Improving academic achievement, student behavior part of 3-year Cedar Rapids schools’ strategic plan

CORRECTION: The number of students in the Cedar Rapids school district on free or reduced price lunch is about 55 percent, according to data from the district. This number was undercounted in the original article.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids school leaders have set a target of improving student achievement, closing opportunity gaps and decreasing physical aggression of students in a three-year strategic plan approved by the Cedar Rapids school board Monday.

Student achievement is one aspect of the four-pillar plan approved by the Cedar Rapids school board in a in a 6-1 vote, with Dexter Merschbrock opposing. A draft of the plan was initially introduced at a school board work session in July.

The other three pillars of the plan are:

“I believe what we’re asking for is success for all our students and that is the expectation — that we are seeing growth,” Superintendent Tawana Grover said. “I do believe our staff have the heart and mind to be able to serve our students.

“We might fall short in some areas, but every day we show up.” Grover continued. ”We feel this is good work, this is the right work, this is what we expect from our staff … These are the expectations for our campus leaders to be leading toward and our educators to be working toward.“

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Merschbrock said he voted “no” on the plan because it doesn’t address public health more than three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The plan does include goals for staff retention, recruitment, attendance and job satisfaction; however, it doesn’t specifically address the health of staff, Merschbrock said.

“Teachers are getting sick and showing up sick to work because there’s not enough people to cover their class,” Merschbrock said. “We want them to be at their best and that means healthy. It’s like the pandemic never happened when it’s still happening to some degree, and there’s other public health challenges as well.”

Merschbrock also wished the plan addressed student and family poverty. About 55 percent of students in the district are on free or reduced price lunch, according to district data, which can be an indication of the poverty rate.

“There’s a lot of poverty in our community. We’re going to teach every kid, but we have to be concerned with more than just their test scores,” he said.

Student Achievement

By June 2024 — about eight months from now — students will demonstrate a 5 percent increase in assessment tests, according to the plan.

From June 2024 to June 2027, the district will increase third and eighth grade reading proficiency by 5 percent each year as measured by the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP).

District officials also set a goal by June 2024 to close opportunity gaps, especially for students of color, low-income students, English Language Learners and students with disabilities.

By June 2025, the district will decrease physical aggression of students without injury and defiance, insubordination and non-compliance behavior referrals by 5 percent. Physical aggression could look like hitting a wall or throwing a book, said Ryan Rydstrom, the district’s chief of staff.

Grover said the district plans to put out a request for proposal for bids from community organizations to help better support students with behavior issues.

This comes a year after the district began making significant changes to limit the use of physical restraint as a part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Stabilize the District

Another goal of the strategic plan is to increase enrollment by retaining and attracting more students and families to the district.

By June 2027, the district plans to stabilize enrollment and see a 1 percent increase.

There has been a decline of about 1,100 students in Cedar Rapids schools since the 2010-11 school year, with enrollment during the 2022-23 school year at 14,900, according to district data.

By June 2024, school officials will have a benchmark — through a districtwide survey — of the percentage of staff who respond positively that they understand the district’s priorities and why they matter and that they have a positive, trusting relationship with their district and school-campus colleagues.

By June 2025, school officials plan to increase the percentage of staff who feel this way by improving two-way communication between district offices and school campuses, according to the plan.

Rydstrom said building trust and credibility with staff is district leaders’ “rallying cry” this year.

Energize the Staff

By June 2027, the plan’s goal is to increase staff retention 10 percent.

“We want to make sure our staff really want to work here. They want to be here. They’re our biggest cheerleaders. They help recruit better than anything I can do in my office,” said Darius Ballard, chief human resource officer for the district.

Mark Timmerman — one of three chiefs of schools who joined the district in July — said he hears from employees that they feel they need to leave the district to “take a promotion.”

Part of the strategic plan will focus on providing staff professional learning to develop leadership skills and feel supported in career goals, he said.

Merschbrock said to meet these goals, the district needs to be “more focused on what we are spending every dollar on.”

For example, Merschbrock said paraeducators in the district “fought so long” to get paid $15 an hour, and by the time they got there “inflation had gone up so much.”

In December 2021, paraeducators received a pay increase of more than $3 an hour.

To retain staff — especially hourly staff like paraeducators, nutrition services, custodians and bus drivers — the district has to increase wages, Merschbrock said.

“If we’re not focused on that and really make it a priority, it’s always going to be falling behind because funding isn’t going to be coming from the state necessarily,” Merschbrock said.

The strategic plan also calls for a 20 percent increase in the hiring of educators of color by June 2026.

That increase will get the district “closer to that goal” of reflecting the diversity of the student body, Ballard said. About 40 percent of students in the district are students of color, according to U.S. News & World Report.

One way Ballard is looking to increase the number of teachers of color is by connecting with students interested in a career in education while they are students in the district, he said.

By June 2025, 90 percent of staff can articulate the importance of cultural competence and affirming relationships, according to the strategic plan.

Mobilize the Community

The strategic plan also sets goals for families to feel heard, supported, respected and be actively involved in schools.

By June 2024, 90 percent of families will respond positively about how they are treated at school on a districtwide survey.

“Ninety percent is high,” said Karinne Theraldson, chief academic officer for the district. “We know it’s high and 100 percent is where we want to be.”

By June 2025, the district will have baseline data about families’ involvement in their child’s school. By 2030, the feeder system of community schools will provide meaningful services to families.

This part of the plan also relies on voters approving a $220 million bond referendum Nov. 7, that would fund construction of a new middle school and improvements to high schools.

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