ISBE trains Decatur board on school-improvement process for five intensive schools

Nicholas Seccl, supervisor for school district improvement at the Illinois State Board of Education, told the Decatur Public Schools Board of Education on Feb. 25 that continuous school improvement focuses on changing adult practices in schools and requires a four-year, staged approach of planning and implementation for schools in "intensive" status.

The training explained the state's five designation categories, the Title I Part A Section 1003 funds available to designated schools, and expectations that intensive schools present progress to their boards three times per year. Seccl said the American Institute for Research (AIR) conducts school-level needs assessments for intensive schools and that Decatur currently has five schools designated intensive: Stephen Decatur (as listed in the presentation), Franklin Grove Elementary, American Dreamer STEM, Muffley Elementary and Hope Academy.

The session was part of a required three-module training for boards that include intensive schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Seccl emphasized the structure of the available support and the state's monitoring timeline: a planning year followed by three implementation years during which the district uses a school improvement plan, evidence-based interventions and a sustainability plan to continue improvements after aide from the state tapers.

"Continuous school improvement is not about changing what the kids do. It is about changing what the adults do," Seccl said, summarizing the training's central point about adult practice and system change. He described the planning year tasks: a rigorous needs assessment, root-cause analysis and the production of a new school improvement plan; implementation years are for putting those plans into practice and progressively reducing state funds as districts show sustainable progress.

Seccl reviewed how the needs assessment is carried out on-site by AIR, which observes classrooms, conducts staff surveys and focus groups and interviews principals. He said AIR's reports use a rubric that designates elements as "initial," "emerging," "established" or "robust," and that the contractor is not permitted to provide other services to a school it assesses, to reduce conflicts of interest.

Board members asked procedural and timeline questions. Board Member Will Wetzel and Board Member Mark Reynolds each spoke about their interest in student outcomes; Board Member Al Scheider and Board Member Jason Dion commented on the role of community and narrowing achievement gaps. Seccl identified Trevor Chapman as the state-assigned school improvement coordinator currently working with Decatur.

Seccl also walked the board through school-level governance expectations: a school leadership team (recommended size 4 to 8 staff members) that meets at least monthly to monitor data and a stakeholder advisory group that should meet two to three times a year to review school improvement priorities with parents, community members, business leaders and civic officials. He advised boards to ask school leaders for the data sources used to monitor plans and to expect schools in intensive status to present to the board in September, January and June.

The trainer said the state's on-demand resources, a school improvement helpline and an on-line repository of templates and guides are available to districts and that the state requires intensive schools to use the state plan template. He also said districts should plan for sustainability beyond Title I Part A Section 1003 funds, pointing to other funding streams such as IDEA and Title III where appropriate.

The board did not vote on any measures during the training; the session was informational. Seccl invited board members to request follow-up or in-person trainings for new board members, and he asked attendees to complete a brief feedback form on the session.

The board later continued its regular agenda and acknowledged the training's materials would be part of the district's oversight of improvement work in the five designated schools.

Ending: The training gives Decatur board members a state framework and contacts to oversee multi-year improvement work for schools designated intensive. District staff and board members will use the state template and scheduled check-ins to track implementation and sustainability as the five schools move through their planning and implementation cycle.