Toward a Better Tomorrow; Future Considerations for D181 and the Immediate Questions Moving Forward

With the district events that have transpired during this past week, we thought we would reiterate our mission and purpose in being volunteer bloggers in the hopes we have provided the D181 community with knowledge and facts related to the status of our district. While the dynamics of the posts and comments on this blog have been spirited and at times heated in the last week especially, we want to convey to our loyal readers that our purpose all along has been to educate and create an awareness of the many changes, some radical, that have been occurring in the district for more then two years. And while we are passionate about district educational issues, as are many of our readers and those who have posted comments, our interests in creating and maintaining this blog have been for the greater good; the greater good for our parents, teachers and children, which in turn impacts the overall well being of the community at large.

So, as we look to the future we are hopeful that a new leader, who has a proven track record of success as a superintendent in a comparable district, will take over the reigns and guide the D181 community to a better place. Yes, any potential superintendent candidate will probably conduct an Internet search on D181 and discover this blog. The candidates who have the experience and knowledge to make necessary changes that are research based, theoretically grounded and proven to be effective within elementary school settings, will be confident enough to rise to the many challenges this district now represents.

Though there are many parent and teacher concerns, some of which have been expressed on this blog, we thought we would take the opportunity to highlight those we believe to be among the most important:

1. We have yet to see the effectiveness of the Learning for All plan presented with data and analysis. Why hasn’t there been a formal presentation of the results so parents know how well Learning for All is working across the district? How are all of the needs of children across the district, regardless of ability level, being met?
2. We now know approximately 25% of fourth graders have been identified for remediation or tutoring twice weekly due to the math acceleration the administration has pushed. How can ¼ of fourth graders require remediation if Learning for All is supposed to reach every child every day in the classroom? What adjustments are being made to accommodate these students within the regular classroom?
3. The Department of Learning administrators stated that with the assistance of the University of Chicago (the origin of Everyday Math) that consistency would be defined and carried among all grades and schools. Why are we parents hearing and seeing students from our home school working on different chapters, lessons, etc than their counterparts in other schools?
4.  Since the district withdrew from LADSE, what is the current status of Special Education within the district? How are the needs of special education students being met across the district? How are special education students performing on the ISAT?
5. Enrichment materials for math and language arts were supposed to be implemented according to the Department of Learning. Our children have not been introduced to enrichment, despite the fact many students are complaining of boredom and lack of challenge within the regular classroom.
6. How is the RtI (Response to Intervention) program meeting the needs of students across ability levels? We have heard from parents who have completed RtI meetings only to have little to no follow up of instructional programming by the administration.

These are just some of the concerns we believe to be most important. These concerns, along with others, need to be addressed by the administration and board of education prior to the hiring of a new superintendent and then acted upon afterward to improve the state of our district. The mid point of the school year has come and gone; the future of D181 looks much different today than it did at the start of the school year. We have questions and concerns. We need answers. And ultimately, we need a leader who knows how to pick up the shattered pieces and make the district whole again. Yes, we believe the district is now fragmented, veiled in secrecy, and under performing as a whole. Like it or not, these consequences are a direct result of what an administrator recently admitted as, “Trying something new in the district that has never been done before.” Well, well. We finally have an admission that the Learning for All Social Justice Plan is a massive, unfounded, non-researched based experiment that our children have been subjected to for more than two years.

Bottom line: In order to erase the trends of overall lower test scores (ISAT and MAP), math acceleration leading to remediation, stagnation of learning within heterogeneous classrooms, etc. the administration and BOE will have to work to be sure there are accountability measures in place; the district should be moving toward a better tomorrow. This is a great challenge, no doubt, given the concerns articulated on this blog and also through parent comments at BOE meetings, engagement sessions, etc.

