BACK
HOME
REVISED: Thursday, January 10, 2002
Please read NCUSD's Privacy Statement and send comments to the
Webmaster.
ORIGIN. The Standard-Bearer School District Process was developed by CLSR (Center for Leadership in School Reform). District 203 was the only Illinois system invited to participate in a nation-wide pilot project by CLSR in 1997. DESCRIPTION. The Standard-Bearer Process helps school districts evaluate their operating and assessment strategies while addressing the interests and concerns of all stakeholders. The intent is to build a cohesive organizational structure that supports and promotes innovation and continuous improvement in student achievement and the interactions between teachers and students. Data collection and evaluation are defining our school district's status in regard to ten Standards, per the above decagon. Each of the Standards has three Performance Levels that must be reached in order to ensure that we have the capacity to accomplish systemic change that supports continuous improvement. The standards in this national project are listed below. They are examined
in depth in Inventing Better Schools: An Action Plan for Educational
Reform (1998) by Dr. Phillip C. Shlechty. Copies of his book are
available in the District 203 Community Resource Room located within the
Administrative Center at 203 West Hillside Road, Naperville IL 60540.
1. Developing a shared understanding of the need for change Board of education members, administrators and leaders of staff organizations, parent organizations, business and community have a common understanding of the nature of the problems that confront the school district and base their discussions of these problems on a common body of fact and information.2. Developing shared beliefs and vision The school district and its community develop a compelling vision of what schools can be and how they should relate to the community. The vision is capable of earning wide support and consistent with a set of well-articulated beliefs regarding the nature of schools and the schooling enterprise.3. Developing focus on the student and on product quality Throughout the school district there is a clear focus on the needs of students as the primary customers for the work the school provides and on the needs and expectations of those whose support is needed if the students are to be served effectively.4. Developing structures for participatory leadership The district develops patterns of leadership and a structure of relationships such that teachers are leaders, principals are leaders of leaders, and all district-level activity is focused on providing direction and support for schools.5. Developing structures for results-oriented decision making The district develops a results-oriented management system and a quality-focused decision-making process that are consistent with the beliefs that guide the system and that ensure that measures of quality conform with the requirements of those who provide support to students and the schools.6. Developing structures for continuity. The district provides for stability in leadership, structure, and culture over time, including support for innovative efforts that produce desired results.7. Providing ongoing support The district provides systems of training, incentives, and social and political support for those who are committed to the district's beliefs and vision and widens support for the pursuit of the beliefs and vision among all members of the community.8. Fostering innovation and flexibility The district develops a policy environment and a management system that foster flexibility and rapid response; that encourage innovative use of time, technology, and space; that encourage novel and improved staffing patterns; and that create forms of curriculum organization that are responsive to the needs of students.9. Employing technology The district and community display a common understanding of the transformational nature of changes in information-processing technologies, and the district provides students and adults who work in the school with the tools required for quality work.10. Fostering collaboration The district encourages and supports the creation of relationships within the school district, between schools and parents, and among those agencies and groups that provide service to children and youth, in order to ensure that each child has the support needed to succeed in school and in the community. FOR MORE INFORMATION please contact: Dr. Mary Ann Bobosky, Director of Planning and Community Relations
E-mail - Mary Ann Bobosky |
|
|