Leadership Matters May 2014 working doc

Matters Leadership MAY 2014 Central IllinoisValley superintendents pitch in to helpWashington’s recovery

In thismonth’s issue

Additional Items

ISBE leaders offer thoughts onPARCC issues P. 15 SIUSuperintendent PreparationProgramP. 13 Open letter to IASA members regardingCenter

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for Tax andBudget AccountabilityP. 20

Getting to know your IASA RegionPresidentsP. 21

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JobBank P. 22

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IASANews inBrief P. 24

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NewAASAPresident-Elect ready to champion public education P. 9

‘WashingtonStrong”More thana slogan in tornado’s aftermath P. 5

IASACalendar of Events P. 28 MarketingOpportunities at IASAConferenceP. 30

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About theCover The cover photowas taken November 17, 2013after a tornado hit theWashington

Student Growth: Using data tomakedecisions P. 18

Issuesplague implementationof PARCC; ISBEoffers itsperspective P. 14

community, destroyinghundreds of homes, including the homes of 2 IASA superintendentswho lived there.

2648BeechlerCourt Springfield, IL 62703-7305 217.753.2213 800WoodfieldRoad, Ste. F109 Schaumburg, IL 60173-4717 847.466.5075

IASANewsletter Editor Michael Chamness mchamness@iasaedu.org

Assistant Editor MaryEllenBuch mbuch@iasaedu.org

1200WestMainStreet Marion, IL 62959-1138 618.364.0501

Volume 2, Issue 5

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IASAwill celebrate itsGoldenAnniversary atAnnual Conference tobeheld inOctober

The year was 1964.

President LyndonBaines Johnsondeclaredhis “War onPoverty.”

TheSurgeonGeneral issueda report saying that smokingmay behazardous.

Message from the ExecutiveDirector Dr. Brent Clark

TheBeatlesmade their first appearance on the “EdSullivanShow.”

Planswereannounced to construct theWorldTradeCenter inNewYorkCity.

The Warren Commission issued its report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinatingPresident JohnF. Kennedy.

TheCardinals beat theYankees towin theWorldSeries.

TheCivil RightsAct was signed into law.

It also was the year that the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) ended its affiliation with the Illinois Education Association (IEA) and became a stand-alone statewide association representing school superintendents and other school administrators. Fast-forward 50 years to 2014 and the IASA stands as one of the nation’s largest associations for school administrators with more than 1,700 members. Our history is rich, and theassociation remains focusedon its vision of “MaximumEducational Success for All Children.”

We are marking the 50 th anniversary of IASA becoming a stand-alone association in several ways, including introducing a new logo and the design for a commemorative coin that will be given to attendees of our Annual Conference. Speaking of the conference, we are working very hard to make the conference the highlight of our Golden Anniversary celebration, so please save thedatesOctober 8-10. In fact, I can tell you now that while we still are in the process of finalizing a couple of general sessions, we already have confirmed many of our main speakers and it is an outstanding group, including:

 Hall Davidson , Director of the Discovery Education Network and a nationally known educator and speaker on education in the digital age. Before coming to the Discovery Education Network, Davidson was Director of Educational Services at KOCE-TV, a PBS station in Orange County, California and taughtmath ona television show that earned anEmmy.  Noted author and business consultant Jon Gordon , who has written books on such topics as leadership, culture and teamwork. He has authored nine books, including OneWord, The Energy Bus and TheSeed , FindingPurposeandHappiness in LifeandWork .  Suhail Farooqui is CEO of K12 Insight, a company that specializes in survey design and deployment in public schools, and the impact of surveys and community-wide communication on public schools. He is widely recognized as a visionary helping America’s public schools become more relevant andeffective at their coremission.

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Central IllinoisValleyRegionsuperintendentsand school administratorsuse their ServiceDay to help tornadocleanupefforts inWashington (IL).

federal government. Also, wehave included a column written by Dr. Kevin O’Mara regarding issues related to the PARCC implementation. Kevin is superintendent at Argo Community District 217 in Cook County, a member of the IASA Board of Directors and someonewho has been at the forefront of thePARCCdiscussions. CIV school leaders help Washington tornado cleanup efforts This issue also highlights the Service Day efforts of superintendents and administrators in the Central Illinois Valley Region. The school leaders gathered recently on a Saturday to help the ongoing tornado cleanup efforts in Washington (IL), and the story explores the recovery efforts from the perspective of superintendentswho lived through the tornado. Congratulations toDr. David Schuler, the new AASAPresident-Elect! Dr. Schuler, superintendent at High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, recently was voted President-Elect of AASA. When he becomes President in 2015, he will become the 13 th superintendent from Illinois to lead the national association that dates back to the late 1800s. This issue includes an in-depth profile of Dr. Schuler, who will be a tremendous national spokesperson for public education.