This is our perspective. You may agree or disagree. In the end, we only want what’s best for our children. That’s been the goal all along. In addition to the topics listed above that we hope will be addressed very soon at future board meetings, in the coming weeks we plan to address the following topics:

• The February 24 visit and report to the Board by Dr. Moon and Dr. Friedman.  Dr. Moon’s January 2012 report is now 2 years old.  She is returning to review and observe all of the changes that have been implemented since her recommendations.  We will address what those recommendations actually were, review the changes the administration has implemented instead and then raise questions and issues we hope Dr. Moon will answer and address during her visit and presentation.  And who is Dr. Friedman, yet another consultant hired by the administration? What is her purpose?
• The D181 teachers. We fully support the teachers in D181.  Over the last couple of years they have been put in a very difficult position.  Sweeping changes in the areas of curriculum have been imposed on them, not just through Common Core requirements that all districts in Illinois and in many other states have had to implement; they have also had to handle the additional acceleration and all-inclusive model that the D181 administration has pursued.  Teachers have expressed concerns regarding many of these changes in surveys conducted by the administration.  They also expressed facilities and health concerns.  Yet, until there was an actual crisis at HMS, their facilities and health concerns went unaddressed by the Board who, we believe, had not been made aware of them by the administration.  What kind of crisis will it take for the Board to act now on the teachers’ curriculum concerns?  Teachers in this district are outstanding, but they too are human and can only accomplish so much when faced with all of the changes they have had to manage during the past two years.
• Contract Negotiations.  The current three-year teachers’ contract expires at the end of this school year. The teachers made many concessions in their last contract, driven in great part by the downturn in the national economy.  With the economy in recovery mode, and in light of all of the increased challenges and demands that every teacher is now facing due to all of the changes brought forward by the administration, we expect the Board to acknowledge the value of all the D181 teachers during the contract negotiations.  We can ill afford to face a teachers’ strike that might shut down all of the D181 schools and negatively impact instructional time in 2014-2015.
• Superintendent Search:  We will closely monitor the progress made by the Board in conducting what we hope will be a comprehensive search for a superintendent to replace Dr. Schuster.  None of the current Board members was in office during the last search. The Board will need to act quickly to hire a national search firm to guide them through this critical task.

We will continue blogging and keeping the parent and teacher community updated on D181 events and issues.  We welcome relevant comments and feedback from all constituents district wide.  In keeping with our goal of transparency by the administration and Board, we hope the future will bring some much needed “sunshine” on D181 and a better tomorrow.

Channeling Vaudeville: Schuster’s Disturbing Statements Regarding “Philosophical Difference” With Hinsdale Central Math Department Chair, “Mid-Year Progress Report” and “2013 Contract Goal” Worthy of 3rd and Final Act

(Taken from Wikipedia) 
A promotional poster for the Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles (1894), 
showing dancers, clowns, trapeze artists and costumed dogs.
From Webster’s Vaudevillian: a light often comic theatrical piece frequently
 combining dialogue, dancing, and song. A type of entertainment that was popular
 in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and that had many 
different performers doing songs, dances, and comic acts.

As we bloggers listened to the last open BOE meeting for 2013, we were struck by the similarities between our school board, superintendent, and her administration, which for all intents and purposes resemble the construct of an old, Vaudevillian traveling team of players. We have seen all of these cast of characters demonstrate their stand-up skills at various stages while at board meetings, lunch and learn get-togethers, a common core math meeting, RtI meetings, community engagement, etc. There is definitely an aura of theatrics, which hearkens Vaudeville, as all of these meetings foster one-way communication from the board or administration to the audience. Even when parents offer suggestions at engagement meetings, such suggestions are never acknowledged or rarely acted upon (unless a petition drive is initiated that results in hundreds of signatures advocating for change).

So, as we see it, the staging of these events is purely for entertainment purposes on the part of the players. We parents see it, however, as a crusade for the players’ agenda without realizing the impact their ideology and decisions are having on our children who sit in classrooms throughout the district every day. No doubt about it, the key players continue to tap dance, spin, pontificate, and twirl in and around important issues facing our children (as was evidenced at the last board meeting), all the while our test scores dip down under the weight of an unfounded, non-researched totally inclusive one-size-fits-all ideology.

One of those key players is, of course, Dr. Schuster.

