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COVER STORY
HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS: We Asked ‘How Are Illinois Schools
Helping?’ and were overwhelmed with stories of compassion. Read how,
in the aftermath of all of that destruction, Illinois schools all over the state
rose to the occasion and made us all proud!
2648 Beechler Court
Springfield, IL 62703-7305
217.753.2213
800 Woodfield Road, Ste. F109
Schaumburg, IL 60173-4717
847.466.5075
1200 West Main Street
Marion, IL 62959-1138
618.364.0501
Volume 5, Issue 10
October 2017
LeadershipMatters
IASA Calendar of Events 48
16
IASA Newsletter Editor
Michael Chamness
Graphic Designer
Marjorie Gladish
17000-10
Scan here with your phone’s
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Go to or
and search for IllinoisASA.
and recall facts.CCSD59 isattempting todevelopan
assessment solution thatwill include state and local
measures,SEL indicators,21st century learning skills, and
foundational academic skills inmath and literacy.
AssessingtheWholeChild
CCSD59 is committed toassessing the growth of thewhole
child and developing anassessment solution thatutilizes
a combinationofacademic
and social-emotional growth
measure andPARCC individ-
ual scores.The balance of
utilizing growth data,attainment
data,and social-emotional
learningdata allowsCCSD59
to reinforce the importanceof
measuring student growth and
achievement over time,pushing
our focus furtheraway fromone-
time, high stakesassessment.
Theassessment solution alsoalignswith the assessment
recommendation included in the IllinoisEveryStudent
SucceedsAct (ESSA) plan thatwas recentlyapproved by the
UnitedStatesDepartment ofEducation (USDE).
StudentGrowth
Foundationally, our systemof assessment isbuilton the
premise that every student is to achieveaminimumof one
year’s growth over the course ofa school year.Althougha
seemingly reasonableoutcome, the goal remains a challenge
inCCSD59as nearly60% of ou familiesmeet the criteria
for poverty and58% qualify for freeand reduced lunch,both
significant challenge indicatorswhen considering student
attainment. In order tomore effectivelymeet this goal,we
determined to transition from a reactiveRtImodel to a
proactiveMTSSmodel thatwill focus interventiondesign
on strengths and interests versusa deficit view.This shift
challenges us to focus onwhat students can do rather than
looking solely at skilldeficits (can’t do).More specifically,we
endeavor to provide studentswitheffective learner strategies
that can bematched to student strengths and learning
preferences.
A final shift inourMTSS transitionwas to revisitourapproach
for designingandprovidingTier
2 interventions. Inan attempt
tomaintain every student ina
regular classroom setting,we
moved away from a traditional
pull-out interventionmodel for
mathand literacy andmoved to
a push-indeliverymodel (Tier 2
only).We have also developed
a support team ofexperts—
literacy interventionistsand
instructional coaches thatwe
termed our “synergy team” to participate inMTSSplanning
and push into the classroom to support, guide, andmonitor
interventionplans.The synergy teamprovides small group
instruction (Tier 2 intervention) and student supportwhile
alsomodeling intervention strategies for the classroom
teacher.Our coaches alsodevelop coaching cycleswith staff
to delve deeper into the instructional practice taking place in
the classroom. In short, it is ourgoal that every classroom
teacher becomesan expert in intervention and core
instructional practice.The synergy team is a critical support
group in supporting staff so they can achieve this goal.
In both the currentand subsequent school years,we have
made a significant commitment to leadershipand staff
training in theareaof ourMTSSprocess and strength-
0
Developing a comprehensive
assessment solution that
measures soft skills in
meaningful ways presents a
formidable challenge.
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