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 Rafe Esquith , an award-winning teacher at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles, where he has taught since 1984. Many of his students, who are all from a community of poor and immigrant families, start class very early, leave late, and typically achieve high scores in standardized tests. Esquith has authored books about teaching and his annual class Shakespeare Productions was featured in the 2005 documentary The Hobart Shakespeareans. We also have invited the two candidates for governor, Governor Pat Quinn and Republican candidate Bruce Rauner, to attend a special forum and discuss their views on public education. That one still is in pencil and may remain so right up to the conference because of the obvious complexities of scheduling that are involved. But we hope both candidates take advantage of the opportunity to come and talk about oneof themost important issues facing our state. Attention turns toPARCCnow that Illinoishas NCLBwaiver This issue of LeadershipMatters features a story about ISBE’s perspective on implementation of PARCC following the news that Illinois finally has received its No Child Left Behind waiver from the

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‘WashingtonStrong’ more than aslogan in tornado’saftermath

CIVRegionpitches in tohelp incleanup efforts

the response was phenomenal. It was all hands on deck to help from the moment the storm occurred and thatmentality has not changed.” Dr. Patrick Martin, superintendent of District 50 in Washington, organized the CIV Service Day project, as he has done the past few years. From his vantage point “WashingtonStrong” has become away of life. “It represents the resiliency of the people in the Washington community,” Martin said. “I think back on the pictures in the local and regional newspapers, television footage, images from social media and there were so many people in the Washington community and outside that helped to support one another. It is like nothing that I have ever seenon this grand a scale. Everyone was thinking about how best to support their neighbors and what they could do tohelp.” Martin recalled that funds were raised for staff members who had lost their homes. Many of those who lost all of their belongings wanted the funds to go to someone else. “It was so humbling to hear each of the 10 or 11 people in our district say things like ‘I am sure there is someone in a lot worse situation than I am...please see to it that they get this money.’ I had to tell one individual she had no choice, that the individuals who had donated the funds would have been disappointed had she not taken them. It was such a (Continuedonpage6)

ByMichael Chamness IASADirector of Communications

“Washington Strong” is more than a slogan for those who lived through the devastation of the EF-4 tornado that tore through the central Illinois community on aSundaymorning last November. Sixmonths later, the physical scars resemble the marks left behind from open-heart surgery, a three- block wide swath that cuts right through the center of the town of 15,000. Some rebuilding has begun, but the exhaustive cleanup efforts continue. In fact, a dozen IASA Central Illinois Valley Region (CIV) school superintendents and administrators gathered on a recent Saturday to participate in Washington’s annual Cleanup Day -- this year a day dedicated to cleaning up debris left behind by the tornado that ravaged entire subdivisions. One of the CIV superintendents working as part of the Service Day cleanup crew was Dr. Chad Allaman, superintendent of Central District 51 in Washington. He lost his home in the tornado. “Washington Strong” has a very special meaning for him and his family. “To me, ‘Washington Strong’ means coming together and supporting each other for the long haul,” Allaman said. “For every bad thing that happened as a result of the tornado, it seems that 10 great things happened. The entire community was affected and

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Washingtoncleanup storycontinued _______________________________________________

headed into town to seehowwe could help.” Allaman, his wife and 14-year-old daughter were 55miles away visiting his in-laws inHavanawhen the tornado hit. They headed home when they got the news. The neighborhood was unrecognizable; their homewas gone. “Without a doubt, the most vivid memory of that day was approaching our neighborhood on foot and not being able to recognize

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senseof giving in the truest sense of theword.” There were storm predictions the morning of November 17, 2013, and the skies were menacing. But there was little advance warning when a twister dipped out of the clouds and touched down just southwest of Washington as an EF-2 with sustained rotating winds of up to 120 mph. The tornado rapidly

strengthened to about 190 mph andwidened as it barreled through the heart of the community destroying more than 500 buildings and homes. Remarkably, only one person was killed. Like many people that Sunday morning, Martin was in church. “I had just walked in to church with my 1-year old son Tyson. We had barely made it to 11 a.m. Mass

even our street as the entire area had been leveled,” Allaman remembered. “Next was the reaction of the first responders and people from surrounding neighborhoods who rushed into the affected areas to help under extremely dangerous and volatile conditions. People showed a tremendous amount of

(L-R) EurekaCommUnit 140Supt. BobGold, EurekaCommUnit 140Asst. Supt. PatrickDurley, FarmingtonCentral 265Supt.Dr. JohnAsplund,Monroe Elementary70Supt.DarrickReiley, District 50Schools Supt.Dr. Patrick Martin, Princeville326Supt. ShannonDuling,MetamoraHSDistrict 122Supt. RandyToepke, Director Tazewell-MasonCountySpecial Education Association (TMCSEA) SallyMasear, AssistantDirector TMCSEAKrissiNeville, TremontDistrict 702Supt. JeffHinman, LimestoneWalters316Supt. Tim Dotson, Central GradeSchool District 51Supt.Dr. ChadAllaman.