After we bloggers reviewed Dr. Schuster’s Mid-Year Progress Report listed on Boardocs and heard her comments at Monday’s board meeting, we felt compelled to inform our readers of the colorful, embellished language used to describe the state of learning and overall status of D181. After all, it is time for Schuster’s job performance evaluation, as was noted on the last board agenda on Nov 18, which means all four goals listed in her performance contract (click to open Schuster's Contract) should be scrutinized by the entire Board of Education to see if she actually performed up to these goals that are expected this year. Right? Wrong. If you look closely at these four contract goals, you’ll notice there is only one among them that is required this year:

Continuing Series, Part 5: A Critical Analysis of the "Doctors in Training" at the helm of D181 and their Questionable Qualifications – The Assistant Superintendent of Learning (Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction)

Kevin Russell is D181’s Assistant Superintendent of Learning (Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction).


When Kevin Russell was Principal of Walker School back in 2008-2010, District 181 was a much different place. Under the leadership of recently retired Superintendent, Mary Curley, the district had undergone standardization among all schools, upgrades to buildings, and new innovative programs to serve all children. The school board at that time believed the district needed to move forward and championed changes that were founded and researched carefully. Reading specialists were employed in each building, special education services were centralized for greater control at the central office so all schools would be in sync with specific programming, and gifted specialists were hired for each school to provide support for tiered instructional services. Moreover, the use of RtIs was limited only for remedial reading services; Mr. Russell and other building principals were not required to establish and then participate in numerous meetings with parents, teachers and staff to supposedly provide increased rigor, as is currently the protocol.


My, how things have changed, and not for the better.


In his three years as principal of one of the smallest schools in the district, Mr. Russell cultivated a solid rapport with parents and teachers. He was well liked, and personally still is, especially for his interpersonal skills. It is clear he was able to build a solid foundation for himself and the reputation of Walker school, but because of the school structure at that time, which included the tiered programming, special education centralization, and building reading and gifted specialists, Russell had rich resources to work with, and his teachers had smaller groups to manage. Consequently, the teachers and students performed optimally, which was demonstrated with solid MAP gains. Yes, herein is a noteworthy fact: when teachers have smaller, focused instructional groups established through homogeneous groupings, they are able to focus and target their instruction to meet the needs of each child. Period. Higher MAP and ISAT test results from years past, as were highlighted in a previous blog post, support this fact.


Unfortunately, one of Dr. Schuster’s first initiatives upon assuming her role as Superintendent was to end the concept of homogeneous groupings and focus on differentiation as the sole instructional strategy within a single heterogeneous classroom. As we have discussed in previous posts and the district has now demonstrated through test results, this concept has proven detrimental to the students throughout D181, which Dr Moon noted in her report. We must remember that as a principal, Mr. Russell had a solid structure within the walls of Walker School, giving him the supports for success that our current principals no longer have.


Today, he spins a web of similar Schuster-Schneider speech that includes (partial list):

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. The Recurring Strategy of Smoke and Mirrors Continues

We have reviewed the massive presentation on Assessment posted on Board Docs (click to open report) that will occur at the next BOE meeting on Monday, November 18 at Elm School, 7pm.  We encourage our readers to do the same as there are some telling inferences we parents can make regarding the state of the education in D181 and how our children are being affected. Brace yourselves: there are 125 slides, but within the pretty pictures rest only a few key slides that give us an idea of the administration’s stance on their beliefs and status of the district.

Briefly, we will mention the most telling:

·      Did D181 actually adopt a platform of 1:1 computer/IPad use? Beginning  on page 8,  there is mention of 1:1, which is alarming to us because the results clearly do NOT support this platform. The test scores are lower, if not the lowest among the grades when 1:1 was apparently implemented.Wasn’t this a pilot that the BOE did not approve of furthering on a grand scale as demonstrated by the vote that took place in April 2013?

·      As evidenced by the trend lines on page 26, the trend line for subjects is clearly on a downward slide. No question about it. This graph is very telling, especially with Science taking an extreme nosedive. Why isn’t there a slide that states what the Dept. of Learning is going to DO about these trends? If they believe Learning for All is the answer, the children in our district are in serious trouble.

