(105 ILCS 5/34-2.4) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-2.4)

Sec. 34-2.4. School improvement plan. A 3-year local school improvement plan shall be developed and implemented at each attendance center. This plan shall reflect the overriding purpose of the attendance center to improve educational quality. The local school principal shall develop a school improvement plan in consultation with the local school council, all categories of school staff, parents and community residents. Once the plan is developed, reviewed by the professional personnel leadership committee, and approved by the local school council, the principal shall be responsible for directing implementation of the plan, and the local school council shall monitor its implementation. After the termination of the initial 3-year plan, a new 3-year plan shall be developed and modified as appropriate on an annual basis.

The school improvement plan shall be designed to achieve priority goals including but not limited to:

(a) assuring that students show significant progress toward meeting and exceeding State performance standards in State mandated learning areas, including the mastery of higher order thinking skills in these areas;

(b) assuring that students attend school regularly and graduate from school at such rates that the district average equals or surpasses national norms;

(c) assuring that students are adequately prepared for and aided in making a successful transition to further education and life experience;

(d) assuring that students are adequately prepared for and aided in making a successful transition to employment; and

(e) assuring that students are, to the maximum extent possible, provided with a common learning experience that is of high academic quality and that reflects high expectations for all students' capacities to learn.

With respect to these priority goals, the school improvement plan shall include but not be limited to the following:

(a) an analysis of data collected in the attendance center and community indicating the specific strengths and weaknesses of the attendance center in light of the goals specified above, including data and analysis specified by the State Board of Education pertaining to specific measurable outcomes for student performance, the attendance centers, and their instructional programs;

(b) a description of specific annual objectives the attendance center will pursue in achieving the goals specified above;

(c) a description of the specific activities the attendance center will undertake to achieve its objectives;

(d) an analysis of the attendance center's staffing pattern and material resources, and an explanation of how the attendance center's planned staffing pattern, the deployment of staff, and the use of material resources furthers the objectives of the plan;

(e) a description of the key assumptions and directions of the school's curriculum and the academic and non-academic programs of the attendance center, and an explanation of how this curriculum and these programs further the goals and objectives of the plan;

(f) a description of the steps that will be taken to enhance educational opportunities for all students, regardless of gender, including English learners, students with disabilities, low-income students, and minority students;

(g) a description of any steps which may be taken by the attendance center to educate parents as to how they can assist children at home in preparing their children to learn effectively;

(h) a description of the steps the attendance center will take to coordinate its efforts with, and to gain the participation and support of, community residents, business organizations, and other local institutions and individuals;

(i) a description of any staff development program for all school staff and volunteers tied to the priority goals, objectives, and activities specified in the plan;

(j) a description of the steps the local school council will undertake to monitor implementation of the plan on an ongoing basis;

(k) a description of the steps the attendance center will take to ensure that teachers have working conditions that provide a professional environment conducive to fulfilling their responsibilities;

(l) a description of the steps the attendance center will take to ensure teachers the time and opportunity to incorporate new ideas and techniques, both in subject matter and teaching skills, into their own work;

(m) a description of the steps the attendance center will take to encourage pride and positive identification with the attendance center through various athletic activities; and

(n) a description of the student need for and provision of services to special populations, beyond the standard school programs provided for students in grades K through 12 and those enumerated in the categorical programs cited in item d of part 4 of Section 34-2.3, including financial costs of providing same and a timeline for implementing the necessary services, including but not limited, when applicable, to ensuring the provisions of educational services to all eligible children aged 4 years for the 1990-91 school year and thereafter, reducing class size to State averages in grades K-3 for the 1991-92 school year and thereafter and in all grades for the 1993-94 school year and thereafter, and providing sufficient staff and facility resources for students not served in the regular classroom setting.

Based on the analysis of data collected indicating specific strengths and weaknesses of the attendance center, the school improvement plan may place greater emphasis from year to year on particular priority goals, objectives, and activities.

(Source: P.A. 99-30, eff. 7-10-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 99-642, eff. 7-28-16.)