when it started raining. I sat down and it wasn’t two minutes later that they had us huddled closer to the center of the church. Our church is probably a couple of blocks from where the tornado went through,” Martin recalled. “We heard sirens and people started to get messages on their phones. A person behind me said that they had received a text message and that their home was completely gone. I knew that neighborhoodwas in the vicinity of ChadAllaman and John Tignor (superintendent of Washington District 52) and I grabbed my son and headed that way...I wanted to make sure they were alright and then check on the schools. “Phone service was terrible and I was trying to reachmywife inBirmingham to let her knowwewere alright. I sent her a text message that she received about 30 minutes later. I could not get back to Chad’s and John’s houses because of the devastation so I went tomy board president’s house, dropped off my son with his teenagers and he and I

courage in the immediate aftermathof the storm.” The Allaman family home is still being rebuilt and they hope to be able to move back in sometime in August, about the time the new school year begins. Meanwhile, they and their two cats and a dog are living in a condo. “Our family is doing well,” he said. “We hurt for those who lost loved ones that day and are thankful there was no greater loss of life or serious injuries as a result of the storm.Weare humbled by and thankful for the wonderful outpouring of support we have received.” Allaman and Tignor both continued to run their school districts in the aftermath of losing their homes and belongings. “How?” youmight ask. “First, with the support of my wife, family, church community, and friends,” Allaman answered.

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“I have a deeper understanding of how important a school is to its community. Our schools and churches became beacons of normalcy, direction and hope to a community rocked by disaster. I am certainly proud to serve as superintendent and will continue to work side-by- side with our community to support the recovery efforts.” — Central District #51 Superintendent Chad Allaman, who lost his Washington home in the November 2013 tornado

“Second, we have an outstanding school community. Our Board of Education, staff members and parents came together to do whatever it took to reopen our schools and meet the needs of our students, staff and parents. Finally, we had a lot of support from the City of Washington and organizations such as IASA. Three of the first four people I spoke with in the aftermath of the tornado were superintendents, and city officials worked tirelessly to assist us in allowing contractors in to our facilities and grounds to make needed repairs.” The schools’ role as the glue that binds a community together was never more pronounced than in the days and weeks following the tornado. “I believe that it has shown the community just how important the schools are to everyone’s well-

being,” Martin said. “Our goal was to get students back into school asquickly as possible so that it could assist in two ways: to begin the process of getting back to a normal routine…whatever that would look like, and to provide a place for students to go so that parents could begin the process of salvaging, making plans for temporary housing and rebuilding homes. A lot of the schools were used as gathering places and a lot of coordination was done through support of our individual staffs.” Allaman said the whole experience of having plans and lives altered in literally a few seconds just

reinforced his core beliefs that faith and family are most important, that “things” can be replaced, but you cannot replace people and pets. But he said it did changehis viewas a school superintendent. “I have a deeper understanding of how important a school is to its community,” Allaman said. “Our schools and churches became beacons of normalcy, direction and hope to a community rocked by disaster. I am certainly proud to serve as superintendent and will continue to work side-by-side withour community to support the recovery efforts.”

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Call for presentations-50thAnnual IASAConference

WEWANT YOU!!!!

TO SUBMIT A BREAKOUT SESSION PROPOSAL

IASA invites members to submit breakout

sessionproposals for the 50 th Annual IASAAnnual Conference. This year’s conference is scheduled onOctober 8-10,

2014, at theCrownPlazaHotel inSpringfield.

This is an opportunity to share your best practices on educational issues with your colleagues. Click here to viewadditional information and to download the form.

If you have any questions, please contact Cherry Middletonat 217.753.2213or cmiddleton@iasaedu.org

Proposals submittedby vendorswill not be considered.

Deadline for proposals tobe received: Friday, May30, 2014.

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NewAASAPresident-Elect Dr. Schuler ready to championpublic education ArlingtonHeights superintendent focuses onmaking schools relevant for students

ByMichael Chamness IASADirector of Communications

must be constantly asking ourselves. In today’s world, there’s no need to teach what kids can Google.” Schuler said two other people stand out asmajor influences in his development as an educator. One was his student teacher mentor Tony Bralick, and the other is Dr. Sarah Jerome, superintendent of the neighboring Arlington Heights District 25 and the last Illinois superintendent to be President of AASA, a post sheheld during the2007-08 school year. “Tony helped teach me the art of teaching and engaging students to get to a deeper level,” recalled Schuler of his six years teaching alongside Bralick in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “He would push people to ensure that students reached their true innate potential, not just what they thought their potential might be. His attitude was that students can always domore if we expect more of them.” In October of 1997, Bralick, a social studies teacher and cross country coach at WaukeshaWest High School, died of a heart attack at a cross country meet. He was only 46. Schuler’s bond with Bralick was so strong that Schuler took time off from his brand new administrative post in another district and returned to Waukesha to teach Bralick’s social studies classes and help students through the (Continuedonpage10)

David Schuler can’t remember exactly when he wanted to become an educator. Or, more accurately, he can’t recall ever wanting tobe anything else. “I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. My mother was a teacher and I lovedwhat she did. I can remember making check boxes for her when she brought papers home to grade,” said Schuler, superintendent of schools at High School District 214 in Arlington Heights, who recently was voted President-Elect of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). When Schuler becomes AASA President in 2015 he will become only the 13 th Illinois superintendent to head up that national association in thepast 128 years. ThewaySchuler’smother went about hermission still guides his educationphilosophy to this day. “She always made education relevant for her students. If she was teaching about the war, she would invite veterans and Holocaust survivors to share their stories. If it was home economics shewas teaching, shewould actually teach kids how to cook,” Schuler recalled. “That has to be our focus today. How do we ensure education is relevant in our ever- evolving global environment? That’s a question we

