Illinois’ Matteson district focuses on achievement and climate
Matteson Elementary School District 162 in Cook County, Ill., has done a remarkable job of raising student achievement, while at the same time implementing several character education initiatives aimed at improving the school climate.
Board President Alicia Rodman McCray attributes the district’s success to several factors, including “a board that stays on the policy side of the table and a superintendent who is an extraordinary education leader and who knows how to work with teachers and the curriculum to reach every child.”
In recent years, McCray says, the population served by the district has gotten poorer and less diverse. As Chicago neighborhoods have become gentrified, many younger, less affluent families have moved to suburban communities with affordable housing, such as those in the Matteson school district.
Several years ago, the district was faced with declines in student achievement, less parent involvement, and a rising number of suspensions and detentions. “We thought we could do better,” McCray recalled. So when it was time to hire a new superintendent in 2002, she says the board was fortunate to find Blondean Davis.
Davis started talking to parents and found there was a perception that teachers weren’t prepared to teach minority students. Teachers had a perception that students were hostile. “That wasn’t necessarily the case,” Davis says, “but that’s what people thought.”
Davis tackled student achievement by increasing instructional time for reading and math, reducing class sizes, and improving teacher collaboration. Targeted assistance plans were developed for each student, outlining students’ strengths and weaknesses and spelling out individual profiles.
Test scores began to rise, and for the past five years, every school in the district has reached its adequate yearly progress goals. Matteson has four elementary schools (two with grades K-3 and two with 4-6), one middle school (7-8), one school with preK-8, and one with kindergarten and preK.
To tackle character and climate issues, the board took steps to reinforce positive behavior. “A constant emphasis on punishment is not the solution,” Davis says.
The board hired a Chicago-based consultant, Inner Vision International, to bring in motivational speakers to talk to students about violence prevention, honesty, respect, and similar issues.
The consultants meet with small groups of students, “listen to them, get them to reflect on their behavior, think about the consequences, and make a correlation between their education and their future,” Davis says.
Since these programs started, the district has had fewer behavior and discipline problems, McCray says. “Kids feel safer at school and are less likely to be teased or bullied.”
Davis says the district had only one expulsion in 2007-08, compared to two or three a month in past years. “There’s a calmness and peacefulness now that has descended on all the schools,” the superintendent says. “Children are no longer angry. They listen and pay attention to teachers. They have begun to understand that it’s OK to be smart, that it’s OK to do homework.”
Workshops were set up for parents to help them understand what is happening at school and to help them communicate better with their children.
A new technology system, from a Chicago-based company called Edline, has also helped improve school-parent communications. Parents can go online to see their child’s grades, homework assignments, and classroom activities. Teachers can use the system to access videos tied to the curriculum and take students on virtual field trips.
Davis acknowledges that these initiatives are not cheap, particularly for a district that receives less funding than the state average. The district pinched pennies in other areas, and has saved money by privatizing maintenance and janitorial services and switching from a full-service cafeteria to prepackaged meals.
When asked for advice for other boards, McCray says, “You really have to identify the best superintendent within your reach and let that person run the district.” Last November, Davis was named Superintendent of the Year by the Illinois Association of School Administrators.
McCray also suggests board members take advantage of training opportunities. Matteson board members attended NSBA’s 2008 Annual Conference, the Illinois Association of School Boards Annual Conference, and a symposium on student achievement sponsored by the Iowa Association of School Boards.
“Take time to celebrate even incremental steps within your goals,” McCray says. In Matteson, students are rewarded for getting all A’s, perfect attendance, and other accomplishments. And she adds, “Focus on your outcomes, and realize it’s not going to happen overnight.”
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