USD116 BOE Update: December 5, 2023

RSP, the company hired to work on redistricting for USD, updated the Board on the data collection process. They also worked through an exercise with the board and others watching the meeting, about initial thoughts on priorities when it relates to neighborhood schools and having socioeconomic balance and ethnic diversity.

Question: Several questions around bussing, which kids are bused and how to keep them on the bus for as little time as possible.

RSP Answer: There is no absolute. You can't just choose neighborhoods and you can't just say 'balance the socioeconomics.' So the big question is how does that balance start. Some of that is things the community can provide feedback on. Example: What is a reasonable distance from a school that you would define as walkable or "neighborhood."

Q: The other large variable is if there is a single dual language school, where is that going to be and how does that impact the other four buildings. At what point in this process do we need to know which building will be the dual language school?

RSP: Once we know which building, that sets things in motion. December would be ideal, before the boundary admin building meetings in January.

Dr. Ivory-Tatum and Board agreed to put an official vote on the January 9 meeting on whether USD will have a one-school Spanish dual language program. The administration will also bring forth a recommendation on which building would be best suited to house the program at a January meeting. The schools that have the capacity for the program, and would also allow the program to grow, are Dr. Williams, Thomas Paine and Yankee Ridge.

The USD BPAC (Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee) will be given the opportunity to provide feedback before the January 9 meeting.

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The Standards Referenced Learning (SRL) Collective Problem-Solving Team met on November 29 to give input on the SRL practices. Several factors have impacted the rollout of this grading system, and because of this, the administrative decision is to pause SRL in grades 6-12 to regroup and retool so that sixth, seventh, and eighth grades will tentatively roll out in Fall 2024. Tentatively, in Fall 2025, we will gradually implement it at Urbana High School. This provides more time to prepare with professional development, rubrics for scoring, and policies for implementation, with the importance of transcripts and college applications in mind.

As we close out the Fall 2023 semester, any students who feel their semester grade has been calculated in error throughout semester one may appeal through the regular process by discussing with their teacher and or administrator as needed.

Q: Why did you decide to pause SRL and not just end it?

A: We want to take the time to look at many different pieces and make sure we are doing what's best for all students.

Q: The state average on the MAP testing, and "meeting" with SRL, are they the same thing or are we comparing apples and oranges?

A: SRL and MAP assessment and IAR are different tools. We want to make sure the traditional practices we've used are aligning with how our students are performing. SRL, when implemented properly, can provide specific feedback on where students are at.

Q: What problem is the District attempting to solve with the implementation of SRL?

A: We've found that our current grading system does not correlate well to the test measures we get from MAP, IAR and SAT scores. This is an attempt to provide us with feedback through regular grading in the day-to-day classroom.

A new instructional co-teaching model will be implemented during the 24-25 school year. This initiative will support core literacy and math instruction.

Why:

• Our current systems and the way we do school are not meeting the needs of 2023 students.
• Overall, our students are not demonstrating adequate progress. In some subgroups, we have students making no growth or negative growth.

Tier 1 is our Universal Curriculum. We adopted a math curriculum last year and we will be adopting an English Language Arts (ELA)/Spanish Language Arts (SLA) program in the spring. By providing a research-based, evidence-based, core curriculum for Math and ELA/SLA, we will be able to better support new teachers and long-term subs. It will also allow us to improve the level of academic rigor and increase high expectations.

In an effort to ensure that ALL of our students receive high-quality instruction from our most experienced and strongest educators and teacher leaders, several roles and responsibilities will be restructured next year.

• The instructional coaching role will be dissolved for the 24-25 school year. Teachers currently assigned to schools as an instructional coach will be reassigned to positions they are licensed to teach.
• The literacy interventionist role will be dissolved for the 24-25 school year. Teachers currently assigned to schools as Literacy Interventionists will be reassigned to open positions at the elementary, middle, and high schools.
• Adjustments will be made to the 24-25 school calendar to allow time for intensive Professional Development on the newly adopted, ELA/SLA Curriculum

New Position: Tier One Intensive Teacher

This position will co-teach full-time in classrooms, utilizing the core curriculum and working with classroom teachers to push into classrooms for core literacy and math blocks.

New Position: Tier One Curriculum Implementation Teacher

This position will support the core curriculum and work with the building principal to ensure the core curriculum is being delivered with fidelity. This position will co-teach and coordinate.

New Position: Tier 3 Intensive Intervention Teacher Qualifications

Q: What is going to happen if you can't find people to apply for these positions?

A: We have had a lot of conversations around retention. I (Dr. Ivory-Tatum) am hopeful and confident that we are going to have a lot of people applying for these positions.

Q: Does this co-teaching model have data to show that it's been successful?

A: Co-teaching is best practice and there are a lot of districts using a co-teaching model. It is not new.

Q: What are the financial implications of this (new curriculum and positions)?

A: The new curriculum will be paid out of ESSER funds. The other positions are not new, we are intentionally reallocating the positions we currently have. The only position we will be adding is a Tier 3 intensive teacher at the elementary level.

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IGW gave an update on the Program Concept Design for the future 6th Grade Center.

The Project goals include:

• New gym/stage
• New fine arts classrooms
• Dining room
• HVAC upgrades
• New main office and secure entry
• Existing building is 42,356 -- proposed addition is 30,850

See proposed preliminary site plan below. If we had an influx of elementary students in 5-10 years, this plans allows us the ability to add classrooms to accommodate additional students, if needed.

• The next step is the design phase, which takes about five months.
• The preliminary project cost is $24 million.

Dr. Ivory-Tatum's Superintendent Report is available here: December 5, 2023

Highlights:

• King Scholars are making blankets for Crisis Nursery
• Congrats to UHS student, Moe Ford, who was selected as a YoungArts Winner in photography
• King School Family Workshop is Saturday

The BOE Student Ambassador report is available here: December 5, 2023

Highlights:

• Volunteering at UHS
• Student council Thanksgiving Dinner was a success
• Comments on SRL