pilot uses iPads and Chromebooks, our focus is not on any one device, but on delivering transformative instruction that engages, inspires and empowers students. It doesn’t matter if we have Windows or Mac devices, tablets or laptops. One-to- one instruction is about learning. We are focused on increased student achievement, increased student satisfaction and a transformative move toward more student ownership of their learning and growth.

In Deerfield Public Schools (DPS109), we are fortunate to have technological resources to support learning -- and teachers who are willing to learn and take risks to improve their teaching and their students’ learning. Currently, in every K-8 classroom we have five Windows -based PCs in an N-Computing “pod.” We have carts of PC netbook “mini” computers that are shared by classrooms in each

By Dr. Michael Lubelfeld, superintendent at Deerfield 109

building. We also have several sets of Chromebooks, iPads, and Nexus tablets. Our students use many different devices – like professionals all use, every day, in all industries. The students learn to be flexible, creative, and to think beyond the keyboard and screen in front of them. For example, in our middle schools:  Eighth grade social studies teachers used Skype to simulate George Orwell’s "Big Brother" character from 1984 to trigger discussion around the question, "How much government surveillance should Americans accept to keep the nation safe?”  Seventh grade social studies teachers used the Aurasma app on the iPads to create a scavenger hunt that develops map skills with augmented reality.

Technology in the classroom

What is your district’s posiƟon on ‘online’ classes? Alabama, Florida, Michigan,

Virginia and Idaho require high school students to take an online course for high school graduation. Minnesota highly encourages students to take an online course. Florida has multiple choices for high school students to take online courses from the state virtual school, local district virtual course offerings and charter opportunities. In Illinois, an educational technology company attempted

Dr. Richard Voltz, Associate Director/

Professional Development

to start a virtual school in the Chicago suburban area that led to protests from many local public school districts. Do you think this is the end to private challenges to public education in Illinois? What is your district’s plan to stay ahead of these challenges? Do you learn the same way you did even five years ago? What about 25 years ago? What will your schools look like in five years? In 25 years? What if public education experiences more violent actions in schools such as what happened at Sandy Hook? Who will even send their child to public schools if we cannot adequately protect the students? High school online or virtual courses have been around for some time in Illinois. Many rural students have enrolled in these courses because the local district’s curriculum did not offer the course. Some students enroll in virtual courses to fill in for required courses needed for graduation or because of school expulsions or suspensions that limit students’ enrollment in the public schools. During this time of limited financial resources in Illinois, school districts may have to offer virtual courses because of budget cuts and subsequent course and program eliminations. Progressive school districts may seize the opportunity to generate revenue by offering online courses that either individual students or other school districts pay for students to attend. What is your district’s plan? The advances in educational software, wireless Internet access, devices in all shapes, sizes and price points, familiarity with operating systems, the popularity of “flipped classroom” methodologies, and the desire to meet the needs of all students might be reasons for your district to consider this important topic in your next strategic plan. There is no doubt that the classroom of tomorrow

is changing. The new Illinois performance-based teacher evaluation system based on the Danielson Frameworks for Teaching demands student engagement. The days of students sitting in rows and columns listening to a teacher lecture will be a learning environment of the past. No longer would Abraham Lincoln be able to recognize the same type of classroom in which his generation was taught. The classroom of tomorrow will include individualized instruction based on the student’s needs with technology directing the learning based on successful completion of specific education standards. Students will work in teams to solve problems. Classroom furniture will be flexible. Walls will be made of material on which students and teachers can write ideas and concepts as they work in small groups. Students will blog and communicate 24/7 about what they are learning in school and how they are applying these concepts in their “real” world. Grading of writing, assignments, performances and the like will be handled by technology. Students will be in control of their own learning. They will determine their own learning goals with help and guidance from educators. Technology will replace books, copiers, and paper. What is your school district doing to get ready for this paradigm change?

Rico named director of Illinois Center for School Improvement The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and American Institutes for Research (AIR) welcome José A. Rico to the position of director for the Illinois Center for School Improvement (ICSI). Knowledge Works Foundation and the National Council of La Raza. From 2009 to 2013, Rico

was executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, where he developed policy, planned strategic initiatives, and led outreach and communications for President Obama’s education agenda and the Latino community. In this position, Rico designed and organized numerous White House Policy Summits, advised U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other senior administration officials in the development of policy priorities, and spoke on behalf of the White House with national and local media. Rico drafted an executive order signed by the president on October 19, 2010, that increased public-private partnerships targeting all phases of learning, from early childhood to higher education. ICSI is a partnership between ISBE and AIR. Its mission is to lead the delivery of high-quality, research -based regional and statewide services designed to raise student performance by increasing district-level capacity for exceptional teaching and learning.

