Professional development is key in raising student achievement
The Macomb, Ill., school district had a very good reputation, but when No Child Left Behind came along with its requirement for aggregated test data for various student populations, it raised some “red flags.” District leaders found some groups weren’t doing as well as the district as a whole.
At a Monday workshop, Fran Karanovich, the recently retired superintendent, explained how the district came up with the Macomb Student Achievement Modelóand how it can be adapted to other districts.
"School improvement planning became serious business that couldn't be engineered solely by administrators," Karanovich said. "Professional learning communities" were created in each of the district's four schools, so teachers became involved in reviewing the data, assessing needs, and planning for raising achievement levels for all students.
Three goals emerged for professional development: understanding and working with an increasingly poorer student population, establishing an aligned curriculum, and data-driven decision making.
The cornerstone for the professional learning communities was based on the ìtrain the trainersî process outlined in Ruby K. Paineís A Framework for Understanding Poverty.
The electronic Curriculum Mapper tool helped the faculty make sure they were covering all the standards being tested for each grade level. The next step involved accessing and using online data resourcesósuch as the Just for the Kids website and the Illinois Interactive Report Cardóto create and use benchmark testing and pinpoint students who need extra help.
Macomb has seen some strong results, Karanovich said. All four schools have raised their performance on the state assessment tests -- in some areas by large margins.
It's important to have buy-in from students and parents, as well as the faculty, she said, And it's important to celebrate your successes. On one occasion, members of the school board served cake and ice cream to the entire teaching faculty.
Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2008, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.