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District 300 reports gains in reading, math, attendance and behavior in strategic-plan update
Summary
Superintendent and staff told the school board on March 11 that District 300 showed year-to-year gains on several academic and behavioral measures, increased implementation fidelity for multi-tiered systems of support, and launched large community surveys to inform device and policy work.
Community Unit School District 300 Superintendent Doctor Smith on March 11 updated the Board of Education on progress toward the district’s strategic plan, reporting measurable gains in reading, math, behavior and systems implementation across schools.
The presentation, led by Deputy Superintendent Mark Wetzel and Patty Schmidt, executive director of school improvement and accountability, focused on three strategic goals: developing the whole child (Goal 1), supporting individual student growth (Goal 2) and engaging stakeholders (Goal 4). Schmidt told the board the district has reduced office-discipline referrals and improved the fidelity of its MTSSB (multi-tiered systems of support for behavior) implementation.
“We have achieved a 39% increase in the fidelity of implementing our MTSSB tier 1 systems — and I found out today that is actually a 47% increase as of today in our systems implementation,” Patty Schmidt said. Schmidt said the district saw a decrease of 771 office-discipline referrals during February after school leaders were challenged to address behavior expectations proactively.
On academics, district presenters said interim I-Ready assessment results show a 14% overall increase in reading from fall to winter and a 22% gain in phonics for grades K–3. The district reported a 16% increase in math performance during the same period. Mark Wetzel summarized the work behind those numbers: targeted professional development, use of Renaissance Star progress monitoring in both English and Spanish, and curriculum and assessment alignment in professional learning communities.
Officials said intervention monitoring has expanded: staff trained on progress-monitoring tools have completed 16,396 progress-monitoring sessions districtwide to date. The board was also told that college- and career-readiness work produced 11,380 student career goals entered into the district system and that eight applications for state endorsements were submitted as part of pathway expansion efforts.
Schmidt described broad communication and engagement initiatives under Goal 4, including five comprehensive community engagement meetings to date, partnerships with faith-based and civic groups, and an externally administered community survey about personal device policies. She said the district received “just over” 11,500 survey responses and that Hanover Research will run nine follow-up focus groups to gather qualitative input.
Superintendent Smith and presenters framed the update as part of ongoing quarterly reporting; Smith said remaining strategic-plan topics — notably staff recruitment, retention and the master facility plan — will return to the board at future meetings. The presenters did not propose new policy changes at the March 11 session; they requested continued board feedback and reported additional school recognitions and implementation milestones.
Looking ahead, board members asked clarifying questions about next steps and about disseminating results to families. Officials said further updates will appear on upcoming agendas as work continues.
