Shawn Tiani has served as Assistant Principal of Indian Hill Elementary School for two years. Under his leadership, the school has implemented the "Six Exceptional Systems" of a "No Excuses University" to prepare all 510 students for college. This includes aligning curriculum to standards, using data to inform instruction, providing interventions and enrichments to students, and fostering collaboration among teachers. Assessment data shows growth in the percentage of students meeting targets or national norms from fall to winter.

1. Shawn Bryan
Tiani, M.A.T.,
M.Ed.
2802 Fawn Lane
Spring Grove, Illinois 60081
847-770-5239 (cell)
847-270-9978 (work)
tianitorres@gmail.com (home)
stiani@rlas-116.org (work)
Indian Hill Elemen-
tary School is a
school of 510 stu-
dents in grades 1-5.
Shawn Tiani has
served as the Assis-
tant Principal for
two years. Prior to that he taught 1st, 2nd,
and 6th grades at other schools in the district.
The idea that “After High School
Comes College” has become the
unifying vision of Indian Hill
Elementary School, preparing all
students to attend college if they
so choose.
As Assistant Principal, Shawn
Tiani led Indian Hill’s Building
Leadership Team in a book study
of Damen Lopez’s No Excuses
University. After the study,
Indian Hill began implementing
the “Six Exceptional Systems” of
a “No Excuses University”. As an
aspiring “No Excuses University”,
Mr. Lopez has allowed Indian
Hill to use the logo as the school
begins its journey to becoming an
officially recognized “No Excuses
University.” Indian Hill will
apply for official recognition in
the 2014-2015 school year.
 70.4% Low Income
 15.9% Students with Disabilities
 29.9% English Language Learners
 38% Meets & Exceeds on ISAT Reading
 29% Meets & Exceeds on ISAT Math
Fall 2013—Winter 2014 NWEA MAP
Students Meeting Growth Targets
65% Reading, 66% Math
Average Increase in Students Meeting Nation-
al Norms
7.2% Reading, 7% Math
Average Increase in National Percentile
7.8% Reading, 7.2% Math

2. The Six Essential Systems
Key to a “No Excuses University” is a culture of
universal achievement. Shawn Tiani has
worked to foster the
belief that all students
will be prepared to go to
college, if they so choose.
This mindset is reflected
throughout the building.
Classrooms have adopted
colleges, many of which
the teachers themselves
attended. The cafeteria
was transformed into
“College Hall” which
displays assessment data,
where staff attended col-
lege, and is encircled by
pennants donated from
schools across the coun-
try.
The final system is having interventions in
place. Using both curricular and extracurric-
ular resources, Indian Hill Elementary has
two intervention and enrichment blocks (1st
and 2nd grades & 3rd, 4th and 5th grades)
called “Knowledge for College”. Based on
MAP scores and teacher recommendation,
students are placed in either interventions
(for students scoring below the 40%ile) or
enrichments (for students scoring above the
41%ile). Mr. Tiani created a flowchart high-
lighting the standard decision rules, while
allowing room for teacher recommendation
to help place exceptional students.
Data in isolation is of no use, so Mr. Tiani
works to share data with teachers, students
and their families.
In College Hall, the
cafeteria, MAP
graphs are displayed
along with a target
board honoring
students meeting
their growth targets.
He reviews assess-
ment data with
teachers individual-
ly, as well as with
teams to discuss
the implications the
data has across the
grade level.
Data is shared individually with parents at
Parent-Teacher conferences, and at an annual
“Parent University” discussing “The State of
the School”, hosted by both Mr. Tiani and
the building principal.
The next essential system is collaboration. Mr.
Tiani worked to craft a schedule that allows
teachers an hour of collaborative time each
week. Half of this time is led by Mr. Tiani, and
is a time when student, classroom, and grade
level data is analyzed for
trends and implications.
Teams work together to
modify their instruction
based on the data. In
addition, staff participates
in building walkthroughs and have the option to
observe a colleague on scheduled “Peer Obser-
vation Days”.
The third essential system is standards-alignment. Mr.
Tiani has researched and shared with both parents and staff
the shift in expectations as instruction transitions to the
Common Core State Standards. Along with the district,
Indian Hill has implemented Pearson’s
Reading Street series to assist in this shift,
along with a district-created pacing guide
written in collaboration with Pearson and
aligned to both the CCSS and the series.
Mr. Tiani has collaborated with the Literacy Coach to pro-
vide ongoing support and feedback to teachers, including
“touchback” training days with a Pearson trainer.
Mr. Tiani has also sat on the district
math committee, which researched
new CCSS aligned math curriculums.
After selecting Pearson’s EnVision Math, the team was
asked to assist the technology department in selecting in-
structional technologies, such as interactive whiteboards, to
compliment the series’ as well as to improve the overall
learning experience of our students.
The fourth essential system
is assessment. Students at
Indian Hill take part in vari-
ous common assessments
throughout the year.
 NWEA MAP (Fall, Winter, Spring)
 Reading Street Unit Tests
 EnVision Math Unit Tests (to come)
 ACCESS (January for all ELL students)
 ISAT (March for grades 3-5)
Mr. Tiani coordinates testing schedules for building-wide
assessments, working to minimize the impact on instruc-
tion.
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