Dear Parents,

Lake Bluff School District 65 recently published an important document called "The Road to Success, Strategic Plan."

 

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW DISTRICT 65's STRATEGIC PLAN DOCUMENT 

 

We encourage the Lake Bluff community to carefully consider this document and share additional feedback and questions with us by replying to this email.

While we appreciate that the District published this document to inform the Lake Bluff community about its vision, several Lake Bluff residents brought some questions and concerns to us, which we agreed merit consideration.

Lake Bluff Strategic Plan Questions

Failure On Goals and Timelines

Superintendent Lisa Leali states the following in her letter: "It’s no surprise that the pandemic shifted our timelines and even some of our collective goals."

Questions Raised:

  • What specifically are the goals and timelines that have been "shifted"?
  • What are the District's new goals and timelines?
  • Has the district considered any other potential causes for missed goals and timelines, or is it assumed that all shortfalls are beyond doubt due to the pandemic closures? 

Academic Performance Measurements

 

It is commendable that the School District expressed an academic performance goal (see the image below, underlined in purple).

However, it's unfortunate the District didn't provide data on how many students achieved this goal.

Take note that the statistics on the document's right side are solely related to NWEA assessment results, which is just one of the three measurements.

Presumably, a higher percentage of students in the statistics provided meet at least one of the three standards. 

Conversely, it is frustrating the NWEA results provided combine growth and achievement data into a single statistic without separately specifying the percentage of students who meet growth goals and the percentage who meet achievement goals.

Questions Raised:

  • What percent of students meet the goal of demonstrating success in at least one of the three ways the District measures success?
  • What are the trend lines year by year?
  • What is the breakdown for each component measurement? What, if any, is the goal for each measurement?
Assessment
Measuring
2022 % Meet
2023 % Meet
2024 Goal
IAR (Math/ELA)

Achievement Standards

ELA 51.3%

Math 46.2% 

 

 ? ?
NWEA High Achievement  ? ? ?
NWEA High Growth ? ? ?
Individualized Plans Exhibit Performance ? ? ?

Portrait of a Learner

The document highlights the Portrait of a Learner's strategic goals: Critical Thinking, Communication, Adaptability, Empathy, Confidence, and Citizenship.  

Questions Raised: 

  • HOW will the District measure success in achieving these learner goals? 
  • Happy to see mention of Academic Achievement in the Strategic Plan document, but why is there ZERO mention of academic achievement in Portrait of a Learner? 

 

We encourage the parents and citizens of Lake Bluff to engage their school board and administrative leaders.

The roadmap document on Page 10 says that adults who are enthusiastic, invested, and accountable critical thinkers are best equipped to help all students be successful!

That's us!

Thank You for Your Time and Support!

Parents Care