1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,290 To call to order the Township High School District 113 Education Committee meeting. 2 00:00:04,561 --> 00:00:09,570 Today is Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026, and it is 3 00:00:09,990 --> 00:00:13,621 5:09 PM. We'll begin with a roll call. Mr. Brunck? 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:14,490 Here. 5 00:00:15,030 --> 00:00:15,570 Ms. Newman? 6 00:00:15,691 --> 00:00:15,930 Here. 7 00:00:16,831 --> 00:00:21,060 Dr. Elliott? Here. I'd like everyone else who's present to identify themselves. 8 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,590 Mira Antie, executive director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 9 00:00:26,491 --> 00:00:28,260 Will Dwyer, principal, Deerfield High School. 10 00:00:28,830 --> 00:00:30,870 Holly Fleischer, principal, Highland Park High School. 11 00:00:31,350 --> 00:00:33,120 Karina Jankowski, executive secretary. 12 00:00:33,450 --> 00:00:34,770 Shayla Holland, superintendent. 13 00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:38,580 Karen Ritter, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. 14 00:00:39,030 --> 00:00:41,460 Tanya Connor, assistant superintendent of student services. 15 00:00:43,260 --> 00:00:47,040 Okay. So we're going to begin with a presentation from Dr. 16 00:00:47,100 --> 00:00:52,051 Ritter on the District 113 English Learner and Multilingual Learning Report. 17 00:00:52,651 --> 00:00:54,690 Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. 18 00:00:54,750 --> 00:01:00,720 I'm proud to share our fall 2026 English Learner and Multilingual Learning 19 00:01:00,930 --> 00:01:06,301 Report to give you a clear, comprehensive idea of what the multilingual student 20 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:08,130 experience looks like across our district. 21 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,480 So the presentation tonight is structured around four core areas: our District 113 22 00:01:15,540 --> 00:01:20,730 program models, a look inside our EL classrooms, key 23 00:01:20,790 --> 00:01:26,670 District 113 multilingual data, and our ongoing strategies for supporting ML 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,430 students and upcoming state guidance. 25 00:01:30,211 --> 00:01:32,910 Before we dive in, I want to clarify some terminology. 26 00:01:33,301 --> 00:01:38,730 You may hear me use EL, ESL, ML interchangeably throughout the 27 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:44,220 presentation. EL and ESL usually refers to programming or courses, 28 00:01:44,730 --> 00:01:49,021 and I may use EL or ML when referring to our English learners or multilingual 29 00:01:49,170 --> 00:01:49,560 learners. 30 00:01:52,260 --> 00:01:56,700 So Illinois defines three distinct instructional frameworks for multilingual 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,320 learners. Across our district, we serve a diverse community of learners, and 32 00:02:01,380 --> 00:02:05,370 because our high schools have different student demographics and populations, we 33 00:02:05,461 --> 00:02:10,200 implement distinct multilingual program models to best serve each site. 34 00:02:10,950 --> 00:02:15,540 At Deerfield High School, where we have just under 40 total ML students 35 00:02:15,601 --> 00:02:20,880 representing 15 different native languages, ranging from Swahili, Ukrainian, 36 00:02:21,060 --> 00:02:26,910 Hebrew, Polish, Chinese, Spanish, we utilize the Transitional Program 37 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,970 of Instruction, which is also known as TPI. 38 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:36,391 The primary goal of TPI is rapid English acquisition through English as a second 39 00:02:36,450 --> 00:02:41,310 language coursework, combined with push-in support in core content areas. 40 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,800 At Highland Park High School, where we have a larger multilingual population with 41 00:02:46,921 --> 00:02:52,260 one dominant language, Spanish, we implement bilingual services in the form of 42 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:57,510 Transitional Bilingual Education courses, or TBE, or dual-language bilingual 43 00:02:57,570 --> 00:03:03,210 education. TBE focuses on providing grade-level content 44 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:06,240 access in Spanish while transitioning students to English. 45 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,480 And our dual-language program is an additive 46 00:03:10,950 --> 00:03:16,680 bilingual model, where the goal is to develop high-level biliteracy, 47 00:03:17,220 --> 00:03:21,180 bilingualism, and academic achievement while affirming our students' cultural 48 00:03:21,270 --> 00:03:21,781 assets. 49 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:28,470 We offer balanced two-way dual language classes that bring together native English 50 00:03:28,710 --> 00:03:33,421 speakers and native Spanish speakers, as well as one-way dual language courses 51 00:03:33,510 --> 00:03:38,190 where multilingual students are served from the same language background. 52 00:03:39,421 --> 00:03:44,010 This builds directly on the foundation laid by our center district, Lake 112, where 53 00:03:44,041 --> 00:03:49,560 they have a dual language program where students experience a 50/50 model through 54 00:03:49,890 --> 00:03:50,520 middle school. 55 00:03:56,220 --> 00:04:00,390 So the English language support in both of the schools looks like this. 56 00:04:01,921 --> 00:04:07,201 This is structural support that we implemented last year, which is explicit English 57 00:04:07,260 --> 00:04:11,730 language instruction and support aligned directly with ACCESS proficiency levels. 58 00:04:12,330 --> 00:04:17,190 So this framework operates at both DHS and HPHS. 59 00:04:17,940 --> 00:04:23,430 As students progress from year one to year four, moving through entering, emerging, 60 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,980 and developing to expanding language proficiency, they are paired with a language 61 00:04:29,070 --> 00:04:33,750 acquisition class that further develops their English language 62 00:04:34,980 --> 00:04:40,800 in the areas of speaking, reading, writing, and listening in different content 63 00:04:40,860 --> 00:04:46,320 areas. So this series of classes provides a strong standardized core 64 00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:49,620 curriculum that also accelerates academic language development. 65 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,870 So I want to give you a sample of what the classrooms look like in both of the 66 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,770 schools. So I got the opportunity to visit two classrooms, both very different in 67 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,680 the program, in the population, and in practice. 68 00:05:05,250 --> 00:05:08,820 At Deerfield, I visited an English class taught by Ms. Roth. 69 00:05:09,900 --> 00:05:13,680 This class brings together students from diverse backgrounds, and in the class of 70 00:05:13,770 --> 00:05:19,560 about eight students, there were students representing Israel, Mexico, 71 00:05:19,650 --> 00:05:24,091 China, Turkey, and Ukraine. So five different languages, five different countries 72 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:29,580 among the eight students. Ms. Roth implemented a highly effective multimodal lesson 73 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,570 that actively engaged all four language domains of reading, writing, speaking, and 74 00:05:33,630 --> 00:05:39,390 listening. So she began with a culturally responsive question of the day: What is 75 00:05:39,451 --> 00:05:44,310 your favorite fall activity? So students began sharing that, "In my country, we 76 00:05:44,341 --> 00:05:49,440 don't have different seasons. So what I like about this country is I can celebrate 77 00:05:49,470 --> 00:05:53,610 Halloween. We don't have Halloween in our country." So it was a really interesting 78 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,730 discussion that they were able to share and compare what happens in their countries 79 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,550 versus what they experience here in America. 