Colocación de los aparatos y simulación del flujo del aire :

54 Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 20

1. The proposal failed to articulate the level and type of involvement that local residents will have in the school.

LEARN Charter Schools has a well-defined governing body with a Board of Directors with well-qualified members interested in its success. At the public hearing, the staff present indicated an interest in including local Waukegan residents, but no clear process was shared with how exactly that works. No documentation was given for the adding and removal of board members.

LEARN Charter Schools also indicated that they welcome parent and community comment and will have committees for discussions with staff. However, nothing was shared about how these committees would be formed and what, if any, authority they would have in making changes at the charter school. Also, no clear plan was shared about how they would invite and encourage limited English proficient (LEP) parents to be part of the governing structure and fully engage them in all facets of their program, including its management and governance.

LEARN response:

LEARN Charter School Network will form an advisory group which will consist of parents of our school (who have completed our parent university) and community members. The advisory group will consist of five to eight members who will work collaboratively with the school principal to improve academic outcomes and the student experience. All parents (including those of special education students and those with limited English proficiency) will be invited and encouraged to participate.We will be able to host these meetings in Spanish as well. The advisory group will work with the school principal and other appropriate LEARN staff to provide guidance to the school in Waukegan.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, pp. 20-21

LEARN Charter Schools shows a relationship with United Lake County. An outreach plan to include Waukegan parents and community members was not shared, only implied.

Without a clear strategy and planned activities, this seems to be a lower priority. The level of community support for LEARN Charter Schools was not clearly given. A petitions

with1510 signatures was submitted, however 139 of those addresses were not within our district boundaries, ranging from Waukegan addresses in District 56 to families in Zion or Lake Bluff. The District was also supplied with intent to enroll forms. One hundred forty five (145) students were listed on signed forms. Out of the 145, seven (7) had out of district addresses. There were only sixty-one (61) who would be eligible in the proposed grade levels of Kindergarten through 3rd grade, well below the needed two hundred (200)

55 students.

The signatures for the petition and the intent to enroll forms were collected in October when students were home due to an extended and contentious teacher strike. With this unique situation, it is felt many families would be inclined to sign such a petition and expression of intent without a firm commitment to follow through with actual enrollment once the regular school year resumes.

LEARN Response:

We are still proud that over 1,300 Waukegan residents support a LEARN Charter School in their community. Our intent was to collect from families with children in kindergarten through eighth grade. In our original application, we included 5 letters of support for LEARN. In Attachment 5K, we include 13 additional letters of support, received in January and February 2015.We will continue to complete additional intent to enroll forms. Canvassing to secure signatures began at the end of September, prior to the teachers’ strike. Waukegan residents who signed petitions cited reasons such as long-standing frustration with Waukegan Public Schools, poor student performance, large class sizes and a desire for full-day kindergarten, a longer school day and year, among others – reasons unrelated to the October teachers’ strike.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, pp. 20-21

Moreover, when the public hearing held at the high school on December 10, 2014 (after schools reopened) there were drew fewer than fifty (50) community members present and only three (3) participants requested Spanish translation. Such a turnout does not show a high community interest in the approval and implementation of a charter school in the Waukegan Community Unit School District 60.

LEARN Response:

There were 49 members present in support of LEARN at the public hearing. The meeting was held on parent/teacher conference and we in fact received emails from teachers and parents stating that they wanted to attend but could not because it was on the same day as the conference. In addition, no one spoke against LEARN. We believe that the lack of opposition at the

Waukegan public hearing speaks volumes to the desire of another high quality option in this community.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 21

2. The LEARN Charter School staff turnover rate is higher than the turnover rate of the District.

56 LEARN Charter Schools shows success in recruiting and hiring staff members with well-

defined interview and training methods shared. The evaluation and due process procedures are not as well defined as shared which may indicate a shortfall. The 25 to 30% annual turnover rate for staff indicates difficulty in maintaining high staff standards.

LEARN response:

LEARN has not been provided with the WCUSD turnover data in order to provide a detailed comparison. An analysis of our employee turnover rates shows that staff primarily leave the organization as result of relocation outside of Illinois state, joining a district school, or leaving the teaching professional altogether. While we seek to increase our retention of staff, our historical network turnover rates are comparable with larger charter management organizations nationally.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 21

Few specifics were provided about how the challenges of securing qualified staff for non-English speaking students would be managed.

LEARN response:

With regard to non-English speaking students, LEARN employs an English Language Learners (ELL) Coordinator/Teacher at both our North Chicago and South Chicago campuses which have a higher ESL/Latino population. We would create a similar position at the Waukegan campus. As described earlier in this document, LEARN is also developing an ESL teacher certification program in partnership with National Louis University to build the skills of our existing staff. Finally, as part of our recruitment process we would seek to hire bi-lingual educators nationally and from the local community to support the needs of non-English speaking students.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 21

3. The proposal fails to articulate ongoing professional development that will be implemented throughout the year.

LEARN Charter Schools shows intensive professional development prior to the start of the school year. They fail to show how professional development continues through the school year and how teachers are given an opportunity to collaborate during the school day. Also lacking is documentation as to how staff members are held accountable to items learned through professional development to maintain the high professional standards in the classroom.

