Good afternoon.
Let me open by saying thank you to so many of you in the
schools and districts who have worked with us and given direction in setting up
the data correction process this past week. We have tried to make this
much more feasible and do-able for you this year and appreciate your working
with us. You will note the directions for that process
below.
I’ve had a lot of questions from folks about my biggest
problem or challenge faced in the last two weeks. There are a good number of
great people at ISBE working on all of our projects and initiatives (e.g.,
certification, data correction, and the like) and I’m really gratified by that.
The biggest difficulty for me has been more personal—i.e., keeping up my own
energy stores. I really want to give just as good as I
am getting from staff, and it means some long days. But everyone seems to be
finding their routine over the past couple of weeks and good things will
continue to happen.
As always, don’t hesitate to contact me with questions
or concerns.
Randy J. Dunn
State Superintendent of Education
(Interim)
Also included in today’s
message:
You will also find the following in today’s
message:
Data Re-Correction
Process • Open Now through October 7
To best support school districts’ work during the data
re-correction period, SchoolHouse™ is now up and running. You may begin your work on the re-corrections
immediately. SchoolHouse™ will be
open until Thursday, October 7. It is imperative that the data be
accurate and that the revisions be made during this correction
period.
Accurate reporting is our top priority. While this
process will delay production of School Report Cards beyond the October 31
deadline, ISBE will take every measure to complete School Report Card production
upon receipt of a final data file from Pearson.
These changes are part of our ongoing effort to meet
Governor Blagojevich’s challenge that we work collaboratively with districts.
Please contact the agency if we can take other actions to improve this process.
We have established a toll-free number, 1-800-627-7990, extension 814, that you
can use to reach the agency with questions about this
process.
Login/Passwords: Logins and passwords are the same as those
used earlier with SchoolHouse™. To receive those again, please email: isat@pearson.com or rmccabe@isbe.net – please include name of
district, superintendent’s name, person requesting login/password and CDS code.
The login/passwords will be emailed to the
superintendent.
Phone
Numbers:
Pearson and ISBE people are ready to take your calls. Please do not hesitate to
call if you have a question or concern. We want this process to work for you and
your staff.
The following phone numbers are established to assist
you in your work:
Online
Help – To login on SchoolHouse: www.ncsschoolhouse.com
Districts may also access www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfQuickRef.htm
for assistance.
Excel
Files – ISAT
and IMAGE have posted all student scores and demographic data in an Excel CSV
file on SchoolHouse™. Districts can download these files for school improvement
planning and work. Superintendents (only) can access the file that contains all
students in the district.
PSAE has posted all student scored and demographic data
in an Excel .CSV file on SchoolHouse™. Principals and superintendents can access
this file, which contains all students in the school. Please note: PSAE files
are done by school, so please check every high
school.
National School Bus
Safety Week • “Shhh…Railroad Crossing”
National School Bus Safety Week is October 17 through
23, 2004. The theme for this year is “Shhh...Railroad
Crossing.” Article 5/27-26 of the School Code requires districts to
include instruction in safe bus riding practices including emergency evacuation
drills at least twice during each school year for all students in grades
kindergarten through 12 who are transported by bus to or from school or in
connection with any school activity. If your district transports
pre-kindergarten students, they should also be included in school bus safety
training activities.
Information is available on the ISBE
website via the following links:
http://www.isbe.net/Funding/html/school_bus_websites.htm
http://www.isbe.net/Funding/pdf/bus_safety_teach_guide.pdf
http://www.isbe.net/Funding/pdf/bus_ride_instruct.pdf
If you have questions, please contact Jan
Reische at 217/782-5256 or via e-mail jreische@isbe.net
Pupil Transportation
Reimbursement Claim (2003-04) Open For
Revisions
On September 21, 2004, all Regular, Vocational and
Special Education pupil transportation reimbursement claims for the 2003-04
school year submitted to ISBE by the statutory due date were returned
electronically to review and revise as needed. If there are no revisions to be
made, you do not have to resubmit the claim. All revisions to the pupil
transportation depreciation schedule and/or the pupil transportation
reimbursement claim must be completed and transmitted to ISBE via the Pupil
Transportation Claim Reimbursement System (PTCRS) by close of business
If you have questions regarding the correction process,
please contact Cinda Meneghetti at 217/782-5256 or via email cmeneghe@isbe.net
Learn and Serve
The Bidders’ Conferences for the FY 2005 Request for
Proposals (RFP) under the Illinois Learn and Serve America program will be held
during October. These informational meetings are designed to guide development
of service learning funding proposals by local school districts, Regional
Offices of Education, Intermediate Service Centers, and other agencies operating
regional education programs. The meetings are being coordinated for the State
Board of Education by The Center: Resources for Teaching and Learning, and will
be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on October 7 in Matteson (Holiday Inn) and
October 18 in Springfield (Northfield Center). Additional workshops are being
planned for later in the month. For additional information about registration
for this Bidders’ Conference, contact The Center at
847/803-3535.
Teacher Salary Study
Form Now Available Online Through IWAS
The new Teacher Salary Study web system is now available
online. We will not send out paper forms this year. The deadline to submit data
is
Principal Appreciation
Day
Friday, October 22, is
Illinois Principal Appreciation Day. This day is set aside to recognize the good
work done by principals, assistant principals and deans on behalf of
For more information,
please contact: Dr. John Dively, Executive Director, Illinois Principals
Association, 217/525-1383 or Kim Zinman, Principal,
News
Clips
Online news clips are
posted at: http://www.isbe.net/news/2004/newsclips/041001.htm