80 00:06:04,650 --> 00:06:07,951 And students shared what they like to do here, and most of it was candy and 81 00:06:07,980 --> 00:06:11,910 Halloween for their fall activities. And Ms. 82 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,430 Roth also shared sentence frames for providing some complex 83 00:06:17,730 --> 00:06:23,610 sentence structure to keep the language development using academic 84 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:24,451 vocabulary. 85 00:06:26,610 --> 00:06:32,009 Then the class prepared to read a scene from the play "Almost, Maine," which 86 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,170 happens to be Deerfield's fall play. 87 00:06:34,591 --> 00:06:39,151 So the students are also, after reading the script and the play, they're going to 88 00:06:39,210 --> 00:06:43,320 go see the actual production of "Almost, Maine" that their peers are going to be 89 00:06:43,380 --> 00:06:46,110 performing in. So I thought that was very clever to 90 00:06:47,940 --> 00:06:53,430 capitalize on that opportunity. But she did a lot of front-loading of concepts in 91 00:06:53,460 --> 00:06:58,800 the class. So first, students did a think-pair-share activity around the concept of 92 00:06:58,860 --> 00:07:02,640 getting something back, which was also the next title of the chapter that they were 93 00:07:02,701 --> 00:07:04,980 about to read in the script, Getting Something Back. 94 00:07:05,581 --> 00:07:08,910 She activated their prior knowledge of: What does that mean to you? 95 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:09,990 What could that mean? 96 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:17,370 She then showed the students a video clip of a high school production of "Almost, 97 00:07:17,460 --> 00:07:22,500 Maine," acting out that scene in that chapter with closed captioning, so that 98 00:07:22,530 --> 00:07:25,140 students are able to read along as they watch it. 99 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:30,750 And then they filled out a notice and wonder graphic organizer during the video 100 00:07:30,841 --> 00:07:33,030 clip to draw inferences from the visual clues. 101 00:07:33,061 --> 00:07:35,370 What did they notice about the conversation? 102 00:07:35,430 --> 00:07:36,780 What did they notice what was happening? 103 00:07:37,201 --> 00:07:40,591 Where were possible misconceptions of what the students were talking about? 104 00:07:42,091 --> 00:07:46,680 And then after that, they finally read the script in pairs with a partner out loud. 105 00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:50,850 And by unpacking the meaning prior to the reading, Ms. 106 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:54,960 Roth primed their brains and started to build their schema around what was going to 107 00:07:54,990 --> 00:08:00,451 be happening in the script, which is a very popular EL strategy to do. 108 00:08:00,990 --> 00:08:04,920 And this allowed the students to engage more deeply and more rigorously with the 109 00:08:04,951 --> 00:08:10,890 grade-level content. And a few of the students even acted out the words in 110 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,190 the script as if they were on stage themselves, so it was really, really cute. 111 00:08:16,290 --> 00:08:21,930 Then I went to a dual language class at Highland Park, and it was 112 00:08:22,050 --> 00:08:27,811 amazing to see the difference in services provided, but equally 113 00:08:29,430 --> 00:08:33,360 focused on language development and rigorous instruction. 114 00:08:33,841 --> 00:08:34,561 So this was 115 00:08:35,970 --> 00:08:38,670 a dual language US history class taught by Mr. 116 00:08:38,910 --> 00:08:42,061 Garza for the dual language program at Highland Park. 117 00:08:42,420 --> 00:08:48,390 The classroom setting is Spanish dominance, so all students in the 118 00:08:48,450 --> 00:08:51,630 class were speaking English and Spanish. 119 00:08:52,590 --> 00:08:57,061 And instruction went far beyond just foundational language acquisition and 120 00:08:57,210 --> 00:09:02,040 vocabulary development, but really how to synthesize ideas, 121 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:08,010 complex abstract concepts in both languages, because the goal, remember, is 122 00:09:08,070 --> 00:09:13,890 biliteracy and bilingualism. So prior to this day that I went to visit, 123 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:19,950 the students collaboratively drafted a classroom constitution 124 00:09:20,010 --> 00:09:22,050 and bill of rights in both languages. 125 00:09:22,620 --> 00:09:27,151 They did a lot of group work interpreting the different parts of the constitution 126 00:09:27,210 --> 00:09:31,470 and bill of rights, and they had to develop their own bill of rights for their 127 00:09:31,530 --> 00:09:33,480 classroom and what they were going to 128 00:09:35,369 --> 00:09:40,020 develop as norms for behavior and privileges in the classroom. 129 00:09:40,561 --> 00:09:46,410 So they integrated core concepts from our American constitutional democracy, 130 00:09:46,830 --> 00:09:52,140 and they also brought in themes of indigenous community governments represented by 131 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,410 this book that they were reading, "The Hombres de Maíz," 132 00:09:56,940 --> 00:10:02,370 which was really, really cool to see because the indigenous governance centered a 133 00:10:02,431 --> 00:10:07,500 lot around human dignity and respect for nature and 134 00:10:08,970 --> 00:10:13,980 concepts like that, whereas our bill of rights was more governance and 135 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:22,561 democracy structures. So it was really cool to see the overlapping of where those 136 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,090 governance structures are similar, and also how different they are. 137 00:10:27,540 --> 00:10:32,970 And just really bringing students back to some of their roots in 138 00:10:33,510 --> 00:10:34,500 indigenous culture. 139 00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:41,520 This approach that Mr. Garza so cleverly introduced to them requires 140 00:10:41,670 --> 00:10:47,431 students to have a high level of cognitive flexibility to be able to think and 141 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:52,320 produce outcomes in both languages, to use the academic vocabulary in both 142 00:10:52,380 --> 00:10:54,090 languages, to take 143 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:57,811 high-level concepts and synthesize them, 144 00:10:59,130 --> 00:11:00,780 and use critical thinking skills. 145 00:11:01,140 --> 00:11:07,020 They also were observed doing intentional translanguaging, which means 146 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:12,660 using both languages at the same time to communicate ideas and concepts, and 147 00:11:13,050 --> 00:11:17,370 language bridging, which is an intentional instructional move where students 148 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:19,590 compare and contrast their two languages. 149 00:11:19,651 --> 00:11:24,870 So I do have one picture there where he was talking about just vocabulary and 150 00:11:25,230 --> 00:11:30,901 cognates in both languages and where they really stem from, and asking 151 00:11:30,990 --> 00:11:35,850 kids to understand the origin of both of those languages and their roots. 152 00:11:37,020 --> 00:11:40,530 So, so much happening in one classroom session. 153 00:11:40,651 --> 00:11:46,620 I was really, truly amazed at how much planning is involved in developing language 154 00:11:46,770 --> 00:11:50,490 and high-level rigorous instruction at the same time. 155 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,870 So students use those connections and the cognates to build their academic 156 00:11:54,901 --> 00:11:59,311 vocabulary while developing literacy skills, and this reflects the intellectual 157 00:11:59,370 --> 00:12:04,080 rigor and profound sense of belonging that our dual language program offers. 