Showing the Nation that Public Schools Work 2015 - 2019 STRATEGIC PLAN Approved March 10, 2014

Mission:

The purpose of District 219 is to provide an equitable, student-focused learning environment where every student graduates prepared and ready for college.

Values: • • • •

All individuals are able to exceed expectations. All students have the right to ambitious instruction and a rigorous education. We embrace diversity and will work to eliminate the racial predictability of student achievement. We are committed to employing professional staff members who are culturally competent, reflective of our student body and qualified to advance district initiatives. • We pledge to meet these commitments in the most financially efficient manner.

Goals: BOARD GOAL 1. CHALLENGE: Use ambitious culturally relevant instruction, teacher collaboration and effective leadership to grow student’s learning beyond their expected academic trajectory. 2. ARTICULATE: Implement a framework for K-14 programming that leads to high school and college readiness. 3. ENGAGE: Increase digital literacy and teach using 21st century digital tools and applied/partnership opportunities. 4. SUPPORT: Involve families and provide individualized interventions to raise healthy students in a safe, culturally inclusive environment. 5. INVOLVE: Connect students with adults and their school through increased participation in extra-curricular activities. 6. BUILD: Improve the physical learning environment using fiscally responsible and sustainable practices.

Metric to Measure Success ACT scores inclusive of Local Growth Model. Enrollment in AP courses to reflect student demographics. Percent of students High School and College Ready. Composite Digital Literacy Scores as tested by ISTE. 5 Essentials Survey data. Percentage of students participating in an extra-curricular activity. An on-time and on-budget construction plan; sustainability monitoring.

What We Believe The goal of the District 219 Board of Education is to increase the academic achievement of every student. The Board has identified five key strategies to support that goal: (1) Advancing and integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and Literacy; (2) Ensuring a guaranteed and rigorous curriculum and common final exam for every course; (3) Anywhere/Anytime Learning--preparing our students for the digital future; (4) 21st century buildings, a fiveyear capital plan; and (5) Creating powerful partnerships with parents and the community. Underscoring it all are the key beliefs we hold in D219 that drive all of these policies and decisions:

Ready for college is ready for life

Whether our students are heading for a four-year college, a community college, or a career directly out of high school, they need a solid foundation of academic knowledge coupled with critical thinking and learning skills. Exhaustive research, from the American Diploma Project to data from ACT, shows that there is no significant difference between college readiness and career readiness. From an academic perspective, college and career readiness means that a high school graduate has the English and math knowledge and skills needed to qualify for and succeed in the post-secondary job training, and/or the continuing education necessary for their chosen career. We believe it is our duty to prepare our D219 students so that every graduate of Niles North, Niles West and Niles Central has the option to go to college.

Every student has the right to be educated

We believe that every student is as deserving of a quality education as every other. We believe a student from the most disadvantaged household in Niles Township should have access to the same educational tools and resources as the student with the most advantages. We recognize that our most advanced classes are disproportionately enrolled with white students, and that black and Latino students are disproportionately represented in our lowest level classes. This is a dynamic that manifests itself in schools across the country, but that does not make it right, and that does not make it just. We pledge to change that. We are committed to making the way we teach more equitable. This is why we are eliminating our lowest level courses, which do not prepare those students for college. This is why we are structurally improving our curriculum so that we give every student the support she needs to succeed. This is why we are taking a hard look at how we run our schools so we can help every student succeed regardless of race, ethnic background or family resources.

Every student has the ability to succeed

We believe that every student has the ability to learn and the desire to succeed. We believe that, in order for a child to achieve her full potential, the adults in her life, beginning with her parents, then her teachers, must express their high expectations for her. Then they must back it up with the support she needs. This is why, for any given course, we are standardizing learning targets across all teachers at all our schools, administering the same final exam to all students, and assigning final grades based on the same criteria. This is why all our teachers are learning how to better assess whether their students are learning what they should, and how to intervene when a particular student needs extra support. This is why, when given a choice between putting a student in a lower-level course, which would be the “safe” or “comfortable” thing to do, versus moving the child up and offering him the support he needs to succeed, D219 now moves the child up. And we pledge to provide the necessary support.

Public schools are America’s great hope

In an era of declining public resources, decreasing faith in government and an economy that increasingly requires people to make tough choices, in many communities, the public school is the one place parents can count on to help raise their children: not just to provide an education, but with a safe place to be after school, to play sports, to talk with a counselor, to dance, to play an instrument, to learn English, to make friends, to join the Debate team ....We at D219 are committed to preparing our young people for success after high school. We are committed to proving that public schools work!