Recently, I was involved with some training to become a certified leadership coach. We spent some time talking about how we can put people “in a box” and often the way we act today is based greatly on past experiences…. which often keeps us from growing as we should. I sat in a meeting in Springfield recently where I was exposed to a YouTube video which somehow has painted the President in a new box and shifts all blame for America’s woes to Obama.

The point of this introduction is that as we face challenging times ahead in District 228, it will not be productive for us to focus blame on Governors (past or present), on our state legislators, taxpayer “watchdog” groups, various associations, school board, administration or even our federal government. We will need to be clear minded as we move forward with our decisions.

This link to a recent Seth Godin blogpost captures the essence of thinking that has better hope of moving us forward creatively, collaboratively and with alignment to our purpose as a School District. We don’t have to agree politically, or socially, or spiritually— but we can hopefully agree that what our purpose is as a school district is to provide experiences and opportunities to maximize our students’ achievement. This will need to be done with less money than we’ve had in the past from the state, with growing pressure and expectations from the federal government, and under more stressful times for our parents and school community.

Can we “lash together” to solve problems, or simply “lash out” at each other. Is this too daunting for District 228?
I believe we are up to the challenge!

Governor Quinn today signed legislation that will require significant changes to the way that teachers and principals are evaluated. This is another example of the ways that Illinois is quickly jumping through political and bureaucratic hoops to establish eligibility for a possible $400 million in Race to the Top Funds.

“This law is another strong signal to Washington that a top-notch education for all Illinois students is our foremost priority,” said Governor Quinn. “Rigorous teacher and principal evaluations will make our education system the best it can be, while ensuring Illinois is at the head of the class when it comes to winning those important federal ‘Race to the Top’ funds.”
Senate Bill 315 is sponsored by Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) and Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia (D- Aurora) and requires every school district to incorporate student performance as a significant factor in teacher and principal evaluations. The new law requires districts to work with its local teachers’ union to meet the new requirement. The Governor’s office, Illinois State Board of Education, management groups, the two major unions, civic and business leaders, advocates, and legislators from both parties worked together over the last two months to implement needed reforms for Illinois students.
Approximately 350 school districts, representing more than 70 percent of Illinois’ students, have agreed to make student performance at least 50 percent of evaluation criteria if Illinois receives “Race to the Top” funds. Timothy Daly, president of The New Teacher Project, which has been a leader in national efforts to improve the quality of teachers, called the legislation “groundbreaking.”
Under the legislation, Chicago Public Schools and dozens of other districts will begin using the new teacher evaluations in 2012, with full statewide implementation by 2016. All districts will implement the new principal evaluations in 2012. If the state wins “Race to the Top” funds, the timeline would be greatly accelerated with most districts implementing the evaluations in 2012.

District 228 did not sign a required Memorandum of Understanding to participate in Race to the Top. However, it should be noted that eventually should these requirements for evaluation, and also alternative certification and other regulations extend beyond Race to the Top, then we will also be required to comply.

I anticipate that 2010 will bring a number of different challenges and opportunities for District 228, both on the local level; as well as the state and national level. One of those to be mentioned in this post is the American Diploma Project, which will eventually lead to nationally recognized, common core learning standards. Some may be worried that this will lead to a national curricula and perhaps even national assessments. Realistically, our students take a national exam— it’s called the ACT and it would serve our District and many others, if we more closely adopted learning standards that were aligned with the expectations presented on the ACT test.

The link above takes you to the Illinois State Board of Education’s page discussing the ADP, but you can also follow the link right to the core standards page. This is just one of the items to pay attention to in 2010! Have a great year!