158 00:12:06,570 --> 00:12:09,811 Okay, next. So now we're going to jump into some data. 159 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,431 When we turn to our district data, this is a 160 00:12:15,811 --> 00:12:20,760 screenshot of the data that's represented in our ECRA system, our ECRA platform. 161 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,469 We can see, if you look at the all that's highlighted there in red, 162 00:12:26,670 --> 00:12:29,550 what you'll see is we're looking at last year's data. 163 00:12:29,940 --> 00:12:33,780 Spring ACCESS is when the ACCESS test comes out. 164 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:38,880 ACCESS is the test that assesses students' language proficiency. 165 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,100 We had 201 students test last year across the district. 166 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,151 You can see a proficiency rating of 5.9%. 167 00:12:48,330 --> 00:12:54,301 That means that is the percentage of students who met the benchmark of 168 00:12:55,830 --> 00:13:01,051 exiting out of ACCESS. They reached a score high enough to not require EL services 169 00:13:01,110 --> 00:13:06,720 anymore. And then you see an effect size of a positive 0.39 with a blue circle. 170 00:13:07,230 --> 00:13:12,240 So in ECRA data, anything with a blue circle means that students are 171 00:13:12,871 --> 00:13:16,380 achieving higher than average growth expectations. 172 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:17,310 So, 173 00:13:18,661 --> 00:13:23,190 many of the areas that we will see in our ECRA data are green, meaning students are 174 00:13:24,690 --> 00:13:27,210 growing as expected from year to year. 175 00:13:27,540 --> 00:13:32,520 But blue is really something special, and they are achieving more than one year's 176 00:13:32,580 --> 00:13:34,710 worth of growth in one year's time. 177 00:13:35,401 --> 00:13:41,100 So, overall, our students in our multilingual program are growing more than 178 00:13:41,161 --> 00:13:41,820 expected. 179 00:13:42,901 --> 00:13:43,530 Quick question. 180 00:13:43,590 --> 00:13:43,740 Yeah. 181 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,220 It's my understanding that ECRA's growth scores partially take into account what 182 00:13:50,310 --> 00:13:53,490 past growth was for those students, right? To come up with the expected growth. 183 00:13:53,551 --> 00:13:53,730 Mm-hmm. 184 00:13:54,570 --> 00:13:58,980 Because we're seeing so much growth in year nine, is that part of why we're seeing 185 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:00,990 less blue in the succeeding years? 186 00:14:01,051 --> 00:14:01,470 Because 187 00:14:03,181 --> 00:14:05,760 the kids are growing so much in that first year of the program, and maybe they're 188 00:14:05,820 --> 00:14:07,200 just not hitting quite as much growth. 189 00:14:07,830 --> 00:14:13,500 It depends because the ACCESS test in our EL program is not grade specific, it's 190 00:14:13,590 --> 00:14:14,580 language specific. 191 00:14:14,610 --> 00:14:15,750 Mm-hmm. 192 00:14:15,901 --> 00:14:19,411 So, that ninth grade could have students in year one or year four. 193 00:14:19,980 --> 00:14:20,220 Okay. 194 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:24,270 So I think, and I'll talk about this a little bit later, but I think it's the 195 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,871 structures that we put in place like that English class with the language 196 00:14:27,931 --> 00:14:31,651 acquisition class. Last year was our first year of our implementation with that 197 00:14:31,710 --> 00:14:37,590 across the district. So I think that had a strong impact on how all 198 00:14:37,681 --> 00:14:40,830 of our grade levels are performing, but especially our freshmen, since that's their 199 00:14:40,890 --> 00:14:42,330 entry year for that. 200 00:14:42,390 --> 00:14:42,630 Great. 201 00:14:44,310 --> 00:14:45,570 But thank you, that's a great question. 202 00:14:47,130 --> 00:14:51,181 So if we look at our grade nine, you can click and it'll highlight the grade nine. 203 00:14:51,630 --> 00:14:56,310 So just what Mr. Funk was saying, our freshmen have a very high level of growth, 204 00:14:57,990 --> 00:14:59,911 as compared to the other grade levels. 205 00:15:00,330 --> 00:15:05,250 So we can see that they had not as high as a proficiency as some of the other grade 206 00:15:05,310 --> 00:15:09,810 levels, so 9% of our students out of the 54 exiting the program. 207 00:15:09,871 --> 00:15:15,420 But the growth rate is-- I've never seen growth like this in any data. 208 00:15:15,510 --> 00:15:20,670 So a positive .8 means that across the board, they are 209 00:15:21,450 --> 00:15:24,661 growing higher than expected in 210 00:15:25,980 --> 00:15:27,360 that grade level specifically. 211 00:15:29,580 --> 00:15:35,250 Click again. Yep. So then if we dig down into that grade nine data, this is 212 00:15:35,670 --> 00:15:39,929 just something that you're able to do in ECRA to get a better picture of what's 213 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,901 happening. So looking specifically at the ninth grade data, 214 00:15:44,220 --> 00:15:46,530 and remember, these are students now that are in 10th grade. 215 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,931 They entered high school with intermediate skills, so probably scoring in the three 216 00:15:51,990 --> 00:15:55,560 to four range on ACCESS, and 4.8 is 217 00:15:57,780 --> 00:16:03,301 the score that they need to exit. So they have an exit rate of 8%. 218 00:16:04,230 --> 00:16:06,480 That's the proficiency rating at the top. 219 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:07,920 And 220 00:16:09,510 --> 00:16:12,360 that is a small percentage of how many students met the benchmark. 221 00:16:12,390 --> 00:16:17,431 However, if we look at the growth score, it's a .8 effect size. 222 00:16:18,390 --> 00:16:21,270 So this tells a much more powerful story. 223 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:27,330 The vast majority of the students in this grade level with last year's 224 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:31,080 testing achieved higher than expected growth in 225 00:16:32,490 --> 00:16:34,411 their ACCESS test. So, 226 00:16:37,890 --> 00:16:39,510 there's a couple things in the diagram here. 227 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,651 So you have a dotted line across the middle, that's the benchmark. 228 00:16:44,010 --> 00:16:48,540 So anyone above that is exiting the program. 229 00:16:49,230 --> 00:16:51,600 They met the benchmark. Anyone below that 230 00:16:52,890 --> 00:16:57,690 in the green strip there, all of those students in the green strip are meeting 231 00:16:57,780 --> 00:17:02,551 expected growth. Anyone above that green strip is higher than expected growth. 232 00:17:02,610 --> 00:17:07,590 So you see a good portion of the students having more growth, even if they didn't 233 00:17:07,621 --> 00:17:11,970 meet the proficiency dotted line, they still had higher than expected growth. 234 00:17:12,301 --> 00:17:16,681 There's just one dot there with a student that had lower than expected growth. 235 00:17:17,070 --> 00:17:22,171 So overall, our EL program and our EL students are very successful in terms of 236 00:17:22,230 --> 00:17:22,621 growth. 237 00:17:24,780 --> 00:17:25,560 Next slide. 238 00:17:27,361 --> 00:17:29,520 Can I just ask you to explain something? 239 00:17:29,611 --> 00:17:29,820 Sure. 240 00:17:29,820 --> 00:17:31,260 Just so they have this information. 241 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:31,530 Yes. 242 00:17:31,830 --> 00:17:33,660 Each dot represents a student. 243 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:33,990 Yes. 244 00:17:34,830 --> 00:17:38,010 And so when an educator or a leader 245 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:45,630 goes in and hovers over a student, what can they do with this 246 00:17:45,750 --> 00:17:46,470 information? 