Resolution Rescinding School Quality Rating Policy and Determining School Accountability Statuses for School Year 2023-2024 (Based on 2022-2023 Performance)

April 27, 2022

WHEREAS, the district strives to provide a high-quality and equitable educational experience that creates supportive environments and prepares every child, in every neighborhood, with a wide range of life skills. To deliver on this vision, we must have a clear sense of shared goals and monitor our progress towards reaching those goals so that our CPS family - the district, students, teachers and school administrators, parents, and other community stakeholders - can work together to provide supports, and set high expectations, for all our students; and

WHEREAS, the purpose of the district’s current accountability policy, School Quality Rating Policy (SQRP), was intended to establish standards and criteria for each school to systematically measure a school’s performance and to identify schools in need of support and increased oversight due to low student performance as measured by proficiency and growth on standardized test scores, closing of opportunity gaps, indicators for school culture and climate, attendance, graduation, and preparation for post-graduation success; and

WHEREAS, since the adoption of amendments to SQRP at the June 26, 2019 Board Meeting (Board Report 19-0626-PO2), a core operating principle and mindset that has guided decision-making at the district and Board level is Targeted Universalism, defined in the district’s Equity Framework as an approach to equity that focuses the work of our community on targeted solutions to support different student groups (based on race, gender, gender expression, economic disadvantage, and diverse learning needs) in reaching shared, universal goals for every student. This approach recognizes that gaps in opportunity are driven by endemic structural racism and socio-economic inequality and differences in how students are situated in relation to the educational system and universal goals; and

WHEREAS, addressing these inequities is the work and charge of public education and underscores why information and measurement is important to ensure we are making progress towards this goal, and without such information, we would not know if our collective efforts are preparing our students to succeed and thrive; and

WHEREAS, during the June 2019 Board Meeting, Board members expressed the need for a new approach to accountability incorporating the core principles of Targeted Universalism by reimagining an accountability approach that is not punitive, better informed by stakeholder needs and feedback, and better aligned to the core work of schools–teaching and learning–and reflective of community values. This new approach to accountability grounded in Target Universalism also recognizes the critical role of systems and structures in students’ everyday experiences and acknowledges that the way students interact with those systems and structures differs depending on identity and students’ life circumstances, both of which can affect how they perform in school; and

WHEREAS, while the current SQRP gives considerable weight to outcomes of standardized summative test scores, traditional uses of such scores: are not aligned with best practices as defined by research; are inconsistent with feedback from diverse stakeholders who have consistently expressed a need for a broader definition of educational success; reflect an important but narrow view of student learning; have limited utility for teachers and school administrators as they assess student needs throughout the school year; and have been used for high-stakes decisions, such as School Actions (e.g., closures). Any measures of student achievement have the most value when they inform or support improvements; and

WHEREAS, while SQRP designates a single summative rating (e.g., Level 1), research and feedback from students and families consistently demonstrates a need for school-level information beyond a single rating. This research and feedback also demands an accountability approach that reflects a broad range of community values that serve as the foundation for what a high-quality educational experience entails. There is a need for stronger alignment with community values; and

WHEREAS, since June 2019, district staff and partners have made efforts to engage with stakeholders in the design of a new accountability approach that is more reflective of our community values. Those engagement efforts have yielded a great deal of information on what a successful approach to accountability needs to consist of in order to meet both stakeholder and district needs; and

WHEREAS, due to the impact of COVID-19 beginning in approximately March 2020 to the present day, the district has not completed the design of the new accountability approach, and district stakeholders have clearly indicated the need for more engagement and discussion before finalizing policy decisions regarding a new approach to accountability;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED:

