February 26, 2008 Update

The following provides an update on curriculum issues and assessment/screening issues in the district.

Curriculum and Instruction

Writing

The Writing Committee members, working with staff members in each building, have compiled the information to fill in the document provided to the Board of Education in the December 11th Board packet.

The committee of teachers will meet on February 26th to provide updates on:

1. Curriculum document:
Needed Junior High Info.
Feedback from sharing in each building
Curriculum overlaps
 
2.  Units of Study for Teaching Writing and 6+1 Traits of Writing: Sharing of information and findings from committee members

3.  Follow up on identification of what else is done for writing that is not represented in the document.

I will be able to provide additional information on the outcome of this meeting at the Board meeting.

Illinois Textbook Adoption Grant

Currently we are in the process of identifying materials to be purchased using funds from the State of Illinois. The funds can be used to purchase materials for students in grades K - 6 this year. The Writing Committee has determined that these funds would not be needed for any writing materials. Any materials needed for writing would be resources and not materials available through the grant. Therefore, money is being allocated for the purchase of Reading supplemental materials which will further assist as we develop the Response to Intervention process in the district. Pat Strittmatter, working with the building staff, is identifying materials to be used in the libraries. This money, along with the small State of Illinois Library Grant, will be used to add materials in each library. The music staff has identified materials to update the music curriculum at K - 5. EJH has identified materials to assist ELL learners, struggling readers and math skills materials to assist with RtI. Finally, we will be able to purchase manipulatives for our current math program and replacement and/or additional textbooks for current core curriculum areas. Once we have the complete list we will rank the items and purchase as much as allocated through the State Grant.

Response to Intervention (RtI)

The Administration has completed a self-assessment at the District Level to see how we see RtI in District # 61. On March 7th a presentation will be made to all staff members providing an overview of District # 61 current practices and RtI requirements. The focus of the presentation will be to show that we have been and continue to move in the direction of RtI with our Staff Development Plan, Reading Instructional Model, Student Support Teams, and District Writing Committee. A timeline proposed for implementation will be presented as each building will develop leadership teams to work in conjunction with the established goals and objectives outlined in the District Mission statement. Adjustments will be made as we continue on the journey with how we utilize staff to meet the needs of our students. The information can be added to the website after the March 7th presentation to staff. Further training and education will continue as the State develops a self assessment and template to record district plans.

Assessment

Students in grades 3 -8 will be taking the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) during the weeks of March 3rd - 14th. Grade level testing schedules are being developed at Lace and Eisenhower as those students will be tested in Reading and Mathematics. In addition, students in Grades 4 and 7 grade will be tested in Science and students in 5th, 6th, and 8th will be tested in Writing.