247 00:17:47,070 --> 00:17:52,140 So they can dig deeper. And I'll show you on the next slide 248 00:17:53,371 --> 00:17:58,320 some of the data that you can see. I took off all the students' names, but this is 249 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:04,200 actual data that you can look at. You can see a roster of all those students and 250 00:18:04,260 --> 00:18:09,840 where they are. So I did that, and I sorted it by high to low 251 00:18:09,900 --> 00:18:15,780 growth. And just in the first page of data, you can see they're all blue, with 252 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,330 an arrow pointing upwards. More than one point 253 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:23,100 growth effect size, meaning that they grew 254 00:18:24,528 --> 00:18:29,508 More than one year of growth. So the top student there with a 3.0, 255 00:18:30,317 --> 00:18:34,909 he or she grew three years, basically within one year. 256 00:18:35,958 --> 00:18:39,948 And we've got two students. And then I started thinking, is it the dual language 257 00:18:40,008 --> 00:18:42,378 program? Is it something that we're doing at Deerfield? 258 00:18:42,768 --> 00:18:44,448 It's represented at both schools. 259 00:18:44,899 --> 00:18:50,628 So, you could even dig deeper in there and see the students' subscores on the 260 00:18:50,718 --> 00:18:51,768 access to see exactly 261 00:18:54,228 --> 00:18:55,728 how they performed on each section. 262 00:18:56,808 --> 00:19:02,358 So ECRA, and the data that we receive from it is very informative in terms 263 00:19:02,478 --> 00:19:08,388 of what we can do to make instructional shifts after looking at data. 264 00:19:08,478 --> 00:19:11,748 So, something here that I just want to point out. 265 00:19:13,428 --> 00:19:19,188 Let's see here. So, I only screenshot the first page of the students there on the 266 00:19:19,248 --> 00:19:23,208 roster. So we had, I think it was 54 freshman students. 267 00:19:25,578 --> 00:19:26,089 I think it was 268 00:19:27,438 --> 00:19:32,958 20 out of the 51 had those blue growth scores, higher 269 00:19:33,018 --> 00:19:36,228 than a 1.0. So, 270 00:19:37,938 --> 00:19:42,409 that speaks to the program, really, of what we're offering to students. 271 00:19:43,608 --> 00:19:49,578 You don't see those kinds of levels of growth in a lot of schools, even with the EL 272 00:19:49,638 --> 00:19:51,108 program. So, 273 00:19:52,728 --> 00:19:58,608 we had students grow as high as a positive 3.1, which represents three to 274 00:19:58,668 --> 00:20:02,628 four years worth of language growth accomplished in a single academic year. 275 00:20:03,168 --> 00:20:09,078 And if we can sustain that kind of growth, or similar growth, a 276 00:20:09,498 --> 00:20:15,348 significant portion of this cohort will be able to hit the 4.8 benchmark before 277 00:20:15,378 --> 00:20:16,458 they graduate high school. 278 00:20:19,878 --> 00:20:25,488 Okay, so then I sorted the roster by low growth to high, just so you can 279 00:20:25,608 --> 00:20:25,909 see 280 00:20:27,438 --> 00:20:32,659 where they are there. So there are areas where students are shown to grow. 281 00:20:33,498 --> 00:20:38,238 So they're represented by a green circle, but it still is negative. 282 00:20:38,328 --> 00:20:43,788 So, the way that ECRA represents the data is you have your 283 00:20:43,938 --> 00:20:49,308 average growth, and then there's a standard deviation on either side where the 284 00:20:49,368 --> 00:20:51,498 growth window occurs. Right? So, 285 00:20:53,659 --> 00:20:57,918 it's still expected growth, but it could be a little more or less than the average. 286 00:20:59,149 --> 00:21:04,458 So you see that we only have one student from last year that actually took a step 287 00:21:04,518 --> 00:21:09,409 backwards and didn't grow as much as they were expected to grow, but everyone else 288 00:21:09,498 --> 00:21:12,558 was either on target or exceeded that. 289 00:21:13,488 --> 00:21:15,708 And that doesn't mean they didn't grow, they didn't grow- 290 00:21:15,828 --> 00:21:16,818 As expected 291 00:21:16,818 --> 00:21:17,508 ... as expected. 292 00:21:17,538 --> 00:21:21,198 Correct. And this is a one-day test, the data? 293 00:21:22,218 --> 00:21:25,038 Yeah, this is like their status- Yes, snapshot. 294 00:21:25,608 --> 00:21:25,788 Mm-hmm. 295 00:21:26,208 --> 00:21:31,938 Mm-hmm. So, right. So we can celebrate the growth, but we also need to 296 00:21:31,968 --> 00:21:34,368 evaluate where our system needs strengthening. 297 00:21:34,458 --> 00:21:38,298 So obviously we want really great growth for all of our students. 298 00:21:39,437 --> 00:21:45,288 And so some of the things that we've thought about is why all students can't 299 00:21:45,348 --> 00:21:51,108 expect that growth. Transitioning from eighth grade to high school, 300 00:21:51,228 --> 00:21:56,899 there's a tremendous amount of academic vocabulary demand in all of their classes 301 00:21:57,018 --> 00:22:02,688 that is presented to them. So this is why we want to focus on growing academic 302 00:22:02,718 --> 00:22:05,808 vocabulary, because it is much more rigorous in high school. 303 00:22:07,008 --> 00:22:09,228 So that's something that we're looking at and planning for. 304 00:22:09,618 --> 00:22:14,058 Other factors could be involved that are non-academic factors, such as attendance, 305 00:22:14,149 --> 00:22:19,578 and our multilingual population does have a higher chronic 306 00:22:19,668 --> 00:22:23,808 absentee rate than our students at our schools. 307 00:22:24,798 --> 00:22:30,678 Another factor that could be impacting the lower than expected growth is we 308 00:22:30,708 --> 00:22:34,788 have a significant number of students who are dually identified, which means they 309 00:22:34,878 --> 00:22:40,848 are in need of language services through our EL program, and they also have an IEP. 310 00:22:42,108 --> 00:22:47,118 So we have about a quarter of our students at Deerfield that are dually identified, 311 00:22:47,238 --> 00:22:49,998 and about 45% at Highland Park. 312 00:22:51,228 --> 00:22:55,159 So in some cases, these students are showing slower growth. 313 00:22:56,328 --> 00:23:01,698 So to ensure that they receive full support, our EL department chairs will attend 314 00:23:01,818 --> 00:23:06,198 IEP meetings for students who are dually identified, so that we can ensure that 315 00:23:06,228 --> 00:23:11,718 they have the language support as well as accommodations according to their IEP. 316 00:23:15,888 --> 00:23:20,388 Okay, here's some report card data from, this is actually from '24, '25. 317 00:23:20,448 --> 00:23:25,758 This is currently on our website for our Illinois report card. 318 00:23:25,818 --> 00:23:30,318 The new report card data for last year is coming out at the end of October, so it's 319 00:23:30,378 --> 00:23:33,318 just not ready yet. But this is from '24, '25. 320 00:23:34,668 --> 00:23:40,339 So we still see some persistent gaps when we look at other areas of 321 00:23:40,399 --> 00:23:45,498 data, not just access growth. So compared to their peers, our multilingual learners 322 00:23:45,618 --> 00:23:51,498 show a lower proficiency in both ELA and math, as represented on the right-hand 323 00:23:51,558 --> 00:23:55,998 side. So it's hard to see there, and I can't even see very well. 324 00:23:56,328 --> 00:23:58,878 Here, let me look at your computer. 325 00:24:00,978 --> 00:24:04,608 Under ELA proficiency, the top line is our overall students. 326 00:24:04,668 --> 00:24:05,718 So overall, 327 00:24:06,978 --> 00:24:12,198 75% of our students are meeting proficiency in ELA, while 328 00:24:12,409 --> 00:24:17,988 24.7% are not. For our English learners, which is the darker green line underneath, 329 00:24:18,378 --> 00:24:24,048 we have 9.6% of our students meeting ELA, and 330 00:24:24,738 --> 00:24:30,288 90.4% not meeting. And remember, ELA is part of the ACT 331 00:24:30,378 --> 00:24:35,718 test. So we're testing students who are not proficient in English on an English 332 00:24:35,778 --> 00:24:41,268 proficiency test. So I would say it's expected that we're not going to see the same 333 00:24:41,328 --> 00:24:45,348 level of proficiency there, but it's just something to keep in mind. 334 00:24:45,708 --> 00:24:51,589 And then for math, our overall students' proficiency on math, as represented on the 335 00:24:51,678 --> 00:24:56,298 ACT, is 75.2 with 336 00:24:56,568 --> 00:25:02,298 24.8 not meeting math overall. And then with our English learners, it's 337 00:25:02,508 --> 00:25:03,318 3.8 338 00:25:04,548 --> 00:25:09,468 meeting math proficiency and 96.2 not meeting math proficiency. 