School leaders, when you attend a conference, what’s your strategy when choosing sessions? Do you have the conference schedule printed, with your preferred sessions highlighted? Do you download the app and “star” your pathway each day—with, of course, some coffee breaks in between? Conferences are a veritable buffet of choice, and we educators love picking and choosing what’s on our plate, searching for the perfect bite.
Sometimes, you’ll attend those rare sessions where you learn from districts that have somehow harnessed magic, have cracked the code for high growth for all students with repeatable success. And sometimes, they share actionable strategies for how you, too, can make it happen.
Well, educators, I have good news: you can stay in your pajamas for this kind of magic, because I’ve got a secret-sauce webinar for you. Do you need quick strategies to achieve buy-in to school initiatives? Check. Do you need a quick list of processes to support teachers as they use data? Check.
School District 81 in Schiller Park, a suburb of Chicago, is consistently one of the highest performing districts, despite their Cinderella-story stat sheet. If Hollywood were casting for a movie about a school continually achieving high growth, this teeny district next to O’Hare airport would be the leading role.
In just 45 minutes, Superintendent Dr. Kim Boryszewski (Dr. B) and two principals, Melissa Kartsimas and Constance Stavrou, share a feast of highly organized strategies that keep their district on top of their game. And I’m here to break them down into sessions because, you know, we do love a good conference.
Session 1 at 10:10: Meet Schiller Park
Educators, make this your first stop! In two-ish minutes, learn the ecosystem of Schiller Park, a small yet varied district outside of Chicago. “Our students are very diverse. 55% of them are non-white. 62% come from low income homes. We are about 38% ELL with 28 different languages represented across our learning community,” says Dr. B.
Session 2 at 12:32: Have a district-wide initiative? Five steps for success
From fostering teacher trust to creating teacher safety, Dr. B walks through SD 81’s process of creating a culture of reimagining…even when pivoting is painful! “If we aren’t going to use data from the MAP assessment to guide our instruction, why waste our valuable instructional time administering that assessment?” she asks.
Session 3 at 21:00: Putting MAP data to work
When the NWEA team was working alongside Schiller Park, they noticed expectations that SD 81 was upholding throughout their work. In this section of the webinar, Dr. B brings those to the forefront, from teachers’ data goals to kids owning their data. “Data is a tool, not a weapon,”she says.
Session 4 at 29:20: Ready to support teachers on their data journey?
Principal Melissa Kartsimas acknowledges that, unlike districts with splashy resources, what makes Schiller Park a “destination district” is the intentional, rigorous support teachers receive. Hear her five tips (plus some bonus ones!) in this section. “Just as with our students, we have to differentiate the learning for our teachers,” she explains.
Session 5 at 39:52: How to begin data conversations
Principal Constance Stavrou concludes by walking through the steps it takes to get data conversations up and running using the “trickle down” model from the board to the students—creating the ultimate buy-in. “Teachers and students both need to be committed,” she says. “And, they’re dependent on each other for success.”