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grieving process for the first week following Bralick’s passing. “Tony would have wanted that and it was the least I could have done for an incredible person who had such a significant impact onme as a person and as an educator,” Schuler said. TheWaukesha school district established theAnthony J. Bralick Scholarship in hismemory. From Jerome, Schuler said he learned about being a “classy professional educator.” “She taught me that as an administrator you should always do the right thing, period. The right thing for students first and then the right thing by staff, parents and the profession,” Schuler said. “She said all of that takes significant time, but it’s timewell spent raising human capital.” Schuler has been an educator for 22 years. He graduated with a B.A. from Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and earned both his Master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before being named superintendent in Arlington Heights in 2005, Schuler served as superintendent at Marshall, Wisconsin from 2000-2002, and at Stevens Point,Wisconsin from 2002-2005. Among his top concerns about public education are the one-size-fits-all approach that many reformers prescribe, that education appears to be low -hanging fruit formany politicians and no one is really championing public education from the left or the right, and what he says is the false assumption that public schools arenot being successful. He realizes that there is no silver bullet, and he asserts that’s good. “A one-size fits all approach doesn’t inspire innovation. We should celebrate the diversity of districts in our country and share the many success stories going on in our schools so we can learn best practices from each other,” Schuler said. He also believes that local education leaders have to ensure strategies are in place so that parents are being vocal advocates for our public schools and that they are sharing what they know about the successes of their children’s schools with the non- parents in thedistrict. It is critical, from his perspective, that we change the language of our advocacy on behalf of public schools, emphasizing that “we should be championing the work of public schools instead of always trying todefend them.” “Unless there is an ulterior motive, all civic leaders, policy leaders, and parentswant good public schools. And they exist.Weneed to take back control

AASAPresidents from Illinois

1887-88 NewtonC. Dougherty 1904-05 EdwinG. Cooley 1916-17 JohnD. Shoop 1924-25 WilliamMcAndrew

1947-48 HaroldC. Hunt 1956-57 Paul J. Misner

1961-62 BenjaminC.Willis 1969-70 ArnoldW. Salisbury

1979-80 OlinW. Stratton

1992-93 PaulW. Jung

2004-05 Dr. DonaldKussmaul

2007-08 Dr. Sarah Jerome

of themessage.” Schuler believes that relationships and authentic communications are key elements to being an effective school administrator – and that theburden is on the superintendent to forge a good working relationship with the school board, teachers and staff and the community. “I do think it’s the superintendent’s responsibility to modify his or her style to meet the style of the board president. They are the elected official and we need tomeet themwhere they are at,” he said, noting that he has been superintendent in three different school districts and has worked with seven different

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Dr. Schuler namedAASAPresident-Elect_____________________________________________

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board presidents. “Each of the board presidents was awesome, but they were different individuals with completely different styles. “The first one expectedme to facilitate the board meetings. The second onemade it clear that it was a meeting of the board, that shewould run themeeting andmy role would be to ask and answer questions. I have had board presidents who wanted time to process issues before making a decision and board presidents who didn’t want to hang up the phone without a completely developed plan. It is my responsibility to get to know the current board president’s style and ensure I act and communicate according to that style.” Schuler described his relationship with teachers, staff and other administrators as “open and approachable.” He sets aside several days each school year to spend the lunch hours in the faculty lounge at each of the six schools in his district to be available for teachers and staff to share their ideas and suggestions in a relaxed atmosphere on their turf. “I have learned so much from them sharing their thoughts, ideas and concerns. And we have made significant changes because of their input. For example, one of our technology rock star staff members mentioned to me that she was maxed out from other staff asking her to assist them in addition to preparing for her classes. As a result of that conversation, wemodified the staffing formula to give several of our technology rock stars one period a day off to offer support and coaching for their peers. Another examplewas when amember of our support staff told me about some forms they had to fill out every week, but there was no obvious need for the forms. Hewas right, andbeginning next year theywill no longer fill out those forms. Those are just two recent ideas that havebeen implemented.” The relationship with the at-large community is a critical part of Schuler’s approach. “Sometimes there is a misperception that the community that doesn’t have children in school is not supportive of public education. Often that’s because we don’t do a great job of celebrating, championing and communicating our successes,” he said. There are eight mayors within the boundaries of Schuler’s school district and he and the board president meet with each mayor annually to talk about what the schools mean to their communities and how the schools can help their communities. The

