It
seems that summer never really arrived in
Last
week I shared with you the year-to-year comparison of the funding for elementary
and secondary education. If you haven’t seen the breakout please visit our
budget page on the Illinois State Board of Education web site at http://www.isbe.net/budget/default.htm.
I
believe the 2004 legislative session proved to be a significant one for
education not only because of Senate Bill 3000 but also because of the other
more substantive legislation that passed. Our
Governmental Affairs division has done a Legislative wrap-up of the session,
which can be found at (http://www.isbe.net/gov-relations/pdf/end_of_session_04.pdf).
In
the wake of the General Assembly’s exit, there have been a few new stories that
I would like to comment on.
This
week began with an article that was moved on the newswire and carried statewide
regarding Senate Bill 1553 and the changes to the teacher certification process
in
Also
this week, Governor Rod Blagojevich signed legislation that increases the
compulsory attendance age. There was a news article that included a broad
overview of the legislation, but even better was an article by the Chicago
Tribune, but it failed to run in the downstate edition of the paper. The point
made in the Tribune story that our legal staff researched was this: the last
time the compulsory attendance age changed was
Another
issue that had generated a lot of press has been the $6.3 million budget cut to
the ISBE budget in the area of assessment. ISBE is barred from assessing
students beyond the subject areas required under the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB currently includes
Last
week we shared with you the aggregate assessment information, which at first
glance we have a lot to be proud of, especially when we focus on the narrowing
of the achievement gap. The news coverage was generally positive and it should
be. However, because of the assessment cuts, I remain cautiously optimistic that
our students will be spending the proper amount of time on subject areas that
will NO longer be subject to state assessment.
We
also released an area of our website where schools, which participated in the
2003 data verification process, can review their updated AYP Page from their
School Report Card. While I was very pleased at the number of schools that saw
their AYP status change for the better, I was also saddened that we still had
schools that did not correct all of their data and therefore still failed to
make AYP. Last year was a tough one, it being the first year that we were held
accountable for test participation in the students’ subgroups, and all of us can
admit that there were a lot of growing pains.
Let’s
not revisit last year, unless we take the hard lessons that were learned with
us. Below you will see a lot of important information about the current
correction window for administrators and deadlines for School Report Card
information. None of us need a second year; where people stay focused on AYP,
let’s keep them focused on the strides and improvements that we are making, as
the preliminary aggregate assessment data illustrated this
week.
Also included in today’s
message:
SB 2349
– Impact on General State Aid
Public Act 93-0845 was signed into law on
HB 4225
Status – Special Education Extraordinary
As of today a decision on HB 4225, which changes the
distribution method for Special Education Extraordinary funding, has not been
made by the Governor. Due to the
current August 15 statutory date for filing Special Education Pupil claims, we
have reminded staff in the Governor’s office of the importance of making a
decision on this bill. In the
interim you are advised to prepare your 2003-2004 Special Education
Extraordinary claims as normal and transmit by the statutory deadline (August
15th).
Adequate
Yearly Progress Calculations
Under the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001, states are required to make annual Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
determinations. Recently, Secretary of Education Rod Paige provided additional
flexibility to states in certain provisions related to calculating AYP. In order to apply the provisions,
amendments to the
In response to the new provisions for calculating
participation rates,
Changes in how schools are identified for school
improvement status were also approved by USDE. Previously, a school or district
that did not make AYP for two consecutive years, regardless of subject area,
were identified as in need of school improvement. The approved amendment to the
accountability plan classifies a Title I school or district that fails to make
AYP for two consecutive years in the same content area (reading and mathematics)
as being in need of improvement.
There are three conditions for making AYP and a school
or district must meet ALL three of the
requirements.
1. Achieve At Least A 95%
Participation Rate In State Assessments For Reading And Mathematics For The All
Group And Subgroups (Subgroups include the following categories:
American Indian, Asian, Black, Hispanic, White, Multiracial/ethnic, IEP, LEP,
and Low Income).
2. Reach The Meeting And
Exceeding Performance Targets For The All Group (40% For 2004) And All Subgroups
(37% For 2004) In
3. Reach The Targets For
One Other Indicator:
Attendance rate for elementary and middle schools (89% in
2004)
Graduation rate for high schools (66% in
2004).
(Note:
When Calculating Unit District AYP, Both Attendance And Graduation Rates Are
Included.)
REMINDER: Report Card Data Due by
The school report card data collection form (ISBE 86-43)
is available online via IWAS.
Please enter, verify and approve all the data for your school(s) by the
due date which is
SchoolHouse
Update (2004 Assessment Data Corrections)
The first window for verifying 2004 state assessment
data on Pearson’s SchoolHouse system closed on
During the second correction window (July 27 -
When the second window closes on
There will be NO additional
opportunities after
Changes
in Local Professional Development
Committees
Public Act 93-679 went into effect
Please use your administrator login and password to
access CeRTS: https://sec1.isbe.net/Certs/Default.asp
for Administrators. Choose the new
menu item “View/Change LPDC Information.”
Then, for each LPDC in your district click on, “Accept LPDC List”
if no changes are made; “Add New” if you choose a new
LPDC; or “Update/Delete” to change membership or eliminate an LPDC. You Must Do This By
If you have any questions or need assistance using CeRTS
for Administrators, contact Rajesh Iyer at riyer@isbe.net or
217/558-3674.
Thank you for your assistance in the Certificate Renewal
process. Overviews of the changes
in legislation are available at the ISBE website: http://www.isbe.net/certification/default.htm.
Student
Information System Survey
You may recall that ISBE approved the development of the
student information system last month.
One of our initial activities will be distributing a
short survey to all public school district superintendents. The purpose of the
survey is to identify the type of student information system, if any, that your
school district is using or by what means your district is managing its student
information. We are also seeking districts that would be willing to participate
as pilot districts during our testing phase.
This survey is an initial step in the design process of
the student information system. A critical component of the new system will be
the means by which we send and receive student information from school
districts. The information we are requesting will allow us to better design
those interfaces.
Thank you and we look forward to working with you on
this important survey in the future.
Reading
Improvement Block Grant Allocations
The FY05 Reading Improvement Block Grant award letter
containing each district's final allocation amount will be mailed to districts
on August 13. The letter will
explain the procedure for submission of a revised budget reflecting the reduced
allocation. Any district whose
grant application needs clarification or correction will be advised of this when
they receive notification of their final allocation
amount.
Canine
Associates International
Canine Associates International (CAI) offers the Safer
Schools Program to administrators who want to assure students and the community
they are fulfilling the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
requirements. The CAI program is
designed to prevent the use of illicit drugs, alcohol, and guns by young people
and foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that supports academic
achievement.
CAI provides certified, reliable detection canines that
are non-aggressive, friendly, and approachable.
NCLB Challenge: All children need a safe environment in
which to learn and achieve. Too many schools in
NCLB Solution: Ensure a safe and orderly school by
implementing programs that protect students and teachers, encourage discipline
and personal responsibility and combat illegal
drugs.
NCLB-approved programs must meet the following
requirements:
How CAI fulfills NCLB
requirements:
CAI offers the following Canine Detection
Services:
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