Good afternoon,
With most schools about to go into full operations for
the fall semester, I would like to extend an official welcome back to
everyone. I hope your summer was
restful and/or productive.
I would also like to invite each of you to visit the
ISBE website as a couple of new features have been added. I notified you last week of the Online
Teacher Information Service (OTIS) that administrators and educators may access
for certification status. In the
first few days of operation, OTIS has already logged more than 800 account
visits.
You will also be able to guide parents and teachers to a
site with information about Choice.
From the ISBE homepage, visitors can follow the NCLB link to a page of
information on Choice. This will be
evolving within the next week as staff adds more information on this hot
topic.
www.isbe.net/nclb/pdfs/FAQchoiceML.pdf
I am also very pleased with the recent results of the
SAT and AP tests. Our students’
aggregate scores surpassed those of their peers across the country. Only five other states scored higher in
aggregate scores. Additionally, the
initiatives that the State Board put in place for the AP exam helped increase
the number of test takers to more than 69,500. For scores and more on the SAT see our
news release.
www.isbe.net/news/2003/aug26-03.htm
Today’s message contains the following
information:
Deadline
Approaches For Making Corrections To State Test
Data
Please remember that
the firm deadline for accepting corrections to state test data is
The following is an
excerpt from instructions you received with your test
reports:
“You may correct
errors by marking needed changes to the reports. Most mistakes occur because students
have been misclassified (e.g., your reports have no students coded as having
IEPs).
Changes for individual students should be marked on the School
Roster. Make copies for your
records and return the originals to:
Pearson Educational
Measurement
Attention: ISAT (or PSAE or IMAGE) Reporting M/S
160
Writing
Assessment Update for All Districts:
Based on recommendations from the Assessment and
Accountability Taskforce, the Illinois State Board of Education adopted the
following change to be implemented in the Grade 3 Writing Assessment: Starting
in the spring of 2004, students will write one expository essay on the Grade 3
ISAT.
Further changes adopted by the Board that are scheduled
for implementation in the spring of 2006 include the following: Starting in 2006, Grade 4 students will
write one essay in either the expository or persuasive mode. Students in Grades 6 and 8 will write
two essays in the expository, persuasive or narrative modes. In the Grade 10 voluntary writing
assessment, students will write two essays in the expository, persuasive or
narrative modes. Grade 11 students
will continue to write one essay in the PSAE from either the persuasive or
expository mode. Please share this
information with all staff.
FY 2004 Expenditure Reports/Claims
Due Spreadsheet
Many state and federal grant programs require financial
expenditure reports periodically throughout the school year. In addition, school districts and other
local education agencies must file claims for certain state programs such as
General State Aid, Special Education Personnel, Pupil Transportation and Driver
Education.
The Division of Funding and Disbursement Services has updated the list of
programs, claims and expenditure report filing dates for FY 2004. A schedule is available by program at http://www.isbe.net/funding/webexpdue.htm
or you may check what is due monthly at http://www.isbe.net/funding/duemonthly.htm. If you have fiscal related questions
related to these programs, claims or reports please contact the Division of
Funding and Disbursement Services at 217/782-5256.
This document is now available online at www.isbe.net/research It is a PDF
document and can be found under “What’s New and Announcements.” Hard copies are not
available.
Applications
Available for Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher
Program
Primary and secondary educators are eligible to apply
for the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher program. The grant enables educators to spend
three-weeks in
Certification
through Entitlement
Several
Help
Your Students Be
Real
Prevention First’s Be Real
campaign has a new
website and new prevention planning guide.
Designed to supplement and support other drug prevention efforts, Be Real
involves parents, youth and faith-based organization leaders, educators and
community members in efforts to reach children aged 10-14.
The updated website offers prepared lesson plans that
meet Illinois Learning Standards, resources for parents, and plenty of
ideas. To learn more visit www.berealteens.com
Newsclips
Madigan: Cut crime with after-school
programs
By Daniel Duggan, Staff Writer, Beacon News
A single
mom, the
"Keeping
them out of trouble after school is my No. 1 worry," Ceron said.