HarrisandMarenda elected toAASAGoverningBoard

Daniel F. Marenda, superintendent of La Salle District 122, and Dr. Brian Harris, superintendent of Wheaton District 200, were elected May 1 to the AASA Governing Board. Marenda was re-elected and will continue serving as the IASA Northcentral Super Region representative through June 30, 2017. Harris will represent the IASA Northeastern Super Region. His three-year termbegins July 1. IASA extends a special thank you for leadership and service to Dr. Sheila Harrison- Williams, superintendent of Hazel Crest District 152-5, and to Dr. David Schuler, superintendent of Township High School District 214, whose terms expire June 30. Harrison-Williams currently serves on the AASA Governing Board and Schuler on the AASA Executive Committee. Schuler recently became President-Elect of AASA. Illinois holds five seats on the AASA Governing Board. The representatives for each IASASuper Regionbeginning July 1 are: IASANorthcentral Super Region Daniel F. Marenda, Superintendent – LaSalle 122 (term expires 6/30/2017) IASANortheasternSuper Region Dr. Catherine M. Finger, Superintendent - Grayslake Comm 127 (term expires 6/30/2015) Dr. Brian Harris, Superintendent – Wheaton #200 (Termexpires 6/30/2017) Dr. Jane L. Westerhold, Superintendent - Des Plaines CC #2 (term expires 6/30/2016) IASASouthernSuper Region Dr. Gary Kelly, Superintendent – DuQuoin 300 (term expires 6/30/2016)

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Schuler is less diplomatic regarding the pending implementation next year of the new PARCC assessment by ISBE, especially when it comes to high school juniors who are faced with the prospect of having to take PARCC, the Advance Placement (AP) exams and their final exams all within a matter of weeks. And that doesn’t even count the ACT, which remains the main standardized test that colleges anduniversities use for admission.

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district has an “A-OK” program where students do community service projects, but in addition to doing things such as raking leafs, the students are also required to visit with the people they are assisting and listen to their stories. Rather than ignore citizens who don’t have children in school, Schuler focuses on them. He holds town-hall style meetings at the senior citizens center and frames issues from the perspective of the senior citizens’ children and

“At the secondary level it’s a complete and total waste of money at this point,” Schuler said. “Why should we tell our students to take the PARCC seriously when it is a no-stakes assessment from the students’ perspective? Colleges may use it for placement, but they are not yet using it for admission. It is only a few weeks before the AP exams, from which students can earn college credits. Currently there is no value to PARCC for students, but it will used to measure and evaluate our schools. And it will take a minimum of nine to 15 hours to administer right before AP testing. If students don’t take it seriously and there is no value for them to take it seriously, then how can the results be valid?” It was made clear in an essay Schuler wrote while running for AASA president that he’ll be a great spokesman for public education in this country.

grandchildren.When one of the schools is performing a play or musical, a special daytime preview is offered for senior citizens. “Seniors look at being supportive and helping our public schools as their legacy,” Schuler said. Like school superintendents all over the nation, Schuler is wrestling with implementation of federal and state mandates at a time when funding is being slashed, resources are scarce, and political rhetoric often supersedes educational values. “Initially, I thought setting minimum common standards for

“My prioritywill be championing public education, school district leaders and the amazing achievements occurring in schools across this country.Weneed to change the focus fromwhat’s

wrongwith our schools toa focus on themany incredible innovations and interactions takingplace in classrooms across this great nation.”

-AASAPresident-Elect Dr. DavidSchuler

schools was terrific. But then when the U.S. Department of Education supported Common Core it just politicized the issue,” said Schuler, adding that he gets several emails or contacts every few weeks from people opposingCommonCore as some sort of federal conspiracy. “We don’t use the term ‘Common Core.’ We refer to the New Illinois Learning Standards andwe tell people that a long time agowe aligned our curriculum to the College Readiness Standards. Most people seem to accept that answer. Education shouldn’t be political, so we try to take the politics out of our languagewhenever possible.”

“My priority will be championing public education, school district leaders and the amazing achievements occurring in schools across this country,” Schuler wrote. “We need to change the focus from what’s wrong with our schools to a focus on the many incredible innovations and interactions taking place in classrooms across this great nation.” (JessicaThunberg, HighSchool District 214 Director of CommunityEngagement and Outreach, alsocontributed to thisstory.)

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Many issuesplague implementationof PARCC OnApril 18, Illinois became the 43 rd state to receive awaiver for theNoChild Left Behind  ACTneeds to stay. Our students, parents and universities demand that theACT remainas the mandated junior test. Colleges anduniversities don’t recognizePARCCor any other Common Coremetric for admissions purposes, nor is there any likelihood that theywill do so in the

(NCLB) Act of 2001. Toput this inperspective, only 45 states applied for thewaiver. Illinois’ applicationwas delayed until certain assurances couldbe given that teacher and principal evaluationswould in someway be tied to student growth. TheU.S. Department of Education doesn’t call these waivers, by theway. Theofficial

foreseeable future. ACT scores, like it or not, are the ones easily published andmeasured, and it is howour parents, communitymembers and local media outletsmeasure school district performance. Todo awaywithACT as a state- supportedeffort just can’t happen. While ISBE has asked for funding to continue togive this test to all 11 th -graders, this has not yet been secured.  Lossof instructional time. A sample fourth quarter junior calendar was sharedwith the IllinoisGeneral Assembly that clearly demonstrates that the ISBE plan to roll out PARCCwould change our students from learners to test-takers. Only ninedays of instruction would remain for those juniors taking a rangeof AdvancePlacement (AP) exams during this same time frame.  Technological hurdles remain. ISBE estimates that only 60 percent of schools in Illinoiswill be ready to administer the onlinePARCC assessment. We know that this is agenerous estimate. Many of our schools don’t have enoughof theproperly configured computers and/or sufficient bandwidth to properly administer thePARCCexams. Furthermore, wemade it clear to legislators that having 2.1million school children all taking the assessments at the same time on the samewebsitewould result in an Illinois version of theAffordableCareAct rollout debacle. Our systems just aren’t ready, and ISBE’s solution to have students take apaper/ pencil version is not onlymore costly but also results in lower performance. Rather than just point out issues and problems, we alsoare offering some recommendations, including:  Hold off onPARCCat the secondary level, at least for one year.  Get our schools technologically ready before this online test is given across theboard.  Investigate other assessments that arealigned to theCommonCore.

