There were several key reports and important data presented to the State Board during its monthly meeting this week. I am particularly pleased to present ISBE’s first report on Special Education. The report, the first of its kind from the agency, is a result of the Illinois Continuous Improvement Plan (ICIP) which calls for improved outcomes for students with disabilities.
Where we previously measured efforts of services, we are now measuring, and reporting, the rsults of those efforts. In future years we will be collecting and reporting data on parent satisfaction. A link to the press release on the “2003 Annual State Report on Special Education Performance” is at http://www.isbe.net/news/2004/aug20_04.htm. The report will soon be posted and available online through the release or via the Special Education section.
I presented the results of the ACT results for the 2004
graduating seniors. I was once again pleased that the average score
in
We also released the “2003 Educator Supply and Demand
Report in
The Board also took action to update the negotiations with a vendor for the FY06, and beyond, state assessments. See the attached link to view the resolution http://www.isbe.net/assessment/PDF/resolution.pdf
Finally, please note that this week and next week will
be the final messages sent using our old email listserve. Addresses for sending the message will
be gleaned from the CDS (
Robert Schiller
State Superintendent
of Education
Included in today’s message:
Deadline August 21 for 2004 Assessment Data Corrections on SchoolHouse
By
1) approve enrollment data for each school in their district,
2) approve enrollment data for their district as a whole, and
3) approve student demographic data for all
students in their district.
The Quick Reference Guides sent in the July mailing should help Superintendents achieve this task. These guides are online also at www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfQuickRef.htm.
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
Your Immediate Attention is Needed: School Report Card Data Collection
There are a number of schools that have not submitted their data for the school report card (86-43) via IWAS. This information was due on August 16th. Please check and make sure that all schools in your district have approved and submitted the required data to ISBE. Some of you may have entered data but not approved it for submission. The status must indicate “approved” before ISBE can receive the data. We will not be able to complete the school report cards until we have data from all the schools.
Criminal Background Check Information – Public Act 93-909
Effective immediately, school districts are required to perform a fingerprint-based criminal history records check for all certified and non-certified applicants for employment. The criminal history check must be initiated prior to employment. To view this notic, please go to: http://www.isbe.net/pdf/criminal_check.pdf
Select ISBE Programs Impact on Federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), in cooperation
with the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the Department
of Human Services, has determined that the following five state education
programs administered by ISBE can be part of the
Regional Safe Schools Grant program (Revenue Code 3696)
State Free Lunch and Breakfast (Revenue Code 3360)
Extended Learning Opportunities-Bridges (Revenue Code 3825)
Early Childhood Block Grant (Revenue Codes 3705-00 & 3705-50)
These programs are being used either to maintain state
effort or as federal match for the TANF program. Please be advised that if you are receiving
these funds, you may not claim the expenditures locally for any other federal
match or maintenance of effort claim. Moreover, if you expended Regional Safe Schools Program funds
between
Further, in addition to the normal quarterly expenditure report required for some of these programs, please ensure that you accurately report the following information for each of these TANF programs:
Finally, all fiscal and program information for these
programs should be maintained for audit purposes for a period of at least
five years. If you have questions
regarding this information please contact the Division of Funding and Disbursement
Services at 217-782-5256.
Technology Survey Deadline Extended
Near the close of
the past school year, the eLearning Division of the Illinois State Board of
Education conducted an online technology survey of teachers and students.
The survey is being used to support professional development, technology funding
through the No Child Left Behind formula grant, enable the Illinois Virtual
High School to benchmark and track student readiness for virtual learning,
and assist us in identifying adequate state and federal technology funding
for school districts.
A large number of
districts contacted us requesting an extension to administer the survey at
the start of the new school year. Our
survey provider, The Center for Teaching and Learning, has agreed to keep
the on-line survey portal open through
The cumulative data
for your district and individual schools will be available to you online and
can be printed for use in your technology plan, school improvement plan, and
competitive grant applications. The data will clearly identify areas where
your local professional development efforts will be most beneficial. By targeting
your professional development funds, your limited resources will have greater
impact on teaching and learning. Your participating faculty will also be able
to access their personal confidential data online in the form of a bar graph.
The student survey
is also administered online. Each teacher who participates in the above teacher
survey is asked to randomly select three students to take the survey with
the teacher entering their responses. This process takes about five minutes
to complete.
ISBE is looking forward to your active participation in the survey. If you have any questions, please contact the survey technical support representative, Robert Dumke via email, bdumke@edlearn.net or call 1-866-426-0700.
2003-2004 Driver Education Cost Claim Open
The 2003-2004 Driver Education Cost Claim is now open
in the Illinois State Board of Education’s Web Application Security
(IWAS) system. School districts
who operate Driver Education programs must file a cost claim on or before
Homeless Program Grant
Prior to fiscal year 2005 the State Board of Education (ISBE) had used the homeless program grant to fund a combination of individual school district and limited regional proposals. As a result, not all school districts were receiving services under the program. In February 2003
a regional format was implemented, along with the local grants, to establish a lead local education agency liaison to provide training to all school district liaisons and assist them in meeting the
requirements of the homeless law. In FY 2005 ISBE combined the locally funded programs and lead liaison effort into a single regional system of program delivery.
Seven grants were funded to provide services and programs
to all of the school districts in their region of coverage to ensure that
homeless children and youth have an opportunity to meet the same challenging
state standards to which all students are held. Within ISBE, Rich Dehart coordinates the
efforts of the seven regions to insure a uniform and coordinated delivery
of services.
As a new school year starts, more will depend on the assistance of this program. Thank you for continuing to assist!
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