National Center for Educational Achievement / Just for the Kids

Illinois

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      • The Themes
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Illinois Affiliate

Through the support and leadership of the Illinois Business Roundtable and the College of Education at Illinois State University, Just for the Kids-Illinois is driving school improvement across the state. Leadership and funding from the Illinois business community, including Ed Rust, Ed Rust Jr., Chairman and CEO of State Farm Insurance Companies is helping to make this a reality.

For additional information visit:

School Data 4 All, Inc
Student Performance
SIP
WorkKeys®

Contact:
Jennifer Ross
Director of Education Policy and Initiatives, Illinois Business Roundtable

For additional information on becoming a Just for the Kids state affiliate, click here.

About the Organizational Levels

Recognition, Intervention, and Adjustment

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on school performance

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on teacher performance

Recognize, intervene, or adjust based on student performance

Monitoring: Compilation, Analysis, and Use of Data

Develop student assessment and data monitoring systems to monitor school performance

Monitor teacher performance and student learning

Monitor student learning

Instructional Programs, Practices, and Arrangements

Provide evidence-based instructional programs

Ensure the use of evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements in every classroom

Use evidence-based programs, practices, and arrangements

Staff Selection, Leadership, and Capacity Building

Provide strong leaders, highly qualified teachers, and aligned professional development

Select, develop, and allocate staff based on student learning

Collaborate in grade level/subject teams focused on student learning

Student Learning: Expectations and Goals

Provide clear, prioritized academic objectives by grade and subject that all students are expected to master

Implement the district's written curriculum and ensure that all students achieve specific academic goals

Ensure the district's written curriculum is taught to and mastered by all students

In addition to Organizing Themes, the three levels of every school system--district, school, and classroom--provide a second organizational dimension to The Framework. Within each of the five themes, each Organizational Level plays a particular role in Consistently Higher Performing Schools. Different levels of the school system must be involved, to differing degrees, in order to reach maximum effectiveness in the specific theme area. The assignment of practices to a specific school level may be as important as the practices themselves (in other words, "who" is as important as "what").

All activities in The Framework must be performed, if student achievement is to be sustained over time. Certainly, an individual school or class of students may succeed without the involvement of a particular school level, but that success is less likely to be sustained over time than success deriving from a well-balanced effort by an entire system. For example, if a task, such as developing a detailed and coherent curriculum, were not assumed by the district as recommended in The Framework, effective school-based educators would create their own. (By contrast, ineffective schools would likely do without a cohesive curriculum, and thus would contribute significantly to their students' level of performance.) When schools or classroom teachers take on tasks that are most effectively assumed by another level of the system, in addition to the activities they should be addressing at their level, the entire system becomes strained. Both teachers and students perform less effectively, and grow more likely to burn out.