Dr. KevinO’Mara Superintendent, ArgoComm 217

terminology is “ESEA flexibility.” What are the feds being flexiblewith? In short, ISBE nowdoesn’t need tomonitor AdequateYearlyProgress (AYP) because Illinois has demonstrated to the federal government that wehave enough student growth assessments in place to both raisemeasureable student achievement and hold teachers andprincipals accountable. Good thing, too…this year 100percent of Illinois public school studentswould have had to meet or exceed ISAT andPSAE test benchmarks or weall wouldhavebeen cited, risking loss of some federal funds. Whew! What did ISBE promise the federal government to get thiswaiver? Basically three things: 1) fresh and more rigorous “CommonCore” assessments; 2) new accountability-based teacher andprincipal evaluation processes; and3) awider gamut of school assessments that goes beyond simple normed test scores (remember 5Essentials?). Whilewe couldwrite for hours on the inadvisability of the teacher evaluation scheme and the school assessments, I’d like to focus on the first topic: CommonCoreassessments. Illinois has purchased thePartnership for Assessment of Readiness for CollegeandCareer (PARCC) tests. Theplan is topilot it this year and, ready or not, give it toall of our schoolchildren (through 11 th grade) next school year. Tobe sure, the vastmajority of teachers and administrators are in favor of CommonCore. Its standards includewhat we feel shouldbe learned and itmatches progress to datamaking it easier to intervenewhen studentsare struggling. Many superintendents and teachers in Illinois take issue, however, with the planmoving forward. Here aremy concerns, shared bymany ofmy colleagues:

 Confirm state funding for ACT and PARCC.

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ISBE leadersoffer thoughtsonPARCC issues

instructional process. It is important to consider the purpose of the assessment and how it is used. ACT is currently used for college entrance. PARCC is used to determine whether remedial coursework is needed and is given at the end of course, similar to a final exam. That’s why PARCC is a vast

In a recent sit-down interview at ISBE, Deputy Superintendent and Chief Education Officer Susie Morrison and Director of Assessment Dr. Mary O’Brian answered questions and shared their thoughts on the recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver and the pending implementation of the PARCCassessment. Here in Q & A form are those thoughts and insights from ISBE’s perspective:

improvement over a single point-in- time, multiple-choice test used for high stakes accountability. PARCC assesses higher order thinking skills and the application of knowledge and information that will be useful to teachers, parents and students as they approach college and career decisions

Q: What is the reason for implementing PARCC, andwhat is thegoal? Morrison: PARCC

Q: Why should students care about PARCC when it is not accepted by colleges and universities for admissionpurposes? Morrison: PARCC was not designed as an assessment for college admission and theACT is not going to go away. We have spent time meeting with people in higher education and they think PARCCwill be an important assessment for the purpose of college placement. That is important because people involved in higher education tell us that students who have to take remedial courses typically don’t end up getting degrees. If a student scores well enough on the PARCC they won’t have to take those remedial courses that cost money and take time but don’t yield college credits. That is important. PARCC also is designed in a way that schools, if they wish, could make the assessment part of the final exam. Q: If the ACT is not going away, and it iswhat colleges use for admission purposes, what role will the ACT play in the evaluation of school districtsandwill ISBEcontinue to fund it? Morrison: We have included both PARCC and ACT in our FY15 budget request. The intent is to be able to provide a transition, by still providing the test on an optional basis for all 11 th grade students. We still intend to use the ACT as part of the overall evaluation under our NCLB waiver. PARCC provides alignment withK-12 that ACT does not.

addresses the concerns we have been hearing from school districts for a long time. It is aligned to standards, moves away from a single point-in-time high stakes test to one that is useful for instruction and measuring student growth. PARCC bridges elementary and high school performance and it allows results to be returned quickly for decision making at the school level. Nationally, the trend is moving toward higher, internationally benchmarked learning standards and wewould be doing our students a disservice if we did not move in the direction of college and career readiness. (PARCC stands for Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for CollegeandCareers). O’Brian: This is a step in the next generation of assessments. It is better standards-aligned for grades 3-11 as opposed to having ISAT for grades 3-8 that did not align with the PSAE for high school students. PARCC will provide much richer classroom data for superintendents and principals to identify strengths as well as areas to beef up instruction. We’ve never had that ability to pinpoint those areas in a specific manner. Morrison: The assessment also will provide better student performance data to inform making decisions to support students and provide intervention as needed. Q: What are your thoughts regarding the test overload issue, especially for high school juniors that may have to take PARCC, ACT, the Advance Placement (AP) and final exams all in the fourth quarter? Morrison: Testing comprises a small amount of time in comparison to the amount of time available for instruction. Assessment is also a critical part of the

Q: What about the technology issues, and how will you compare results from the online version to results from thepaper/pencil version?

