The District 58 Board of Education held a special meeting/curriculum workshop on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. View the agenda and presentation links. Meeting audio will be posted here. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Justin Sisul led the presentation, which included the following highlights:
Curriculum Committee Updates
Teachers and administrators from each District 58 curriculum committee reviewed their committee’s 2017-18 progress and their 2018-19 goals. The District’s curriculum committees include: Math, English-Language Arts, STEM, Social Studies, Exploratory, Health, Innovative Technology & Learning, and Biliteracy. View their updates here.
ESSA Summative Designations
The Illinois State Board of Education will publish its annual Illinois Report Card on Oct. 31. The Illinois Report Card shows performance and progress for each school, using several metrics. New this year, the State will analyze several metrics and give each school a designation in one of four tiers: Tier 1 – Exemplary, Tier 2 – Commendable, Tier 3 – Underperforming, and Tier 4- Lowest Performing.
The State’s tentative results for District 58 awarded a “Tier 1 – Exemplary” rating to 11 schools and a “Tier 2 – Commendable” to two schools. A “Tier 1- Exemplary” rating is given to schools whose performance is in the top 10 percent of schools statewide with no underperforming subgroups. The State awards “Tier 2 – Commendable” ratings to schools with no underperforming subgroups, but whose performance is not in the top 10 percent of schools. A “Tier 3 – Underperforming” rating is given to schools whose performance is not in the top 10 percent of schools, with one or more underperforming subgroups, and “Tier 4 – Lowest Performing” is given to schools that are in the lowest five percent of Title 1 schools. These tentative results will become official, final designations when released by the state on Wednesday, Oct 31.
Learn more about ESSA summative designations, including individual school designations.
Visit www.dg58.org/essa for additional information.
School Report Cards and School Improvement Planning
The Illinois Report Card will also include PARCC assessment results. District 58 students in grades 3-8 take the PARCC assessment in the spring. Students in grades K-8 also take the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, assessment in the fall, winter and spring.
Last year, District 58 worked collaboratively with staff and parents to help students approach the PARCC with a “can-do” rather than a “must-endure” attitude. The District is pleased to share that its preliminary spring 2018 PARCC results show improvement and more closely align with MAP (as research shows it should), and the District is reviewing both assessments’ results to identify trends.
District 58 analyzes data from its various assessment results at the district, school and grade levels. These analyses help administrators with district and school improvement planning, and teachers with instructional planning and improvements. By 2020, individual school improvement plans will align with the key performance indicators included in the District 58 Strategic Action Steps.
Learn more about PARCC and MAP data analysis.
Learn more about school report cards and school improvement planning.
Other Items
- The Board held a public hearing regarding the District’s physical education waiver application. During this hearing, the Board received one public comment on a proposed waiver application to allow the District to continue to offer students in grades 1-2 two PE classes per week supplemented by teacher-directed physical education.
- The Board offered a 30-minute extended reception of visitors, during which time the community and Board engaged in a two-way dialogue. During this reception, several community members spoke on topics that included technology professional development, the Optional Kindergarten Enrichment and Enhancement Program, report cards, STEM curriculum resources, communications and transparency, gifted education and more.
- Before the Curriculum Workshop began, the Board held a Staff Meet & Greet.
Upcoming Events
- Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 a.m.: Financial Advisory Committee at the ASC
- Monday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.: Regular Board Meeting at Downers Grove Village Hall
District 58 Board of Education members are: Doug Purcell, president; Elizabeth Sigale, vice president; Kirat Doshi, Greg Harris, Darren Hughes, John Miller and Jill Samonte, with Dr. Kari Cremascoli, superintendent; and Melissa Jerves, board secretary.