Roger Alvey, the new president of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, hopes to see improvements in school safety and teaching methods in the coming years.
Alvey is the superintendent of Illini Bluffs School District 327 in Glasford. After serving in the association for a year as president-elect, Alvey officially took over the role of president this year.
He also is a certified Law Enforcement Security Assessment Specialist, a role that allows him to go into schools and find gaps in security and safety. He said school safety is the top priority.
“We can talk for hours about school safety, and quite honestly, that is and should be the number one priority of every administrator and every educator across Illinois, the nation and the world,” Alvey said. “If kids don't feel safe, then they're not going to learn. And obviously we want kids to learn and that's our top priority as well.”
Alvey said teachers in Illinois are getting training through “Stop the Bleed.” The course gives teachers trauma training to know how to treat everything from an injury on the playground to a disaster such as a tornado or shooting.
He said it also includes behavior assessment training so that teachers can better identify risks.
One area where Alvey would like to see improvement is dealing with the aftermath of a disaster.
“We do a really good job in preparation and prevention in schools. We don't do a really good job when it comes to recovery,” he said. “So, if there is an incident of whatever nature and it doesn't have to be a school shooting, it could be a tornado comes through town, or a gas leak, and you have to evacuate your school. How do you go about reuniting all of your students with parents and maintaining the chain of custody in those very stressful circumstances.”
The Illini Bluffs District has been conducting reunification training for the past four years and will do another one in the fall.
Alvey said his career in education began with his father, who was a science teacher and principal of Illini Bluffs High School for 35 years. Alvey also began his career teaching science, and has worked as a superintendent for 23 years.
The association exists to advocate for educators in Illinois by meeting with lawmakers about legislation that impacts schools.
“We fight like crazy in Springfield, trying to beat some common sense into legislators and say this is what's good for kids, even though you might think you have your own idea about how to educate kids,” Alvey said. “We lobby as much as possible and try to make common sense legislation for the ultimate benefit of the students across Illinois.”
Alvey said he’s happy with some of the planned improvements to education in Illinois, including the Smart Start grants to expand preschool access and the work being done to increase literacy.
School districts also are working to help students following the pandemic, and that money from the federal government has helped to pay for additional tutoring students might need. Alvey said kids excelled during remote learning, while others struggled and need help to catch up.
“Identifying those kids through local assessments, providing as many supports and resources as possible to try and catch those kids up, summer school, things of that nature,” Alvey said. “It's going to take a while, it's not something that's going to happen overnight.”
The role of technology in students' education is increasing, he said, but it’s important to remember that technology is still just a “tool in the toolkit" and the priority should be on making connections with students.
He said some students do learn better remotely, and that doing what’s best for the students is the ultimate goal.
The pandemic helped shine light on some new ways to teach. Alvey said some districts are looking at flexible scheduling for students, instead of the standard eight-hour day. Some districts also are employing more asynchronous and remote options for learning.
“Some people's horizon is the edge of their rut,” he said. “And unless you are forced to do things differently, sometimes you just continue to do things the way you've always done it.”