1. The district will establish a comprehensive framework for a high-quality educational experience for Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade for all CPS students. A clear articulation of the required elements of a high-quality educational experience for all CPS students creates foundational values and a vision so that our entire CPS family can work together towards shared goals, and so that the district can develop pathways to achieve those shared goals and identify and establish the resources to support them. This comprehensive framework for a high-quality CPS educational experience must:
   • Be grounded in and supportive of the district’s Instructional Core Vision (ICV) for Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade; and
   • Set high expectations, and require ambitious instruction, for all CPS students; and
   • Reflect the essential qualities of a CPS educational experience that aligns with the values held by the district, students, teachers and school administrators, parents, and other community stakeholders; and
   • Be shared at a public Board Meeting with sufficient time and opportunity for socialization with the CPS community prior to the final adoption of any new district accountability policy.
2. The approach to the reimagined accountability policy for all district-run schools must:
   • Be in alignment with the district’s Equity Framework for Targeted Universalism by going beyond solely focusing on school-level outputs and outcomes and adding greater consideration to, and accountability for, inputs such as the set of resources (e.g., funding to schools) and conditions (e.g., safe and inclusive professional and student learning environments) that impact a high-quality educational experience in schools. The reimagined accountability approach must be aligned with a theory of action that incorporates inputs and practices, at the school and district level, which support the universal goal of every CPS student achieving the high-quality educational experience as outlined in both the ICV and stakeholder feedback.
   • Establish greater accountability for the district, grounded in the shared responsibility of promoting the structural supports necessary to create school environments that support equitable outcomes for all students. This change is not to be interpreted as diminished accountability at the school level; rather, the approach to accountability must reflect the fact that schools do not exist in isolation and that many out-of-school factors influence schools and student learning. This change also recognizes that district-level accountability also does not exist in isolation and is influenced by many factors outside of the district’s purview.
3. Establish in the reimagined approach to accountability that the goals and core uses of information are to:
   • Support the whole child by enabling improved teaching and learning in schools; and
   • Inform families about all the characteristics that comprise the high-quality educational experience referenced in Paragraph 1; and
   • Leverage information about these characteristics in the approach to accountability internally to diagnose where and how to equitably direct resources and supports to schools; and
   • Ensure the district remains in compliance with state law (i.e., Illinois School Code Section 8.3), which requires the district to define an accountability status (e.g., Good Standing, Remediation, or Probation) for every district managed school.
4. The reimagined approach to accountability must not be punitive. To prevent the punitive dynamics of prior accountability systems, the new approach to accountability must include the following:
   • While state law requires the district to disclose accountability status (i.e., Good Standing, Remediation, or Probation), the new accountability policy must not otherwise rank schools, either through a summative designation (e.g., Level 1, Level 2, etc.) or by any other means.
   • While state law requires the district to publish criteria for schools to be eligible for school closure, consolidations, and co-location, such decisions must not be based solely on accountability status.
5. The Chief Executive Officer must recommend to the Board a new accountability policy that can be adopted in time to be implemented in the 2023-24 school year, and thereafter the Chief Executive Officer must evaluate the policy every 3 years for continuous improvement and make recommendations to the Board as necessary.
6. This resolution is effective immediately upon its adoption.

February 23, 2022

WHEREAS, the Board resolved on May 27, 2020 (Board Report 20-0527-RS4) and April 21, 2021 (21-0428-RS4) to make adjustments to the School Ratings and Accountability Statuses in response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and;

WHEREAS, the District and State canceled some student assessments (i.e., NWEA, PSAT 9/10 and STAR) for Spring of 2021, which would have served as the pre-test for existing growth metrics and;

WHEREAS, the federally required assessments used in SQRP that were administered (i.e., ACCESS and SAT) had significantly lower participation rates than normal and;

WHEREAS, the District has transitioned away from NWEA (which is the standardized assessment used in elementary school attainment metrics and growth metrics and as a baseline for high school growth metrics) such that there will be no Spring 2022 administration of NWEA, and thus no basis for calculating elementary attainment scores under SQRP;

NOW, THEREFORE, the Board hereby directs as follows:

1. All schools normally eligible for school ratings under the Board’s School Quality Rating Policy (Board Report 19-0626-PO2) will be denoted as “Inability to Rate” for the 2022-2023 school year.
2. Each school that received Good Standing status, Remediation status (which indicates the need for Provisional Support) or Probation status (which indicates the need for Intensive Support) per Section 5/34-8.3 of the Illinois School Code during the 2019-2020 school year shall maintain that same status for the 2022-2023 school year.
   • However, for any school that is scheduled to complete its five-year Probation period during the 2022-2023 school year and whose ratings from the 2019-2020 school year would identify the school with an accountability status of Good Standing or Remediation, that school will be deemed removed from Probation.
3. The Chief Executive Officer may still publish such student outcome data for the 2021-2022 school year as are deemed viable and valid, but these will not be used to issue school ratings or alter accountability statuses from the prior year, as noted above.
4. This Resolution is effective immediately upon adoption.