USD116 BOE Update: May 16, 2023

The Human Resources Department presented the 2023 USD116 Unsung Hero Awards. These employees were nominated by their colleagues for their significant contributions to the District.

• See the list of awardees here
• Watch the video

Thank you to Student Ambassadors Parker Schroeder and Mycal Turner for serving as the BOE Student Ambassadors for the last two years.

Two new students will take over the role of student ambassador in August. Rising senior, D'meneca Turner-Winston and rising junior, Paulina Angrave.

UHS Habitat for Humanity members spoke to the Board about the impact working with Habitat for Humanity has had on them. UHS Habitat for Humanity has traveled to Tutwiler, Mississippi ten times since 2014 to build homes. They also work on several local builds each year. This year, there have been two trips to Tutwiler.

See the full presentation

The Center for Applied Linguistics gave its final evaluation report of the Spanish Dual Language Program.

Based on the data (which is reviewed heavily in the presentation) -- The analysis of performance outcomes in academics, English language, and Spanish reading for students in DL programs:

• shows disparities in performance, especially by socio-economic status
• shows poor performance on the MAP Spanish reading test for all students, but especially for native Spanish speakers
• shows less than stellar performance by all DL students, now in 10th grade, who were in the first cohort of Kindergarten
• There are so few Multilingual Learners (MLs) who are in the former/never ML category in 5th grade - it does not appear that MLs are exiting the program before they leave elementary schools and, therefore, go on to secondary as long-term English Learners with greater needs for support.

Overall Conclusions and Key Commendations

• Staff and parents spoke to the dedication of the many DL teachers and staff who work tirelessly to provide a bilingual education to their students, advocate for the program, and provide non-academic support to students and families.
• The district understands the need to measure growth in Spanish language and so began MAP testing of Spanish reading.
• Realizing the importance of having a curriculum for SLA tied to standards, the high school is developing an SLA curriculum using the new Illinois state SLA standards
• The middle school is striving to meet the needs of many students who can benefit from the bilingual program, not only students feeding in from the DL elementary programs

View the full presentation for more conclusions/commendations.

Recommendations

Whether the decision is made to consolidate the two elementary schools into one building or for them to remain separate, the teachers, their students, and their families deserve improvements in each of the strands discussed in the Guiding Principles.

◆ Strand 1: Program Structure

◆ Strand 2: Curriculum

◆ Strand 3: Instruction

◆ Strand 4: Assessment and Accountability

◆ Strand 5: Staff Quality and Professional Development

◆ Strand 6: Family and Community

◆ Strand 7: Support and Resources

View the full presentation to read a more in-depth review of the recommended improvements to each of these strands.

You can also watch the presentation.

The Director of Multilingual Programs, Mrs. Guadalupe Ricconi and the Executive Director of Secondary Multilingual and Alternative Programs, Dr. Joseph Wiemelt, presented goals and plans for the Spanish Dual Language Program that align with the recommendations from the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) Evaluation Report.

Summary

• The findings from the CAL evaluation affirmed the findings of the internal evaluation.
• The feedback from the evaluation will be a driver in PD planning, instructional practice considerations and programmatic implementation decisions.

• The quantitative and qualitative analysis provided by CAL were exclusively reflective of students in the dual language program.
• It is important to note that student data in the monolingual programs across the District performed similarly in like-assessments. The entire District data analysis will be presented by building administrators in June. It will be our collective responsibility to improve student outcomes across monolingual and dual language programs.

View the full presentation

The Board of Education approved employment of the following new Administrators for the 203-24 school year:

• Julia Lowry, Assistant Principal, Urbana Middle School, effective July 1, 2023. Ms. Lowry has worked at Urbana Middle School for 12 years, the last seven as an instructional coach. She also serves as ELA Curriculum Coordinator, RTI Co-Coordinator, School Improvement Team member, and UEA Vice President. Ms. Lowry began her career as an English Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher.

• Andrea Jackson, Principal, Thomas Paine Elementary, effective July 24, 2023. Ms. Jackson is currently the Assistant Principal at Thomas Paine and was the USD Family Engagement and Curriculum Coordinator prior to that. Ms. Jackson began her career as a 2nd grade teacher at Thomas Paine Elementary.

Highlights:

• Graduation and promotion ceremonies
• Summer Meals

Applications for the Sub-District 4 Board of Education Seat must be submitted by Friday, May 26 at 4 p.m. Statement of Interest forms may be picked up at 211 N. Race St., Urbana, IL 61801. Applicants must submit a completed statement of interest, resume and a letter that includes their reasons for wanting to serve on the Urbana School District #116 Board of Education.

Interviews will take place during a Special Board of Education Meeting on Monday, June 5, time to be determined.

The selected candidate will be seated in June. The person appointed will serve until April 2025.