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O’Brian: We need better data on what those issues are in each school district, but that is an absolutely valid issue. Looking at data from the Technology Readiness Tool, it appears that about 64 percent of school districts are ready to administer the assessment online. Our field testing has included schools in about 600 districts and about 10 percent of the students from grades 3 through 11. From the field testing we have done so far there have been very few technical issues. We are using the field tests to see how students interact with the technology and to see how well it works. The student response overall has been positive regarding taking the test online, but we have found some things that we need to fix. The script was unclear and included some redundancies that were frustrating for test administrators, so we will be adjusting the administrative manual. There also was some confusion over the accessibility features like the ability for a student to magnify a word, cross out wrong answers and highlight things. There was confusion over how to use those features or even that those features were available to use. So we need to make it more clear that those features are available and how to use them. We also know that we need to support the use of technology. Morrison: One of the many reasons we wanted Illinois districts to participate in the field test was to help us answer that question. We need to move toward online instructionand assessment, particularly if districts want to receive feedbackmore quickly and make instructional decisions based on those results. Q: Why won’t ISBE delay implementation of PARCC for a year? Morrison: We can’t delay implementation because that could compromise our waiver and federal funding. The waiver did not come without some strings attached. We know there are consequences for states that don’t abide by their waiver agreements. The state ofWashington just lost its NCLBwaiver because it could not put in place the new educator evaluation systems as outlined in their request. But thewaiver granted to Illinois does give school districts some flexibility. First, it does away with the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) mandate, and PARCC becomes part of a multiple measures index that not only includes student proficiency on PARCC and the ACT, but also takes into account high school

ISBEDeputySuperintendent andChief EducationOfficer SusieMorrison, left, and ISBE Director of Assessment Dr.MaryO’Brian.

graduation rates and a growth metric we have developed. Also, the first year of PARCC will be to establish a baseline. We obviously can’t measure growth the first year, and it will be three years beforewe can use the data for placing a school district in any performance category. The stakes the first year are pretty low. The flexibility alsomeans the federal government no longer will require school districts to set aside 30 percent of the Title I federal grants for certain federal mandates. Districts still must meet the Title I guidelines, but that 30 percent now can be repurposed for things like technology, adding reading andmath coaches, or even adding teachers. Q: Why is ISBE insistent on implementing PARCCdespite the issues that havebeen raised? Morrison: Theworld is changing andwe need to make surewe keep pace. It’s a different time and we need a different assessment that measures the standardswe areaskingour teachers to teach. I understand that the issue can get clouded by other things that have happened to (school administrators), but it is really critical that we implement these new standards with fidelity and transparency. This is at the heart of what we do as educators. I understand that some school administrators see this as just one more thing; I see it as the thing that we need to do for our kids to help them be competitive in aglobal market.

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Student growth: Usingdata tomakedecisions

As we work with school districts on the use of student growth data for teacher evaluation purposes, some interesting revelations are occurring. High school teachers are finding out that students know a whole lot more than the teachers thought they knew. Elementary teachers are discovering that not all students go “brain dead” over the summer months and many maintain and even grow the knowledge from the previous grade.

Dr. RichardVoltz AssociateDirector/

Professional Development

I have written before about the use of data to make decisions. I have learned a lot about the use of data from individuals with MBA type degrees. I remember talking to an alternative certified superintendent (did not travel through the traditional education duties of teacher, building level administrator to superintendent) whowas askingme questions concerningwhat factors I used to analyze the hiring of new teachers. I had to admit that we used a certain cadre of questions, but in the endwe made the hiring decision on non-scientific type responses such as the candidates’ love for children. This administrator related to me an analysis he was doing with teachers in his district. The district had a majority of students from Spanish-speaking families. He had analyzed student growth scores disaggregated by the native language of the teacher. He divided teachers into three groups: 1) NativeEnglish speakers noSpanish skills; 2) Native English speakers with Spanish as a second language; and 3) Native Spanish speakers with English as a second language. His analysis determined that students in classrooms with native Spanish speakers with English as second language outperformed all others. Second were native English speakers with Spanish secondary and last were English only speakers. He told me that they were going to use these results as a screening tool in the interviewprocess for new teachers. While I do not think using student growth for teacher evaluation purposes will be an evolutionary changing experience for public education, I do think using data to think about what we are doing will be important for improving education. In another example of using data to make decisions was an analysis I did concerning high school student performance results on the ACT vs.

the same students’ results on theWorkKeys portion of thePSAE. High school administrators and teachers were concerned that students did not try as hard on the WorkKeys as they did on theACT because theACT counted for college admission and the WorkKeys had no high stakes result. I analyzed the scores using a decile (each of 10 equal groups intowhich a population can be divided according to the distribution of values of a particular variable) analysis and discovered that there was no significant difference in student scores. In other words, if a student scored in the top 10 percent on the ACT they also scored in the top 10 percent of theWorkKeys. A high school district superintendent shared another example to me. In this use of data the district analyzed the math courses that students took in middle school against the grades and level of math the same student earned in high school. It was determined that students who successfully completed Algebra I in the 8 th grade had a 93 percent chance of getting a 24 or better on the ACT test as a high school junior. Conversely, a middle school student who only progressed through 8 th grade remedial math hadonly a 2 percent chanceof scoring a 24 or better on the ACT. Once these statistics were communicated to parents at the elementary level, the feeding elementary districts hadmuch greater success getting students to enroll inmore rigorousmath classes.