339 00:25:09,528 --> 00:25:11,149 So it's also very low. 340 00:25:13,458 --> 00:25:17,778 But it is growth from previous years, because I think we were at zero before 341 00:25:17,839 --> 00:25:19,038 meeting proficiency, right? 342 00:25:20,028 --> 00:25:22,428 Yeah. Just trying to match up data. 343 00:25:22,488 --> 00:25:22,608 Yeah. 344 00:25:22,668 --> 00:25:24,528 So this is ACT 345 00:25:25,938 --> 00:25:29,028 of juniors of '24, '25. 346 00:25:29,118 --> 00:25:29,478 Yes. 347 00:25:29,988 --> 00:25:32,208 So '25, '26, they'd be seniors. 348 00:25:32,268 --> 00:25:32,388 Yes. 349 00:25:33,438 --> 00:25:36,738 So they would be the 12th graders on the access. 350 00:25:37,339 --> 00:25:37,818 Correct. 351 00:25:38,149 --> 00:25:38,268 Okay. 352 00:25:38,298 --> 00:25:39,738 Correct. Yes. 353 00:25:41,508 --> 00:25:43,908 And on the left-hand side is just our graduation rates. 354 00:25:43,998 --> 00:25:49,758 I have graduation rates of our EL students, of our students 355 00:25:49,848 --> 00:25:55,308 overall in red, the state's EL population, and the state's 356 00:25:55,399 --> 00:26:01,038 overall. So our EL graduation rates are lower than the state, 357 00:26:02,118 --> 00:26:07,908 for ELs in the same population group, and they're lower than 358 00:26:08,029 --> 00:26:13,938 our overall population as well. So that's a persistent gap that we 359 00:26:13,998 --> 00:26:14,958 need to address. 360 00:26:17,328 --> 00:26:19,548 Thank you, Jayla. I should have brought my reading glasses. 361 00:26:21,378 --> 00:26:23,508 Next is our exit data. So I've 362 00:26:25,218 --> 00:26:29,058 tracked the last three years of exit criteria and the data. 363 00:26:29,149 --> 00:26:34,698 So last year, out of 194 students that took the access test, we had 364 00:26:34,968 --> 00:26:39,589 20 that received the 4.8 or above to exit out of EL. 365 00:26:40,548 --> 00:26:42,228 So that's at a rate of 10.3. 366 00:26:43,639 --> 00:26:49,488 And something also that's listed here that I'm tracking is the number of students 367 00:26:49,518 --> 00:26:51,768 who are considered long-term ELs. 368 00:26:52,188 --> 00:26:55,639 These are students that are in an EL program for more than seven years. 369 00:26:56,268 --> 00:27:02,208 So if you look at our total access participation, 194, 132 of those students are 370 00:27:02,268 --> 00:27:08,058 long-term ELs. So, this is a persistence issue that 371 00:27:09,649 --> 00:27:15,348 many schools face, but for whatever reason, the students are not able to 372 00:27:16,339 --> 00:27:20,149 reach a score that will allow them to exit the program. 373 00:27:21,078 --> 00:27:22,008 I have a question. 374 00:27:22,068 --> 00:27:26,328 Quick question on that too. Yeah. So this when you get information from 9 and 112 375 00:27:26,448 --> 00:27:28,308 on this, right? In terms of who's- 376 00:27:29,784 --> 00:27:33,444 Which students were previous? How long have they been EL before? 377 00:27:33,624 --> 00:27:37,495 Well, this is not from their schools, this data, this is from our report card. 378 00:27:37,554 --> 00:27:42,294 But how long they've been in the program obviously carries from when they were in- 379 00:27:42,594 --> 00:27:42,594 Okay 380 00:27:42,624 --> 00:27:43,584 ... yeah, elementary school. 381 00:27:43,614 --> 00:27:44,544 Do we also get 382 00:27:45,924 --> 00:27:50,394 which students are former ELs that may have already exited the designation before 383 00:27:50,424 --> 00:27:51,355 they get to high school? 384 00:27:51,684 --> 00:27:56,754 That's a great question. So we just asked for that data this year for the first 385 00:27:56,784 --> 00:27:59,814 time. Yeah. Because I'd like to know what is 386 00:28:01,134 --> 00:28:06,144 successful that they're doing, and what can we learn from that too, and then- 387 00:28:06,144 --> 00:28:07,225 Yeah. What's the trajectory? 388 00:28:07,284 --> 00:28:09,984 Yes. Why are some students not able to do that? 389 00:28:10,134 --> 00:28:10,344 Mm-hmm. 390 00:28:10,374 --> 00:28:16,225 That's correct. Yeah. So that's definitely something that we are looking 391 00:28:16,284 --> 00:28:19,344 at. But in terms of our EL exit counts, 392 00:28:21,384 --> 00:28:23,184 the rate is increasing year to year. 393 00:28:23,754 --> 00:28:23,965 So 394 00:28:25,194 --> 00:28:26,274 that's good to see. 395 00:28:28,644 --> 00:28:34,524 So some of the things that we've done to look at ways to improve this 396 00:28:34,674 --> 00:28:39,294 is looking at the system as a whole and monitoring in progress. 397 00:28:39,355 --> 00:28:39,504 So, 398 00:28:42,624 --> 00:28:48,504 when we talk about our EL population, we talk about EL supports, and we have to 399 00:28:48,534 --> 00:28:52,194 create more of a sense of urgency because we only have four years with them. 400 00:28:52,794 --> 00:28:56,874 So it's more about accelerating their outcomes rather than supporting them with 401 00:28:56,904 --> 00:29:02,754 where they are. We really need to have those students gain more than one years 402 00:29:02,934 --> 00:29:05,904 of learning in one year. So, 403 00:29:07,165 --> 00:29:08,514 that's something that we've shifted. 404 00:29:08,965 --> 00:29:13,794 So to address that, we're more frequently monitoring the access growth, and there's 405 00:29:15,204 --> 00:29:17,754 an assessment that we're implementing this year. 406 00:29:17,814 --> 00:29:23,725 It's a check-in assessment where it's formatted the same way as the access test. 407 00:29:23,784 --> 00:29:27,984 It's through VITA, which is the organization that does the access test, and we're 408 00:29:28,044 --> 00:29:31,884 able to do some more formative assessments on the students. 409 00:29:32,064 --> 00:29:35,965 So then we don't have to wait until the access test comes out to see if they've 410 00:29:36,024 --> 00:29:38,364 improved. We can do some checkpoints along the way. 411 00:29:39,114 --> 00:29:44,304 Also, all of our students in grade 9, 10, 11 take the STAR assessments in both 412 00:29:44,424 --> 00:29:45,654 English and math 413 00:29:47,064 --> 00:29:51,054 three times a year, so we can assess their growth that way as well. 414 00:29:52,314 --> 00:29:56,934 And we also are reviewing SEL indicators and attendance indicators. 415 00:29:58,254 --> 00:30:03,864 We're using formative assessments such as Rosetta Stone for 416 00:30:03,924 --> 00:30:09,204 language learning and IXL to continuously evaluate classroom learning and implement 417 00:30:09,294 --> 00:30:13,495 immediate targeted instructional interventions in the language acquisition classes. 418 00:30:17,364 --> 00:30:18,294 Can I ask another question? 419 00:30:18,324 --> 00:30:18,594 Yeah. 420 00:30:18,624 --> 00:30:23,454 What I can't get out of my mind is the original slide with the green- 421 00:30:23,874 --> 00:30:24,024 Yeah 422 00:30:24,024 --> 00:30:25,915 ... going up, and the one dot underneath. 423 00:30:25,975 --> 00:30:26,154 Yeah. 424 00:30:26,245 --> 00:30:29,304 And then the dots also that are so close to the benchmark. 425 00:30:29,334 --> 00:30:30,264 Yes. Yes. 426 00:30:30,294 --> 00:30:35,364 What roles within our buildings are responsible for those two? 427 00:30:35,454 --> 00:30:40,524 I'm not asking for the people, but who are the staff members that are responsible 428 00:30:40,584 --> 00:30:41,215 for helping? 429 00:30:41,304 --> 00:30:44,123 So we have an EL department chair in each building. 430 00:30:44,605 --> 00:30:50,424 And the nice thing about this population, with it being so small, when I talked to 431 00:30:50,484 --> 00:30:54,324 both of them, they knew exactly who the kids were and what the situation was. 432 00:30:54,384 --> 00:31:00,264 Like, "That one student, I know exactly why he didn't score so well." So, we 433 00:31:00,294 --> 00:31:05,605 have our EL directors, and then layered on top of that is our APs of CIA. 434 00:31:05,665 --> 00:31:05,814 Mm-hmm. 435 00:31:06,654 --> 00:31:11,454 Then also they have that. And then with our dual language program at Highland Park, 436 00:31:11,514 --> 00:31:16,254 we have a group of teachers and department chairs who are really 437 00:31:17,004 --> 00:31:19,225 focusing on that program and 438 00:31:21,084 --> 00:31:23,605 the performance of students around dual language. 