57 LEARN response:

LEARN provides high-quality intensive professional development throughout the school year. Our professional development structure is as follows:

 Bi-weekly all-faculty site-based PD sessions followed with implementation supports  Bi-weekly collaborative planning sessions focused on analyzing data to plan small

group instruction and plan for units of study

 Professional study groups for teachers to read professional literature and discuss how to put it into practice in their classrooms

 Individual Professional Development Plans

 Ten dedicated Professional Development Days throughout the school year

Our schools use Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as the cornerstone of their professional development program to improve teaching and learning. These meetings are an opportunity to review student work, analyze assessment data, and trouble shoot with classroom practices and teaching concepts. What makes these meetings unique is that the topics are teacher-directed, though the meeting may be led by any of the staff members, including a school leader. They are held once or twice a month, meeting for an hour each time. The alternating weeks are reserved for common grade level planning time.

Development and planning time is used to focus on one particular school-wide instructional goal that was either collectively agreed upon as a goal, or identified based on MAP and STEP results. This is typically led by a leadership team member and may involve bringing in outside consultants and experts.

We have built into our calendar ten full-day professional development days. These sessions currently are focused on supporting the implementation of Common Core State Standards, along with its "Instructional Shifts" pedagogy.

The Network has recently significantly expanded resources for teaching and learning, with a Chief Academic Officer, Data Analyst, Director of Teaching and Learning, two Senior Managers of Teaching and Learning, and a coach guiding the school-based instructional coaches.

Each of our principals has school-wide professional development goals unique to their

respective campuses. In conjunction with their leadership teams, our principals set guidelines for how and when they will be measured, and formulate a plan on how to achieve those goals. Student academic outcomes as well as separate teacher, student, and parent surveys factor into the assessment of the program’s progress. For Waukegan, it will be essential that the Student Support Services team is involved in helping to set these goals and monitor progress towards them. Similarly, their expertise will be required in the professional development of the staff so

58 that teachers are effectively able to work with students on academic as well as non-academic challenges.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 21 4. Student Recruitment and Enrollment

LEARN Charter Schools has a generic plan for recruiting students with a flexible timeline to help the district meet its needs including a lottery system for grade levels with too many requests. Without an aggressive recruiting plan and attention to LEP issues, many families in Waukegan will be left out because they will be unaware of the opportunity until it is too late and selections have already been made.

LEARN response:

Upon approval of LEARN 9 in Waukegan, the LEARN recruitment and enrollment team will develop a targeted marketing strategy to ensure all families in the Waukegan community are informed of LEARN’s open enrollment process, lottery dates, and the required documentation to fully enroll. To do this, LEARN will 1) hire a field team including Spanish-speakers to perform grassroots marketing to local daycares, community centers, churches, and preschools in the area; 2) disseminate at least two direct mail pieces to the Waukegan community to inform families of the new school; 3) invest in highly visible collateral (i.e. billboard and banners) so families are well aware of the school opening and enrollment timeline; 4) attend and host local/open house events in the community for informational purposes.

Administrative Summary and Recommendations, p. 22 5. Spanish Interpreters

At the public hearing on December 10, 2014, LEARN stated that they would seek volunteers to assist with communicating to parents in languages other than English. This is contradictory to an agreement that District 60 reached with the Office of Civil Rights in 2012 to ensure compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 34 C.F.R. Part 150. The agreement set forth these

expectations in regards to oral interpretation with parents in languages other than English for their basic civil right of understanding the educational needs of their children.

a. The District will maintain an updated list of interpreters and translators at school and District levels who are proficient in the languages served by the District and who are competent to provide interpretation and translation services;

b. The District will continue to ensure that all persons on its list of interpreters and translators have been appropriately trained regarding the role of interpreter and translator, the ethics of interpreting and translating, and the need to maintain confidentiality;

c. The District will also evaluate how it ensures that the interpreters and

translators have the skills and proficiency to interpret and translate in a particular non- English language; and

59 guidance on the role of interpreter in a meeting and how to use an interpreter.

The Charter School would be subject to similar objections to assure non-discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin. Volunteers are not sufficient.

LEARN response:

LEARN would work with WCUSD to comply with the agreement it reached with the Office of Civil Rights in 2012 with regard to providing oral interpretation services for parents.

LEARN Waukegan will use the services of leadership team, office staff, ESL and bilingual teachers, and other native Spanish speakers on staff for translation and interpretation services. Please also see LEARN's response to comment #3 in the Educational Analysis above.