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OpenLetter to IASAmembers regarding theCenter for TaxandBudgetAccountability

Dear IASAColleagues,

TheCenter for Tax andBudget Accountability (CTBA) and itsExecutiveDirector, Ralph Martire, are respectedand sought after voices for public education inSpringfield in the areas of tax, spending, and economic policy. Webecamemembers of theCTBABoardof Directors becauseof our past involvement withCTBAand our belief in itsmission andactive pursuit of theorganization’s goals. CTBA is non-partisan, data-driven, and apre-eminent source for the reliable and relevant analysis of state-wide tax and budget related issues. Illinois’ rank of 50 th in state contributions topublic education exemplifies the need to expand upon and strengthen this unbiased voice in our capitol. JimBroadway, publisher of theStateSchool NewsServicededicatedhisDecember 11, 2013 policy update issue to RalphMartire andCTBA for being anaccurateand truthful voice inSpringfield. Weare seeking the support of our colleagues for the valuable and unique services that Ralph and theCTBAprovide in support of public education in Illinois. Formore thana decade, Ralph has been tireless in advocating for sound tax policies, adequate and equitable school funding, and budgeting and accountability practices that enhance student achievement. For examples of themany outreach efforts that theCenter provides onbehalf of more that 2million Illinois students, visit theCTBAwebsite at http://www.ctbaonline.org/ . These efforts include adequate funding (EFAB), progressive tax policies, and legal pension reform, to name just a few.

Please consider agift of $25, $50, or $100 in order to amplifyCTBA’s voice throughout Illinois. Make your tax deductiblegift at http://www.ctbaonline.org/about/donate .

If you havequestions or would likemore information, feel free to contact either oneof us.

Yours, InSupport of IllinoisPublicSchools,

DavidBonnette Marleis Trover RetiredWest Cook Superintendent IASAPast President CTBABoardof Directors CTBABoard of Directors bonnette.d@sbcglobal.net mamtrover@aol.com

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Getting to know your IASARegion Presidents

Director atWalker SandsCommunications) and Hailey (Freshman at Northern IllinoisUniversity) Favoritehobby: Traveling towarm climates Favoritemovie: Forrest Gump Favoritebook: Anything from JohnGrisham Favoritemusical artist: LynyrdSkynyrd One thingpeopleprobablywouldbe surprised to know about you: I’ve run sevenmarathons, none of them very fast! Biggest concern about publiceducation: My biggest concern is themisguidedmovement towardsmore andmorehigh stakes testing, while we completely overlook the value of art,music and other non-testedareas that foster creativity and growth. Most encouraging thing about public education: The very dedicated peoplewho are committed todoingwhat is best for childreneach day despite theobstacles put before us.

MarkCross StarvedRockRegion President School district: Peru ElementarySchool District 124 One thingyouwould like people to know about your school district: Our

faculty, staff, administration andBoard of Education are100 percent child-centered, andwe are completing the final step of having completely newor updated facilities across our district. Years as educator: 22 Highschool: Hartsburg-EmdenHighSchool Collegesor Universities: IllinoisStateUniversity –B.S., M.S. CSBO andSuperintendent Endorsements Family: WifeRonda (Principal at PutnamCounty PrimarySchool), Children: Andrew (Account

can’t remember thenames afterwards. I rely onmywife for that information. Bourne series is great! FavoriteBook: Lincolnon Leadership FavoriteMusical Artist: Boston One thingpeopleprobably wouldbe surprised to

Dr. DanBertrand KishwaukeeRegionPresident

School District: MarengoCommunityHigh School District 154 One thingyouwould likepeople toknow about your school district: We area diamondhidden inwesternMcHenryCounty amidst horse stables, nurseries and rolling hills. Please don’t tell the suburbs about us. Years asEducator: 33 HighSchool: CatholicBoysH.S. (nowNotre Dame) inQuincy Colleges / Universities: QuincyCollege, Northeast Missouri State, IllinoisState, Northern IllinoisUniversity Family: Wife, Kelly-M.S. inSportsManagement, NIU; Brock-13, Bailey-12, Brooke-10 andBeau- 1 (yes, 1 yr old inNovember,2013) FavoriteHobby: Attending sporting events at school andmy children FavoriteMovie: Toomany tomention. Besides I

know about you: I coached college football for six years at QuincyUniversity and IllinoisState University. Biggest concern about publiceducation: The ever-increasing demandswe are putting on teachers andnot giving themmore time todo it. School and pension reform and its long term impact onquality peopleentering the field of education. Most encouraging thing about public education: Our teachers aredoing the best job they have ever done inmy career.

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