·      Another troubling piece of evidence is highlighted in the slides   starting at number 100 wherein the number of children who are at grade level and did not move upward are not mentioned in this report. These children are considered to be at grade level. This is a significant number of children. How can the administration and BOE review these significant numbers and believe it is acceptable practice to accelerate so many at grade level students?  Moreover, what programs will they be given to allow them to move into the “exceeds” category further down the road? Why isn’t this explained?

Bottom line:  It will be up to parents and certain board members publicly speaking out at this meeting, as was done at the last,  to question why the BOE is allowing D181 to move in a downward direction. There is now evidence, yes evidence with the MAP and ISAT scores, that the direction Dr. Schuster and her administrators have chosen appears to be having a negative impact on our children.

Talk about "data as a light” as is scripted within the slides. Indeed.



-------------------------------
Postscript:  More data that needs to be carefully considered is the 4th Grade Math update Dr. Schuster gives in her report.  According to her report, "[t]he data shows that 90-95% of current fourth grade students are ready to progress to the concepts in fifth grade math based on multiple measures, including the Fall NWEA MAP, Everyday Math summative assessments, and classroom performance. The following table shows the data from the Everyday Math eSuites report on the percent of students mastering the objectives from the fourth grade unit Number and Operations." (Click to open Report)

What Dr. Schuster does not report on is what the actual standard for "mastering the objectives" was? Did it include only obtaining a 70% on the post tests?  Remember, last year, mastery required 80%, but this standard was lowered this year, without a meaningful explanation of why this was warranted.  Further, 4th grade parents have spoken out about students being allowed to correct their post test mistakes in order to get a higher score.  Which post test scores were used by the Department of Learning to assess a student's "mastery" of the material?  Finally, what matrix or formula did the Department of Learning use to evaluate and analyze the "multiple measures" and conclude that 90-95% of students are ready to progress to fifth grade math?  Let's hope one or more board members ask for this "data" and not just accept the Department of Learning's conclusions as fact.

The Spin Cycle: Scrubbing the Stains From D181 Double Speak

Now that we have recovered from the antics of last Monday’s BOE meeting, we are providing our readers with several areas of concern. It was difficult to select only a few. We encourage you to listen to the podcast on the D181 website so you can hear the meeting in its entirety. (Click to open podcasts link.) As you listen, keep in mind that Dr. Schuster and her administration felt it was necessary to give 90 minutes of meeting time to three outside presenters before hearing the voices of the 11 parents who stepped up and made public comments regarding the state of their children’s education.

  

Here are some concerns: 

·               As we predicted, Dr. Schuster and her administration did promote the ROE presenters as a diversionary tactic. However, the presenters appeared to be duped: their focus was on social justice and special education, not the D181 Learning for All Plan (LFA) specifically. Frankly, we were embarrassed for the ROE speakers, who obviously did not realize the quagmire they stepped into. Kurt Schneider (Assistant Superintendent for Whatever), attempted to lead these speakers in agreement with the strategy he has promoted through the LFA plan (listen to his questions and the comments made by Madeline Will starting at time 26:29 of the Podcast).  
While Schneider tried to steer Ms Will’s answers, at one point she stated she was not comfortable answering the questions he was raising, which we should be hearing from Schneider, who in our opinion also has no qualifications outside of special education to be making educational decisions about our children.

·                Parents were also able to hear that D181 is a “pioneer” in its quest for social justice, automatic math grade level acceleration on top of the Common Core requirements, and full inclusion for all within the backdrop of falling ISAT and MAP scores; meaning, no district, at no time, and no place, has undertaken these sweeping changes and practiced them with success. And yes, despite the fever pitch of Schuster’s “celebrations,” the fact is that even with three schools trending slightly upward, their rankings are still down from years past, while the remaining district schools are headed on a downward slide. The numbers don’t lie.  Is this what Schneider means when he says, “We will raise the floor to raise the ceiling?” 

•                Even more concerning was the comment Schneider made regarding the district’s minority population, which he stated was 21%. According to the Illinois State Report Card for 2013, the minority population is actually 19%; this figure comprises different ethnic groups, people of color, etc.  

The performance by ethnic group is highlighted within the State Report Card. (Click to open interactive Report Card link.)

