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Mr. Quigley’s class at Coal City Early Childhood Center is using a system called center contracts to help students reinforce classroom skills. Each student receives a contract with ten different centers and works independently throughout the week to complete them. The centers are stored in tubs, and students can choose which one to work on at any time, though only three students may be at a center simultaneously. Some activities require individual effort, while others involve small groups.
There is no strict time limit for each activity. After finishing a center, students cross it off their contract and move on to the next task of their choice. At the end of the week, Mr. Quigley reviews each student’s completed work. Any unfinished or incorrect assignments are corrected before students receive free play time as a reward for completing all tasks.
According to Mr. Quigley, “Center contracts are a great way to build independence, responsibility, and accountability in the classroom.”
Coal City Early Childhood Center is part of Coal City Community Unit School District 1, which serves Grundy and Will counties and includes several schools such as Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
The district employs 153 teachers with an average salary of $69,297 before pension contributions; 77.9 percent are women and 22.1 percent are men. No teachers have more than ten absences in a school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
Demographically, the district is 86.9 percent White, 0.6 percent Black, 9.6 percent Hispanic, and 0.6 percent Asian (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, spending per student was $21,619 for a total expenditure of $47 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