439 00:31:23,694 --> 00:31:29,514 So there's lots of different layers of accountability and responsibility. 440 00:31:30,684 --> 00:31:35,874 But really it's all of us that really need to focus in on that and see what we're 441 00:31:35,934 --> 00:31:41,484 doing and what we're making sure we're implementing so that they can improve. 442 00:31:42,204 --> 00:31:44,154 And we have more things planned for next year, too. 443 00:31:47,634 --> 00:31:52,434 So where we need to improve. We've identified some areas here. 444 00:31:52,554 --> 00:31:52,794 So 445 00:31:54,264 --> 00:31:58,824 as I mentioned before, academic vocabulary is a huge area and something that we 446 00:31:58,884 --> 00:32:03,684 noticed improves outcomes for EL students and 447 00:32:05,094 --> 00:32:10,794 can show up on the access test. So not only with their reading levels and 448 00:32:11,334 --> 00:32:16,944 literacy levels, but making sure that they have the academic vocabulary in 449 00:32:17,034 --> 00:32:19,225 content areas to be able to 450 00:32:21,024 --> 00:32:23,124 effectively learn in those other areas. 451 00:32:23,995 --> 00:32:28,284 So we have to make sure that we're increasing the intentional instruction around 452 00:32:28,344 --> 00:32:32,904 building that academic vocabulary, disciplinary literacy, and student discourse. 453 00:32:32,934 --> 00:32:38,605 Student discourse is another huge one where we want to see the speaking portion of 454 00:32:38,634 --> 00:32:43,165 the access test improve. And that includes not just students talking to each other, 455 00:32:43,225 --> 00:32:47,484 but using that academic vocabulary in a classroom setting 456 00:32:49,014 --> 00:32:54,984 with each other to build their vocabulary. Another area is integrated instruction. 457 00:32:55,105 --> 00:33:00,384 So we need to make sure that explicit language objectives are expected of students 458 00:33:00,444 --> 00:33:03,204 alongside their content area learning objectives. 459 00:33:03,654 --> 00:33:09,294 So not only do they have learning outcomes that need to be aligned to the 460 00:33:09,355 --> 00:33:14,245 content that they're learning, but also what language outcomes and expectations do 461 00:33:14,304 --> 00:33:19,434 we need to have for them. So for an example, in a science class, and this might be 462 00:33:19,495 --> 00:33:20,245 too elementary 463 00:33:21,504 --> 00:33:23,245 of an example, but if 464 00:33:25,105 --> 00:33:27,024 students are learning about states of matter, 465 00:33:28,704 --> 00:33:33,504 so solids, liquids, and gases, not only do they need to know that content, but how 466 00:33:33,594 --> 00:33:39,174 to maybe explain it to a friend or a peer in the classroom using that vocabulary 467 00:33:39,234 --> 00:33:44,725 that's around that. So having a language objective and a content objective I think 468 00:33:44,754 --> 00:33:45,804 would be really important. 469 00:33:47,364 --> 00:33:52,824 Targeted intervention. So right now, with the English and language 470 00:33:52,915 --> 00:33:57,415 acquisition courses, we've developed a strong core curriculum for our ESL program, 471 00:33:57,894 --> 00:34:02,243 but we also need to think about what the interventions look like for our students, 472 00:34:02,274 --> 00:34:06,415 specifically in EL. We have MTSS for 473 00:34:07,734 --> 00:34:08,304 students 474 00:34:09,895 --> 00:34:14,605 in gen ed classes. We need to further build those out for our EL students. 475 00:34:14,665 --> 00:34:18,204 A lot of it happens in the language acquisition class. 476 00:34:18,324 --> 00:34:21,415 We also have some tutoring that's available to them. 477 00:34:21,475 --> 00:34:25,704 But I think we need to think about how we can design more interventions 478 00:34:25,734 --> 00:34:27,324 specifically for our EL students. 479 00:34:29,034 --> 00:34:30,834 Center district articulation. So 480 00:34:33,714 --> 00:34:38,154 we had a lot of learning to do from our district partners about where their 481 00:34:38,754 --> 00:34:42,534 multilingual programs are and what they are doing to strengthen the curriculum. 482 00:34:42,984 --> 00:34:44,184 And we're trying to 483 00:34:45,924 --> 00:34:48,654 talk about alignments with our center districts. 484 00:34:48,714 --> 00:34:52,944 We just met with them last week, as a matter of fact, and we talked a little bit 485 00:34:53,034 --> 00:34:58,644 about the growing population of multilingual students in all of our districts and 486 00:34:58,704 --> 00:34:59,124 how 487 00:35:01,224 --> 00:35:04,105 it's just so different in each of our schools. 488 00:35:04,855 --> 00:35:08,484 Just as I gave examples of Deerfield and Highland Park's programs, they're 489 00:35:08,544 --> 00:35:11,664 experiencing similar things in the elementary and middle schools, too. 490 00:35:11,754 --> 00:35:11,934 So, 491 00:35:13,164 --> 00:35:18,804 we will have more meetings with them to articulate about what makes students 492 00:35:18,834 --> 00:35:19,944 successful in high school. 493 00:35:21,234 --> 00:35:25,914 And then finally, supporting our dually identified multilingual students. 494 00:35:25,974 --> 00:35:31,525 As I mentioned earlier, the EL department chairs will be invited to 495 00:35:31,644 --> 00:35:34,044 IEP meetings of students who are also 496 00:35:35,334 --> 00:35:36,775 developing English language. 497 00:35:40,554 --> 00:35:45,834 As far as staff development, this is an area that we also are making improvements 498 00:35:45,954 --> 00:35:49,644 in. So I would say that at both schools, 499 00:35:51,594 --> 00:35:57,144 I would think that every teacher in District 113 has either a current or former 500 00:35:57,564 --> 00:35:59,334 multilingual student in their classroom. 501 00:35:59,814 --> 00:36:03,924 So, professional learning is required for everybody. 502 00:36:05,064 --> 00:36:10,974 For all teacher professional learning, we're providing some general ed staff 503 00:36:11,034 --> 00:36:14,275 with research-backed multilingual instructional strategies. 504 00:36:14,664 --> 00:36:20,634 We did this last year with our EL department chairs, and this year we're also 505 00:36:20,694 --> 00:36:23,214 doing some more staff development in January. 506 00:36:25,824 --> 00:36:29,154 So they'll learn not only instructional strategies that work for multilingual 507 00:36:29,184 --> 00:36:29,784 learners, but 508 00:36:31,476 --> 00:36:35,196 We know that best practices work for all students. They benefit all students. 509 00:36:35,256 --> 00:36:38,406 So what's good for our MLs are good for everybody. 510 00:36:38,556 --> 00:36:44,076 So just increasing their capacity and building supports there. 511 00:36:45,036 --> 00:36:50,946 Universal design for learning and high-leverage practices is an area that 512 00:36:51,067 --> 00:36:54,636 all of us are focused on, and it applies really, really well for 513 00:36:56,076 --> 00:36:58,927 students who need multilingual support. 514 00:36:59,346 --> 00:37:03,906 We also have other tier one strategies in our strategic plan, such as restorative 515 00:37:03,966 --> 00:37:05,256 practices, high-leverage 516 00:37:06,547 --> 00:37:09,246 practices, and UDL, as I mentioned. 517 00:37:10,927 --> 00:37:16,026 For bilingual teacher support, so this is specifically for Highland Park, as part 518 00:37:16,116 --> 00:37:21,636 of being a bilingual teacher in a bilingual program, we need to offer professional 519 00:37:21,666 --> 00:37:23,286 development in Spanish language arts. 520 00:37:23,736 --> 00:37:28,866 So all of the teachers who teach in the dual language program do receive that. 521 00:37:30,036 --> 00:37:31,567 And then leadership development. 522 00:37:31,626 --> 00:37:37,356 So how do we, to your question, Anne, about who kind of oversees all 523 00:37:37,416 --> 00:37:43,177 this? Not only should our department chairs of multilingual learners 524 00:37:44,406 --> 00:37:48,486 build their capacity for leading, but all department chairs, because we all have 525 00:37:48,547 --> 00:37:50,436 these students in our departments. 