Source: http://www.illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?source=StudentCharacteristics&source2=StudentDemographics&Districtid=19022181004

It’s obvious the highest achieving group is Asian, which is why Schneider’s public comment at last Monday’s meeting is so confusing (at time 1:12:50 on podcast) :  

More Smoke and Mirrors Set for D181 BOE Monday, 11/4 Meeting

If there were ever an opportunity to witness Dr. Schuster’s spin on a grand scale, residents of D181 will have the chance on Monday, 11/4 starting at 7pm at Madison School when Schuster’s outside special education “expert” presenters, including one with political affiliation, will provide the BOE and community with their thoughts on the philosophy of Learning for All. These three presenters, who are currently affiliated with the Regional Office of Education (ROE), will give their insight as to the benefits of inclusion while highlighting the mantra of Learning for All. We find the timing of this presentation curious as the ISAT results have just been released, and the majority of D181 schools have fallen, some drastically, in state rankings. In typical Board and administration fashion, they have structured this Committee of the Whole meeting to include these so-called special education experts in order to control the discussion and limit comments from concerned parents.  We hope parents recognize this continuing strategy and are able to see through the smoke as the spin begins.

How Far We Have Fallen: D181 On Downward Slide as Reality of ISAT Results and Learning for All Shock Community

Our last post published the Illinois State Report Card rankings of all 9 D181 schools as reported by the Chicago SunTimes.  These rankings are based upon the overall performance of schools on the Illinois State Achievement Test (ISAT) that our students took last Spring.  We expressed our disappointment in the rankings, especially since the majority of our schools dropped in the rankings and we are still well behind the ranking of Butler, our neighboring district in Oak Brook and one of the districts that feeds into Hinsdale Central High School.

While we expressed concern, on Friday, Dr. Schuster chose to celebrate the results in the letter she sent to D181 Families and Staff.  Her letter lacked transparency, failed to report any actual data, and spun the harsh reality of the rankings into a celebration dance that we find downright shocking and offensive to our sensibilities. 

Rather than address or even acknowledge the drop in rankings of most of our schools, she spun the bad news as follows:

"D181 Schools Shine in 2013 ISAT Data Rankings
The 2013 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) results are in, and We are currently ranked #7 for all elementary school districts in the state based on the 2013 ISAT results. When compared to elementary school districts of 2,000 students or more, our ISAT results are the highest in the state! As you may have seen in our Chicago media, we did very well in the various methods of rankings that compare schools’ ISAT data. In the Chicago Sun-Times, six of our seven elementary schools were listed in the top 50 out of more than 3,000 ranked schools, and both CHMS and HMS were listed in the top 50 for middle schools. In the Chicago Tribune listing, three of our schools were listed in the top 50 (elementary and middle school combined). Additionally, the Chicago Tribunereported that Walker School was among the top ten schools in the state with the highest percentage of students who earned the highest scores in reading, math or science on the ISAT."...

ISAT Data Shows Areas to Celebrate, Improve
As our team of educators continues to review data from the 2013 ISAT, we will find many strengths and many reasons to celebrate. Additionally, we know there will be areas needing improvement. With the new cut scores and increased rigor due to the inclusion of 20% Common Core-based questions, all schools in Illinois anticipated a more challenging assessment. We welcomed that challenge, and we look forward to the opportunity to better identify those areas for improvement." (11/1/13 Letter to Parents and Staff from Dr. Renee Schuster.)


We highlighted in red the 7 times in two short paragraphs that Dr. Schuster tried to paint a picture of how well our students did when compared to other districts.  We also highlighted in blue the 2 times that Dr. Schuster briefly notes that there may be areas for improvement that her administration will find as they analyze the data.  


After reading this letter, one parent sent an email to Dr. Schuster calling her out for the representations she made in her letter.  The parent's letter was then submitted as a comment to this blog. The parent said:

"I am horrified that you are celebrating these results. This administration has a habit of sugar coating hard truths and putting a spin on them. Since you refuse to tell the truth, I will."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.  We whole-heartedly agree with this parent's reaction and hope you do too, after we expose the hard truth that Dr. Schuster has refused to acknowledge or address.