In his role as director, Rico will lead the strategic development of the Illinois Statewide System of Support (SSoS) and will manage implementation of ICSI activities, services, and staff. The director is responsible for facilitating collaboration and partnerships with the regional offices of education and intermediate service centers, the ISBE Roundtable, and other SSoS partners. ISBE Deputy Superintendent and Chief Education Officer Susie Morrison expressed confidence in Rico, the new ICSI director: “We are extremely pleased that José will lead the important work of the Illinois Center for School Improvement as we collaborate with AIR, the greater SSoS network, and our school districts to improve outcomes and opportunities for Illinois students.” Rico, a graduate of Chicago Public Schools, served as the founding principal of Chicago’s Multicultural Arts High School, which opened in 2005. Previously, he worked for the University of Illinois- Chicago’s College of Education, where he helped develop small, innovative learning communities in public schools and served as a school improvement coach. He also worked on school projects with the

Communicate your story through data visualizaƟon By Eric Smith and Steve Miller

The financial and strategic data that a school district collects and reports to the state board of education on an annual basis is no longer just a collection of spreadsheets that meet a compliance requirement. Those same disparate data sets are now part of a process geared toward helping school district leaders paint a much clearer picture of their district’s story through the use of interactive data visualization. We’ve all heard the saying that ‘ A picture is worth a thousand words .’ But for school administrators that are communicating with a diverse group of stakeholders, the stories that data visualizations can convey are worth far more. The nuances of school finance are often difficult even for seasoned board members to understand; imagine the layperson attempting to grasp the intricacies of the

changed significantly. Are new resources being directed to areas that best support the district’s core missions? Are resources being redeployed to better meet the goals set by the board? By looking at this new picture of your budget, districts are able to “command their data.” Through a joint partnership with IASA, IASB, IASBO and Forecast5 Analytics, Illinois school administrators now have access to these USA Today -style visuals that combine financial, enrollment, salary, salary survey, EAV, live birth data, transportation data, health insurance data and student achievement data into a multi-dimensional format, allowing each district to clearly tell their

unique situation to the community and other key stakeholders. The product that makes all of this possible is 5Sight™-- a Business Intelligence platform built by Forecast5 that is providing school districts a brand new look not only of their own data, but the data of every district in the state. Through the use of data visualization and a powerful query engine, districts are able to apply custom filters for a view of their data that has never before been possible. This

district plan in one sitting. To be effective, a presentation to convey the position of your district must be more than a recitation of numbers. Balancing the varying levels of fiscal acumen within your audience can be a challenge. By using graphs and visuals you can prevent the

layperson from being overwhelmed by tables of numbers, but you need to provide enough detail to satisfy the CPA-types on your board or in the audience. Beyond the function of communicating your story, data visualization is also a key tool in demonstrating the successes of your district. Graphics that show an increased service level where it was previously lacking, test scores on the rise, or cost control in a key area of the budget are all examples of stories that need to be shared with your community. The impact of these stories is much stronger when a telling visual is displayed for everyone to see. For example, look at the budget through a new lens using a multi-dimensional visual that allows you to accelerate the budgeting process and identify the “needle movers.” This new way of looking at a budget depicted by colors, shapes, and sizes of line items allows you to quickly identify what has

approach is allowing school district administrators to spend time analyzing rather than gathering relevant data. In the current climate, transparency isn’t just a buzzword…it is the reality. School districts, their boards and their administrators are expected to share much greater levels of information with each other and their constituents. Look at your next presentation to your community and other key stakeholders as an opportunity to satisfy this demand and tell your district’s story in high definition. For more information about Forecast5, contact National Sales Director Scott Smith at ssmith@forecast5analytics.com or call (630) 955- 7601. Visit the company’s website at http:// www.forecast5analytics.com or follow @Forecast5 on Twitter.

IASA News in Brief

New Superintendent at Washington 308 Dr. Kyle Freeman will become the new District 308 superintendent on July 1, 2014. He is currently in his fourth year as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Mascoutah District 19 in southern Illinois. Superintendent Jim Dunnan will retire June 30, 2014 ending 10 years on the job. The superintendent also serves as principal at Washington Community High School.

Through the camera lens: A look into Illinois school districts Share a piece of your district with the rest of us! Leadership Matters invites you to send in photos from your day to day happenings out in the field. Beginning in January, we will highlight photos from IASA members with a different topic each month. What would you like to share? Check out the monthly categories below for ideas or create your own category.

Photos can be taken using a digital camera or your own mobile phone. Simply email the picture to mbuch@iasaedu.org along with identifying information including category, date, names if applicable, location and anything else you might want to add. If a student is included, please make sure you have a photo release on file. January -Athletics in your school; February -Technology use in your school; March -Fine Arts in your school; April -Community involvement; May -Countdown to summer break

Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations Law Conference to be offered Date: Friday, December 6, 2013 Location: IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law For more information or to register online: http://cle.kentlaw.edu/ Registration Fee: $235, $5/person discount groups of 3 or more; After 11/29 $275, no group discount available (fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, reception and course materials) Keynote address: Craig Olson, LER Alumni Professor of Labor & Employment Relations, School of Labor & Employment, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to speak on Employee Benefits in the Public Sector. Deadline for IASA’s Moon Scholarships is January 10, 2014 Are you a superintendent or an aspiring superintendent? Are you pursuing graduate study to become the best superintendent you can be? Do you know there are scholarships available through IASA to help offset the costs of your coursework? Established in 1993 in memory of Dr. James V. Moon, a former superintendent at Morton High School District, the James V. and Dorothy B. Moon Scholarship program is committed to im- proving the education and qualifications of school administrators. Since its inception, 67 scholarships totaling nearly $143,000 have been awarded to current or aspiring superintendents. Practicing school administrators in Illinois qualify if they are college graduates pursuing an advanced de- gree in educational administration at an accredited college or university. Several scholarships ($2,500 mini- mum each) are awarded each year and are paid directly to the college or university to cover tuition, fees and/ or textbook expenses. A copy of the applicant qualifications, process and 2014 Application are available by clicking here . Appli- cations are due no later than January 10, 2014. To get more information on the application and awards process, contact Cherry Middleton at 217/753-2213 or cmiddleton@iasaedu.org . A list of previous recipients is available by clicking here .

Getting to know your IASA Board Members Ronald Jacobs Blackhawk Region

Favorite hobby: Crappie fishing in the spring, pheasant hunting in the fall. Favorite movie: A Few Good Men Favorite book: When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi Favorite musical artist: Mick Jagger

School district: Riverdale CUSD 100 One thing you would like people to know about your school district: We have been consolidated for over 50 years. Few people in our community along the banks of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers can remember when Riverdale didn’t exist as the community school district. Years on IASA Board: 1 Years as educator: 25 High School: Mt. Pleasant Community High School- Mt. Pleasant, Iowa Colleges or Universities: Iowa Wesleyan College, Northwest Missouri State University, Western Illinois University Family: Wife-Jennifer a certified school nurse (not in the same district), Son-Isaac a senior at Riverdale, Daughter- Emma a junior at Riverdale

One thing people probably would be surprised to know about you: My father-in-law is Jesse James, a retired Illinois superintendent. Biggest concern about public education: We seem to be losing focus, and control of the many things that have been good about public education for more than a century Most encouraging thing about public education: There seems to be a renewed sense of pride in the local public school, despite the many challenges that keep coming our way.

Illinois Superintendent of the Year RecepƟon will be held at AASA NaƟonal Conference on EducaƟon

A reception for the 2014 Illinois Superintendent of the Year featuring a Taste of Nashville will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., Friday, February 14, 2014, at Honky Tonk Central (second floor), 329 Broadway in Nashville, TN. This reception is being sponsored by: Ameresco, Inc., American Fidelity Assurance Company, ECRA Group, Inc. and Environmental Consultants, LLC.

The AASA National Conference on Education will be held February 13-15, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. This year’s theme is Evolve Your Perspective. Registration and housing are now open for AASA Members. The preferred hotel for the Illinois delegation is the Hilton Nashville Downtown, 121 Fourth Avenue South. Click here for additional information.

ISDLAF+ November 2013 Monthly Update

Click here to view the November 2013 ISDLAF+ rates, economic indicators and general economic news brief. To obtain additional information regarding this IASA sponsored service, contact Emmert Dannenberg, statewide marketing director/ISDLAF+ at 815.592.6948. To check daily rates, visit the ISDLAF+ website at www.isdlafplus.com .

December 2013

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Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

PD Event

Shawnee Region Mtg.

Corn Belt Region Mtg.

PD Event

Cook North, Kaskaskia and Lake Region Mtgs.

Cook West Region Mtg.

Wabash Valley Region Mtg.

Click on a color- coded date to open a link for more information about the event.

IASA Event

Professional Development Event

Region Meeting ( Contact your Region President for details )

Legislative Event

January 2014

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Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Shawnee Region Mtg.

Illini, Northwest Region Mtg.

Corn Belt Region Mtg.

Cook North, Kaskaskia Region Mtg.

16 PD Event

PD Event

Starved Rock Region Mtg.

DuPage Region Mtg.

Lake Region Mtg.

23 Cook South Region Mtg.

PD Event

Wabash Valley Region Mtg.

Three Rivers, Western Region Mtg.

PD Event

Kishwaukee Region Mtg.

Click on a color- coded date to open a link for more information about the event.

IASA Event

Professional Development Event

Region Meeting ( Contact your Region President for details )

Legislative Event

IASA, IASB, IASBO offer insurance plans for schools

 Flexibility with Coverage  Flexibility with Deductibles  Life Insurance Coverage  Early Retirement Option  Short-Term Disability (STD) & Long-Term Disability (LTD) Coverage  Dental Coverage

 Vision Care Coverage  Out-of-State Coverage  No-Balance Billing  Cafeteria Plan  COBRAAdministration  Health Care Reform Compliance  No Exit Fees

For more information, please contact Stan Travelstead at stan@iasaedu.org or Jeremy Travelstead at jeremy@iasaedu.org or toll-free at 877.698.2247

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