In recent years our It's All About Learning presentations have focused upon significant student-teacher interactions at North High School and South High School. What is often so refreshing about these presentations is that the Board has an opportunity to interact directly with our students who are involved in a myriad of educational programs. Without the educational infrastructure (professional growth opportunities, various types of technology, and textbooks) which the Board has provided, many of these presentations would not have been possible. Furthermore, the majority of our It's All About Learning presentations have resulted from the Board of Education's 2001-2004 District Goals and, specifically, Goal 1, Student Learning;

Continue to develop, refine, implement and assess strategies for continuous improvement in students' academic achievement and overall growth in student learning.

Summarizing work relative to a Board goal is one means of reporting; however, hearing directly from students their perspectives of the impact of instructional activities undertaken to implement that goal are entirely a different story. Our students consistently paint a far more vivid picture of the extent to which they are engaged in their learning. It is within this context that I would like to share an It's All About Learning retrospective with you and provide a few examples of the manner in which our educational infrastructure directly translates into student learning.

Perhaps the best example of how the Board's resources are directly enhancing student learning comes through our It's All About Learning presentations relative to improving student reading and critical thinking abilities. The Board has heard much about the emphasis upon reading in our new English I program. Without the purchase of books for each library as well as the professional growth opportunities provided for our English faculty, our English I program would not have been possible. Similarly, our presentations relative to strategic learning and Project CRISS have highlighted the importance of professional development enabling teachers in every subject area to focus upon strategic learning and provide students with the skills they need to read text critically. Without the considerable expenditures devoted to strategic learning over the past five years we would not have been able to train the three hundred teachers we have trained in strategic learning. In a similar vein, just last spring the Board heard from Chris Mazur, our South High School Title I teacher, about the extraordinary things we are doing for low-achieving students at South High School.

In addition, both principals are now integrating special initiatives at each campus to improve the literacy of District 99 students based upon the emphasis upon reading in the English curriculum. Each North High School department has been identifying strategies for improving students' abilities to make meaning of text and to utilize a range of learning strategies to deepen understanding of essential curricula reflected in the Illinois Learning Standards in reading. South High School is taking a multi-faceted approach to addressing the learning needs of students who are not meeting standards as defined by their PSAE scores. South High School faculty are assisting these students in both reading and mathematics. Currently these students are receiving extra support during lunch study halls and resource periods in the middle of the day. The actual program involves two reading sessions and two mathematics sessions per week, each lasting approximately 23 minutes.

A number of our It's All About Learning presentations have focused upon how the technology the Board has provided is advancing the learning of District 99 students. It's All About Learning presentations have focused upon the modular technology labs at both North and South High Schools, assistive technology in special education, the radio and television program, assessment in physical education and the English I/Library partnership which through technology enables students to preview hundreds of novels prior to making a reading selection relevant to their needs and interests. Just December 15, 2003, the Board saw the impact which Digital Storytelling can have upon student writing and presentation experiences with new software. Virtually every one of the It's All About Learning presentations has been grounded in hours of professional development provided by the Board to assist us in achieving Board goals.

In sum, we thought it important to articulate the direct relationship between the Board of Education's allocation of resources to our educational infrastructure and student learning. After all, It is all about Learning.