The reality is that last Spring's ISAT data and our school's rankings show that D181 is on a downward slide.  There is no reason to celebrate at this time, and what needs to happen is an open, transparent, candid and harsh discussion led by our elected representatives -- the Board of Education -- to immediately identify and address exactly what needs to happen STARTING NOW to improve the performance of all of our students in D181.

Here are the facts that show just how far D181 schools have fallen:  

D181 has fallen from a district that used to have all SEVEN elementary schools ranked in the TOP 25 schools in the state, to a district that has only three in the top 25.

As parents who have had children in D181 in a span of over 15 years, we recalled that our schools USED to truly be BEACONS of EXCELLENCE.  That beacon shown brightest less than 10 years ago -- in 2004.  The title of an article in the December 15, 2004 SunTimes read as follows:

UPDATED: Hot Off The Press: Illinois School Report Cards Have Been Released, Along with School Rankings

At midnight, the Illinois School Report Cards and the official rankings were finally released for everyone to see.

Click to Open Chicago SunTimes Ranking Charts

The Top 50 Schools were ranked for each category:  Elementary, Middle and High School.

High School:

First, we want to extend a huge congratulations to Hinsdale Central High School.  It was ranked 4th in the entire state, moving up one spot and bumping New Trier down to 6th place.  Looks like the high school has continued to show improvement and excellence in its instruction of our students!  We are very fortunate in our community to be able to send our children to such a prestigious high school.

Middle Schools:

The news was not so good for Hinsdale Middle School (HMS) or Clarendon Hills Middle School (CHMS).  They both dropped in the rankings this year.

A Cautionary Modern Day Tale: "The District's New Clothes"

At last Monday’s (9/9/13) Board Meeting, the Administration presented a “report” on the 2013 Spring ISAT data.  We would encourage you to all listen to the meeting podcast available on the D181 website because when we did, we were stunned to hear the administration and board of education members “celebrate” the ISAT (Illinois State Achievement Test) results, spin a web of excuses for why student performance had declined, justify them by essentially trashing past administrations, the past educational model and teaching methodology and proclaiming that the new “Learning For All Plan” is “the Answer.”

That meeting, and others that preceded it, remind us of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale  “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”  Well here in D181 Concerned Parent land, we think there is a similar tale to be told and we have called it “The District’s New Clothes.” 

Once upon a time there was a high achieving school District. The District had everything going for it – great teachers, great students, supportive parents. The “clothes weaved” by the administration -- the programs and services offered to all students (including Special Education students) – were among the very best taxes could buy. People flocked from all around to move into the towns feeding into the District because they wanted their children to be educated in one of the very best districts.  Yes, the properties were expensive, and so were the property taxes.  Yes, teachers were amongst the highest paid in the state.  But all that was okay because everyone saw the fruits of their labors. Most students flourished and student performance excelled. The student performance in the District was ranked among the very best one could find in Illinois when evaluated by the standardized tests given to all districts.

Week in Review -- Misdirected Attack, Unnecessary Testing? and ISAT Data "Excuses"

As we await the posting on Board Docs of the 9/9/13 Board Meeting Agenda, we wanted to take a moment to comment on some issues that arose this week.

1.  OUTRAGEOUS COMMENTARY ATTACKS BOARD MEMBER HENEGHAN: We wouldn't ordinarily comment on opinions published by news agencies, but we couldn't ignore Editor Pam Lannom's outrageous Commentary in this week's Hinsdalean.  The Commentary attacked Board Member Heneghan's conduct during the last board meeting (8/26/13) calling it "disrespectful and distasteful."  Ms. Lannom goes on to state that she did not attend the meeting.  Well perhaps she should have -- or at least listened to the podcast of the entire meeting.  If she had, she should have realized that Mr. Heneghan was simply doing his job as an elected official, taking it seriously and calling out the administration and fellow board members as was required by the course the discussions took.  She might also have realized that the disrespect and distasteful behavior was not Mr. Heneghan's but that of  Superintendent Schuster and Board Members Turek and Yaeger.