526 00:37:51,276 --> 00:37:56,346 Also, with ECRA, they started an EL consortium that I 527 00:37:56,856 --> 00:38:02,736 began attending meetings for. So I think there's 168 districts 528 00:38:02,766 --> 00:38:08,615 that are part of this consortium, so they're really kind of gathering data and 529 00:38:08,677 --> 00:38:13,056 best practices from all of these districts and sharing what's working across 530 00:38:13,146 --> 00:38:15,817 different districts. So that'll be exciting to be part of. 531 00:38:18,126 --> 00:38:23,556 So what do we expect to improve after implementing these various things? 532 00:38:24,036 --> 00:38:29,976 By pairing rigorous classroom pedagogy with targeted interventions and 533 00:38:30,067 --> 00:38:34,866 systemic staff training, we can anticipate clear measurable outcomes such as 534 00:38:34,956 --> 00:38:40,776 accelerated growth on the district's literacy and math measures on the ACT and 535 00:38:40,836 --> 00:38:46,476 also on access, a steady reduction in the academic achievement gap and higher 536 00:38:46,567 --> 00:38:51,846 course completion, higher graduation rates, reduced chronic absenteeism, 537 00:38:52,476 --> 00:38:56,797 and enhanced college and career readiness across our multilingual population. 538 00:38:58,986 --> 00:39:04,927 And then finally, ISBE is providing some guidance on dual language, which is 539 00:39:05,406 --> 00:39:10,896 wonderful. They will have their finalized draft at the end of this year in 540 00:39:10,956 --> 00:39:15,486 December. They've already sent out a couple of different versions of drafts that 541 00:39:15,576 --> 00:39:20,736 I've taken a look at. But this is really to give some comprehensive guidance to 542 00:39:20,797 --> 00:39:25,416 districts that have dual language programs and how to expand them or 543 00:39:26,646 --> 00:39:28,896 strengthen them in the district. 544 00:39:30,306 --> 00:39:31,326 So it includes 545 00:39:32,616 --> 00:39:36,936 implementing high-quality implementation benchmarks, strengthening dual language 546 00:39:37,297 --> 00:39:42,696 delivery, and synthesizing the standards into our district framework. 547 00:39:42,817 --> 00:39:44,706 So I'm looking forward to that guidance. 548 00:39:48,666 --> 00:39:52,626 And that's it. Thank you for your time. Do we have any questions? 549 00:39:52,686 --> 00:39:55,746 That's all the ones that you guys have already asked. I'd be happy to answer them. 550 00:39:55,806 --> 00:39:55,866 Yep. 551 00:39:56,677 --> 00:39:57,936 I have a question. 552 00:39:57,996 --> 00:40:01,056 Okay. One of the things that stood out to me-- First of all, thank you. 553 00:40:01,116 --> 00:40:05,346 That was a wonderfully thorough overview of our EL program. 554 00:40:06,576 --> 00:40:11,436 One of the things that I'm still thinking about, though, is the number of long-term 555 00:40:11,526 --> 00:40:16,177 EL students in conjunction with the graduation rates. 556 00:40:16,386 --> 00:40:22,026 So are we going to do a deep dive into what are some of the circumstances 557 00:40:22,086 --> 00:40:27,216 surrounding those students' longevity as an ELL student, but then 558 00:40:27,427 --> 00:40:31,056 also not graduating? Why aren't they graduating? 559 00:40:32,256 --> 00:40:36,006 For sure. And I know that both schools have already started looking at that, 560 00:40:37,416 --> 00:40:43,326 but that's absolutely a priority for us because-- And I'm 561 00:40:43,356 --> 00:40:47,677 not saying that it's the long-term ELs that are not graduating. 562 00:40:47,736 --> 00:40:49,326 We have to dig a little bit deeper than that. 563 00:40:49,386 --> 00:40:51,666 I don't want to make those assumptions, but 564 00:40:53,586 --> 00:40:57,576 I think it's more about the chronic absenteeism, like why are they not coming to 565 00:40:57,636 --> 00:40:58,116 school? 566 00:40:59,556 --> 00:41:05,346 And there are many factors outside of our institution that contribute to that. 567 00:41:05,406 --> 00:41:05,677 Sure. 568 00:41:05,856 --> 00:41:11,706 So it is digging deeper into that and learning why that's happening 569 00:41:11,766 --> 00:41:14,166 and what can we do to bring them to school. 570 00:41:14,256 --> 00:41:14,436 Okay. 571 00:41:16,866 --> 00:41:18,216 I have another question, but I'll let you go. 572 00:41:20,526 --> 00:41:24,396 Can we go to slide three for a second, which has the two different program models? 573 00:41:26,106 --> 00:41:26,346 Yes. 574 00:41:32,226 --> 00:41:36,936 So when a student arrives in high school, particularly, and 575 00:41:37,116 --> 00:41:41,646 isn't EL based on their performance, 576 00:41:43,056 --> 00:41:46,326 how does it work in terms of identifying which program that they should be in? 577 00:41:46,596 --> 00:41:49,626 Is it up to the families? Up to the school to make a recommendation? 578 00:41:49,836 --> 00:41:54,096 How does that work? Whether they should be in the dual language or more traditional 579 00:41:54,156 --> 00:41:54,486 bilingual. 580 00:41:54,576 --> 00:41:57,846 Yeah. So our dual language program 581 00:42:00,306 --> 00:42:05,646 has English native speakers that are learning Spanish, but also 582 00:42:05,736 --> 00:42:08,976 Spanish native speakers that are learning English. 583 00:42:09,036 --> 00:42:09,246 So 584 00:42:10,476 --> 00:42:16,266 while it's in the dual language program, it could be a TBE type of class. 585 00:42:16,297 --> 00:42:16,476 Mm-hmm. 586 00:42:16,896 --> 00:42:22,776 So for example, we don't have dual language courses in every single subject 587 00:42:22,866 --> 00:42:28,656 in our school that are required for graduation. So an example might be geometry. 588 00:42:30,576 --> 00:42:35,856 Actually, algebra. Algebra we have as a TBE class, it's not necessarily dual 589 00:42:35,916 --> 00:42:41,586 language. So it depends on what services we're offering, but also it 590 00:42:41,646 --> 00:42:45,396 depends on the total amount of students speaking that language in the school. 591 00:42:45,456 --> 00:42:50,406 That actually is the thing that decides what program they go into. 592 00:42:50,916 --> 00:42:56,376 So for Deerfield, they can only offer TKI because they don't have 20 593 00:42:56,496 --> 00:42:58,386 students that speak the same language. 594 00:42:58,416 --> 00:42:59,736 Sure. 595 00:42:59,795 --> 00:43:04,356 So in Highland Park, we do have students that speak languages other than Spanish, 596 00:43:04,956 --> 00:43:08,586 so they would have to follow the TKI model because we don't have 597 00:43:09,996 --> 00:43:15,336 language-specific classes for students that are not Spanish speaking. 598 00:43:16,026 --> 00:43:21,486 So generally speaking, if I hear you correctly, there's a single dual language 599 00:43:21,547 --> 00:43:26,826 program that students participate in and that some of the classes they may be in 600 00:43:27,036 --> 00:43:32,556 may be traditional bilingual directed as opposed to a split of English learners and 601 00:43:32,616 --> 00:43:33,306 Spanish learners in the classroom. 602 00:43:33,366 --> 00:43:33,576 Yes. 603 00:43:38,526 --> 00:43:38,616 Okay. 604 00:43:38,677 --> 00:43:43,297 But they all get the English language class plus the language acquisition. 605 00:43:43,776 --> 00:43:45,156 That's the minimum that all- 606 00:43:45,427 --> 00:43:45,547 Sure 607 00:43:45,576 --> 00:43:47,436 ... all of our ESL students get. 608 00:43:48,906 --> 00:43:48,996 Sure. 609 00:43:49,056 --> 00:43:49,776 At both schools. 610 00:43:52,206 --> 00:43:54,067 My question was also about this slide. 611 00:43:54,186 --> 00:43:59,286 So just kind of zooming out, is the program structure, do you feel like it's 612 00:43:59,376 --> 00:44:04,626 effective as is? And then are there any elements of this that you would change 613 00:44:04,866 --> 00:44:06,666 based off of the data that you've seen? 614 00:44:06,756 --> 00:44:07,806 So at Deerfield, 615 00:44:09,246 --> 00:44:14,946 with the English language classes and language acquisition, like I said, everyone 616 00:44:15,006 --> 00:44:20,586 gets that. However, with the population being so small, we've actually had to 617 00:44:20,616 --> 00:44:25,536 combine levels to make one class. So the class that I saw actually had three 618 00:44:25,596 --> 00:44:29,286 different levels in it because each level had maybe two students, and we 619 00:44:31,356 --> 00:44:33,486 didn't offer a class with just two kids. 620 00:44:34,056 --> 00:44:35,916 So not only do they have 621 00:44:38,526 --> 00:44:43,177 different language abilities, they are all in the same class learning together. 