State and
local officials went out of their way Monday — the first day of school for many
"Children
may be learning about social studies and math in the early part of the day, but
in the hours between
Elgin
Police Chief William Miller said more juvenile offenses take place in the hours
after school than any other time of day.
According
to a study by the Elgin Police Department of local juvenile offenses in 2001 and
2002, 29 percent took place during the 3 to 6 p.m. period — an average of 52
offenses, compared to 29 offenses in the 6 to 9 p.m. time bracket and 11 in the
9 p.m. to midnight bracket.
"It might
be a shock for parents and others who think we see more (juvenile) crime after
dark, because that's just not true," he said. "On school days, keeping an eye on
youth is critical."
East
Dundee Police Chief Joe Pena said children in after-school programs are less
likely to start smoking, have sex and try
marijuana.
"When we
short-change after-school programs, we're cheating ourselves out of one of our
most valuable assets," he said.
Madigan was
joined by
The group
is working with a national lobbying organization, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids,
to seek more funding for after-school programs and to get back funding that was
taken out of the current budget by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
Specifically, the advocates are trying to get funding reinstated for Teen
REACH (Responsibility, Education, Achievement, Caring and Hope), a state-funded
after-school program.
In July,
Blagojevich issued an amendatory veto to remove $550,000 from the program's $19
million budget, according to Tim Carpenter, director of Fight Crime: Invest in
Kids'
The cuts
mean some of the 200 Teen REACH programs in the state will lose operating funds,
including
She said
the loss in money might mean fewer staff to work with the 350 kids in the
program.
"And that
just means we can't be as helpful," she said.
For Ceron, whose two sons are in the Teen REACH program, it's
been a way to help make sure they're getting help with their homework and — most
importantly — not joining gangs or doing drugs.
"Both of
them have grown up so much since being in the program," she said. "They'd be
short-changed if the program didn't exist."
KAPPA/GALLUP
POLL
From Ed Review
(
Phi Delta Kappa International and Gallup, Inc., has
released its 2003 "Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools" poll, which
documents significant trends in public opinion and explores the latest
approaches at school improvement (http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0309pol.htm).
The poll found less than a quarter of the public considers itself well informed
about the No Child Left Behind
Act, although those that do have a favorable impression (58 percent are
very or somewhat favorable). In response to specific provisions of
the No Child Left Behind Act,
83 percent believe decisions regarding what is taught should be made at the
state level (22 percent) or by the local school board (61 percent), one of the
law's four pillars; 45 percent would like tutoring for their struggling child to
be provided by an "outside agency," as provided for under the law; and 58
percent believe it is possible to narrow the achievement gap without spending
more money than is already being spent to help low-performing students. On
the other hand, the public is concerned about using a single test to evaluate
whether a school needs improvement (or a student is proficient); emphasizing
English and math, exclusively; and expecting special needs students to meet the
same standards as other students.
Other findings: (1) local schools continue to be
regarded favorably, with 68 percent of public school parents giving the school
their oldest child attends either a grade of A or B; (2) nearly six in ten
respondents say teacher salaries are too low, and 65 percent believe higher
salaries should be paid as an incentive for teaching in schools determined to be
in need of improvement; (3) while 61 percent of those surveyed oppose vouchers,
respondents are split on the extent to which providing vouchers would improve
achievement in community schools. And, given a full-tuition voucher, 62
percent of respondents would choose a private school for their
child.
EXIT
EXAMS
From Ed Review
(
According to a new report by the Washington, D.C.-based
Center on Education Policy, high school exit exams have led to improvements in
curriculum and instruction but also to ballooning implementation costs and
disproportionately low pass rates for minority, poor, disabled, and limited
English proficient students. Among its useful data, "Put to the Test"
includes charts showing the characteristics of various exit test regimens and
state profiles that detail what the test covers, when it is given, when its
"stakes" take effect (and in what form), and what alternatives are available for
students. Exit exams are now required in 19 states that educate more than
half of all public school students and 55 percent of minority public school
students. Five additional states are scheduled to phase-in exit exams over
the next five years. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE GO TO http://www.cep-dc.org/highschoolexit/.
Robert Schiller
State Superintendent
of Education
statesup@isbe.net