SUPERINTENDENT’S
WEEKLY MESSAGE –
It’s been a sunny and crisp
fall day here in
I wanted to use my “bully
pulpit” this week to share some information with our readers about service above
and beyond the call of duty in our Certification Division. As you know,
that Division has worked continuously and diligently over the past weeks to
respond to the Governor’s call to reduce our backlog, and we have already done
that for
But as well, we try to
respond to numerous priority cases when they come to the Division. Jolene
Reddy works in Certification and had a situation of a single mother who was
ready to declare bankruptcy, and had been teaching on a Type 39 substitute
certificate where days were running out. Jolene worked to get her
application flagged and a certificate issued that day. Another situation
came to my attention Wednesday about a teacher in another difficult case who
needed a provisional. Carolyn Hargrove in Certification personally took
care of it that afternoon.
The point of this is not to
have you flood my office with these (please)—but I think these situations are
indicative of the way the new State Board is trying to be responsive to
both individual and school system needs. Clearly, Jolene and Carolyn
did everything in their power to deal with, and respond to, these cases, and I
wanted you to know that.
Also, since I am aware that
the readership of this weekly missive has expanded to include many friends and
colleagues in higher education, I wanted to let you know that a new Directory
of Approved Programs for the Preparation of Educational Personnel In Illinois
Institutions of Higher Education is available at http://www.isbe.net/profprep?PDFs/Directory.pdf
The Directory lists the
standards-based approved programs offered by the
Those of us who have worked
in higher education remember this as a paper booklet in years past.
However, through the website, the information is much richer and can be readily
updated. Institutions now report programs offered at the undergraduate and
graduate levels, alternative certification programs, satellite locations, and a
host of other important information. Again, to highlight some great
efforts from staff, Pat Barto and Becky Gideon, performed some real magic to
make this vital document as web-friendly as
possible.
And yes—in reference to my
condolences in last week’s message to Card’s fans—my new friend Joe Majchrowicz
would remind those folks that there are some other baseball fans in our beloved
state who have been “waiting for next year” for a l-o-n-g time and, as such, are
not quite as sympathetic as I may have been. See you next
week.
Randy J.
Dunn
State Superintendent of
Education (Interim)
Included in today’s
message:
Meet Illinois State
Board of Education members and Interim State Superintendent
Dunn
Participants of the
IASA/IASB/IASBO Annual Conference are invited to visit the Comiskey Room of the
Hyatt Regency during one of the times listed below for an opportunity to meet
and talk with members of the Illinois State Board of Education and Interim State
Superintendent Dunn.
§
Friday, November 19,
§
Saturday, November 20,
Preventing gasoline
burns
A
Fall housing
reports(schools) and unfilled position reports (districts)
Fall Housing Reports
(schools) were due
·
Reminder: Unfilled position reports (districts) are due
Immunization reports
due November 15
If you have not submitted
your Immunization Report through IWAS, please do so as soon as possible.
The deadline for submission is November 15, as mandated by law. There are
no deadline extensions. The State Board of Education no longer accepts
paper copies of this report. They must be completed electronically. Failure to
submit Immunization records by the November 15 deadline can result in an
interruption of services. If you have any questions about setting up an
IWAS account, please contact our Helpdesk at
217/558-3600.
Employment
opportunities
An external vacancy list
for positions with the Illinois State Board of Education can be accessed at
http://www.isbe.net/hr/pdf/VL04-26.pdf
“Raising Student
Achievement” Conference
The Annual K-12 “Raising
Student Achievement” conference will be held December 6 through 8 at the
Pheasant Run Resort in
This year’s program
consists of 140 concurrent sessions in an event designed with school districts
in mind and offering high quality instructional sessions on Subgroup
Populations, Content Instruction, Data Analysis for School Improvement Planning
and School Community Culture.
For a PDF brochure please
go to http://www.roeachievementconference.org/Downloads/ProofSingles6.pdf
First Amendment
Campaign – free curriculum guide
The
The “Keep It Strong”
curriculum is designed to support
Teachers and students
invited to join virtual expedition
You and your students are
invited to virtually ride along on a free expedition with scientists from
Dr. Greg Mueller will
deliver a live webcast on Tuesday, November 9, at 9 and
Have your students email
him questions before the broadcast to be answered live at expeditions@fieldmuseum.org You may virtually join him on his quest by signing
up at www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/emails.html
Audio journal
available
As part of an initiative
with the IASA, ISBE extends the following opportunity. Audio Education,
Inc., producers of the successful Audio Journal have announced they will
waive the $100 website access fee for every administrator in districts that
formally join the
You may register at
www.audioed-online.com
Weekly
newsclips
http://www.isbe.net/news/2004/newsclips/041105.htm