622 00:44:43,236 --> 00:44:48,756 So that is a challenge for sure. But like I said, the teacher did amazing. 623 00:44:48,817 --> 00:44:49,567 So what would you change? 624 00:44:51,096 --> 00:44:51,606 I don't know. 625 00:44:53,106 --> 00:44:58,086 Unless you were going to have all the different levels and have one student in a 626 00:44:58,146 --> 00:44:58,686 class, 627 00:45:02,016 --> 00:45:03,126 I don't know what else you could change. 628 00:45:03,336 --> 00:45:08,256 But what we did add this year was the push-in support for content areas. 629 00:45:08,317 --> 00:45:14,047 So we didn't have that before, and we've dedicated staff to be able to push 630 00:45:14,166 --> 00:45:20,106 into a science class, a social studies class, and help the students who need 631 00:45:20,166 --> 00:45:22,086 that extra support. And that's been great. 632 00:45:22,896 --> 00:45:27,246 And next year, we hope to increase that a little bit more with more subject areas. 633 00:45:31,896 --> 00:45:33,636 With the dual language program, 634 00:45:35,586 --> 00:45:41,256 what I would do differently is ensure that we either have the 635 00:45:41,317 --> 00:45:46,686 transitional bilingual courses or dual language courses for every graduation 636 00:45:46,746 --> 00:45:47,226 environment. 637 00:45:47,466 --> 00:45:47,616 Yeah. 638 00:45:48,096 --> 00:45:53,646 That's what really it should be. We're adding a couple more classes to dual 639 00:45:53,706 --> 00:45:54,876 language for next year. 640 00:45:56,436 --> 00:46:00,576 But just making sure that the students have the support no matter what program 641 00:46:00,606 --> 00:46:01,026 they're in. 642 00:46:02,196 --> 00:46:05,016 How long would that take to be fully implemented? 643 00:46:06,156 --> 00:46:11,586 We could do it next year. The issue is finding the teachers that are bilingually 644 00:46:11,677 --> 00:46:12,216 endorsed. 645 00:46:12,576 --> 00:46:12,966 Okay. Sure. 646 00:46:13,026 --> 00:46:15,186 That's not always easy to do. 647 00:46:15,246 --> 00:46:16,596 Which is a subject. 648 00:46:16,836 --> 00:46:18,067 Yes. 649 00:46:18,126 --> 00:46:21,516 Which is something we're trying, even with the CBA- 650 00:46:21,666 --> 00:46:22,116 Mm-hmm. 651 00:46:22,746 --> 00:46:26,706 We were working to incentivize that based on our priorities. 652 00:46:26,797 --> 00:46:27,126 Yeah. 653 00:46:28,626 --> 00:46:29,706 Okay. Thank you. 654 00:46:29,736 --> 00:46:32,886 Mm-hmm. Do either of the principals have anything you want to share? 655 00:46:34,386 --> 00:46:38,317 I was just going to say similarly that I would increase our dual language bilingual 656 00:46:38,406 --> 00:46:43,746 education offerings, because we know that having literacy in both the home language 657 00:46:43,896 --> 00:46:46,956 and second language is a huge benefit. 658 00:46:47,016 --> 00:46:52,236 And so also bilingual education utilizes the home language as an asset and a 659 00:46:52,326 --> 00:46:55,746 scaffold towards proficiency in both areas. 660 00:46:55,806 --> 00:46:59,076 So that would be the gold standard that we're looking to continue to build. 661 00:46:59,406 --> 00:47:01,266 It's the idea of well-rounded students. 662 00:47:01,326 --> 00:47:01,446 Yeah. 663 00:47:02,646 --> 00:47:07,446 And I'd say Deerfield is a smaller population with a diversity of languages across 664 00:47:07,506 --> 00:47:10,986 as well, and it does create multiple levels in there. 665 00:47:11,047 --> 00:47:15,036 But at times even too, looking at maybe having multiple teachers in those spaces so 666 00:47:15,067 --> 00:47:19,026 that we can do more grouping or more work with kids who may be in the same year but 667 00:47:19,056 --> 00:47:20,886 different levels of their language proficiency. 668 00:47:21,246 --> 00:47:23,616 So continuing to be creative with that small population. 669 00:47:23,677 --> 00:47:28,716 Mm-hmm. I think one other part that I would add is that at Highland Park, Jesse 670 00:47:28,746 --> 00:47:32,856 Villanueva, who's our Department Chair of Multilingual Learners, and Jeff Hanley, 671 00:47:32,916 --> 00:47:37,806 Department Chair of World Languages, meets regularly with 112's Director of EL 672 00:47:37,866 --> 00:47:40,056 Programming because they're trying to track. 673 00:47:40,686 --> 00:47:44,226 Because District 112 is also trying to change their programming regularly to find 674 00:47:44,286 --> 00:47:48,606 out what works, what doesn't work, what does it mean for a long-term EL versus a 675 00:47:48,696 --> 00:47:53,826 newcomer, and what evidence-based programming is out there that will actually 676 00:47:53,916 --> 00:47:58,927 accelerate growth. And so that collaboration has been really important and is a 677 00:47:58,986 --> 00:48:04,086 regular foundation towards who's coming in, what's working for you all, and what 678 00:48:04,116 --> 00:48:07,536 are you changing, because sometimes we're not controlling our variables very well. 679 00:48:07,686 --> 00:48:09,456 Too many things are changing at one time. 680 00:48:09,846 --> 00:48:15,126 So 112 might not be able to pinpoint what it is that worked, and we sometimes will 681 00:48:15,186 --> 00:48:17,766 do the same thing. So we're also trying to make sure we're controlling our 682 00:48:17,797 --> 00:48:23,376 variables as we're trying to intervene on language acquisition and also home 683 00:48:23,496 --> 00:48:28,716 language literacy and SEL. So really trying to get at the root and control our 684 00:48:28,746 --> 00:48:33,067 variables so that we know this growth was accelerated due to, that way we can 685 00:48:33,126 --> 00:48:33,726 replicate it. 686 00:48:34,116 --> 00:48:39,246 And this gets to my question before about kids who have exited the EL status versus 687 00:48:39,516 --> 00:48:41,797 who are still in it. Because I think that's a big question is, 688 00:48:43,416 --> 00:48:47,345 can we look at this holistically for a child's whole journey K to 12 and say what's 689 00:48:47,376 --> 00:48:52,146 happening that some kids are coming as ELs, getting up to speed, exiting the 690 00:48:52,206 --> 00:48:54,846 status, whether it's in third grade or seventh grade or ninth grade? 691 00:48:54,906 --> 00:48:58,626 You know what I mean? What about kids who aren't? What's the story here? 692 00:48:59,286 --> 00:49:00,547 What are we doing to peak? 693 00:49:00,606 --> 00:49:03,547 Exactly. 694 00:49:03,606 --> 00:49:07,686 All right. I want to be mindful of time, so if there aren't any other questions, I 695 00:49:07,716 --> 00:49:08,556 think we should move on. 696 00:49:09,936 --> 00:49:11,706 All right, we're moving to public comment. 697 00:49:12,756 --> 00:49:17,646 Per policy 2-230, at each open school board meeting, the Board of Education has a 698 00:49:17,706 --> 00:49:20,886 public comment period for a maximum of 30 minutes. 699 00:49:21,336 --> 00:49:23,286 We are ready to listen and appreciate your comments. 700 00:49:23,376 --> 00:49:26,317 We recognize it takes time and will interpret your written statement. 701 00:49:26,916 --> 00:49:30,636 Do we have anyone? Okay. Waste of reading. 702 00:49:34,896 --> 00:49:35,406 All right, moving 703 00:49:37,356 --> 00:49:42,156 on to approval of board minutes. So Board of Education committee meeting minutes 704 00:49:42,216 --> 00:49:48,006 from April 28th, 2026. It is recommended that the committee approve the meeting 705 00:49:48,036 --> 00:49:52,536 minutes as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? 706 00:49:52,806 --> 00:49:53,736 Sure. 707 00:49:53,826 --> 00:49:54,636 Any discussion? 708 00:49:57,067 --> 00:49:58,476 Okay, all those in favor? 709 00:49:59,886 --> 00:50:00,186 Aye. 710 00:50:00,606 --> 00:50:01,177 Opposed? 711 00:50:02,466 --> 00:50:07,146 Abstention? Motion carries. All right, now we're going to move to adjournment. 712 00:50:07,686 --> 00:50:11,826 The time is 5:59 PM. Is there a motion to adjourn? 713 00:50:12,427 --> 00:50:12,996 So moved. 714 00:50:13,056 --> 00:50:13,776 Sure. 715 00:50:13,836 --> 00:50:15,846 Thank you. All those in favor? 716 00:50:17,466 --> 00:50:17,586 Aye. 717 00:50:18,036 --> 00:50:18,696 Oh, I'm sorry. 718 00:50:20,556 --> 00:50:24,427 Opposed? All right, the motion carries. Thank you, everybody, for being here.