School District Reinvents Growth with SchoolStatus Boost

Located in a northern suburb of Chicago, Mundelein Elementary School District 75 employs more than 100 educators. It’s composed of four schools: an early childhood center, an early learning center (K-2), intermediate grade school (3-5), and a middle school (6-8). District leaders needed to ensure that all schools were following the same protocols to maximize teacher productivity and growth. SchoolStatus Boost met that objective by making the process consistent, transparent, and supportive, district-wide.

THE CHALLENGE

A Limited Existing System

Having recently adopted the 2013 Danielson Framework, Mundelein Elementary School District 75 was using a homegrown system of Google Drive folders, docs, and sheets to support its process. District leaders had wanted to ensure that all four schools were using the same protocols to share and receive feedback with consistency and fidelity, but this proved extremely challenging with the fragmented, decentralized system.

“It was nearly impossible to manage the evaluation process this way,” said Dr. Sarah Cacciatore, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning. “When I started in this role, I immediately noticed the small inconsistencies of the process. When you’re relying on a Google doc template, there’s more freedom to tweak things which led to small language changes to the rubric.”

As an example, Dr. Cacciatore noted that the rubric metric “areas of growth” might be changed to “areas for improvement.” “While the tenor is roughly the same, it’s not the same meaning,” she said.

THE GOAL

A Seamless, Consistent, and Scalable Solution

The district needed a solution that would centralize its educator development program, provide real-time data insights, and dovetail seamlessly with the Danielson Framework.

THE SOLUTION

SchoolStatus Boost offered Mundelein Elementary School District an efficient way to manage the entire process by creating transparency and leveraging data-driven insights. Dr. Cacciatore said the new platform proved to be a game-changer in streamlining educator growth programs.

“We went from having formal and informal evaluations of teachers where we were hand coding, highlighting, copying and pasting to ensure that feedback was aligned to the framework,” said Dr. Cacciatore. “Now, we’re able to do that quickly and accurately with [SchoolStatus Boost’s] Sketch tool across multiple domains.”

With SchoolStatus Boost’s easy-to-use dashboard, teachers can see and access everything on one page. They can also receive real-time, transparent performance data aligned to the Danielson Framework, access summarized evidence and feedback, and own their professional development plan by collaborating on next steps and goals that promote professional growth.

What’s more, SchoolStatus Boost adapts to Mundelein’s existing system, making implementation simple and providing staff with a minimal learning curve. With SchoolStatus Boost’s centralized notes and reporting features, administrators manage many teachers in all four schools with ease.

OUTCOMES

All aspects of Mundelein’s process — from informal observations to summatives — are now centralized on the SchoolStatus Boost platform. Real-time data and insights drive professional learning across the district, are visible in one platform, and can be accessed by district leaders and administrators when they need them.

From a communications and HR perspective, administrators are able to stay on track and spot issues in advance so they can manage by exception. With the district’s focus on literacy, Dr. Cacciatore said it’s critical to have the right tools all in place. “Leadership wants to get everyone through a full coaching cycle and continue to have data-driven conversations about where to focus the district’s professional development and support.”

“By finding a platform that would accommodate our framework, we knew that it would streamline not only the process, but the language we are using,” said Dr. Cacciatore. “It’s mind blowing how much time we’re saving! What would normally take 2.5 hours for a formal evaluation now only takes up to 45 mins.”

“It’s mind blowing how much time we’re saving! What would normally take 2.5 hours for a formal evaluation now only takes up to 45 mins.”
Dr. Sarah Cacciatore

SUMMARY

After adopting SchoolStatus Boost, the Mundelein Elementary School District was able to move away from using Google Drive to manage observations and educator feedback. Now, they efficiently work with a centralized and streamlined program that strengthens educators’ opportunities for learning and growth, while saving time in the process.

To learn more about how SchoolStatus Boost can streamline and enhance your observation process, contact our team.