Some of you may have heard of the announcement by
Secretary Spellings earlier this month about new flexibility with implementation
of the No Child Left
Behind Act
(NCLB) and school/district
accountability. We welcome this announcement as
We are encouraged by continually improving test scores
and the progress schools have made in beginning to close the minority
achievement gap. As we work to successfully implement NCLB in
As we work through the changes in our assessment
system in
On April 20, I met with Deputy Secretary of Education
Designee Ray Simon and other USDE staff in
1.
Concern. There are
several aspects of change regarding subgroup size which are needed in order to
ensure the state’s accountability system is more reliable and
valid.
1.1 Consider overall
changes in school subgroup size.
Ø
Participation: 50 students enrolled on
first day of testing OR a minimum subgroup size of 15 percent of
enrollment across the tested grades, whichever is greater,
AND
Ø
Performance:
50 valid test
scores OR a minimum subgroup size of 15 percent of
the valid test scores across the tested grades, whichever is
greater.
1.2 Consider changes in district
subgroup number
Ø
Participation: 50 students enrolled on first day
of testing OR a minimum subgroup size of 15 percent of
the enrollment across the tested grades, whichever is greater,
AND
Ø
Performance:
50 valid test
scores OR a minimum subgroup size of 15 percent of
the valid test scores across the tested grades, whichever is
greater.
1.3 Consider use of a
confidence interval
Beginning with the
2004-05 school year,
NOTE:
We had considered
but not discussed with USDE two alternative proposals. Deputy-designee
Simon stated that if we choose to take advantage of the proposed 2 percent
flexibility in 2006 or beyond, only one set of subgroup numbers would be
acceptable rather than multiple sets.
2.
Concern. Consider a means
of recognizing a district as not having made AYP only when one or more of its schools
OR one or more of its underlying grade spans have
not made AYP. Illinois proposes to change how districts are identified
as not making AYP so that no district will be determined to not meet AYP unless
one or more of its schools OR one or more of its underlying grade spans have
not made AYP in the same subject area.
3.
Concern. Consider changing the definition of a full academic
year.
NOTE: If/when enacted, the
4.
Concern. Use a test with a different readability level.
5.
Concern. Using same
subgroup in determination of AYP.
Mr. Simon said that
I look forward to seeing many of you at
the IASA Annual Conference this week.
Best
regards,
Randy
Dunn
Also in this
week’s message:
State Board of
Education action items from April meeting
Follow-up on
social emotional learning surveys
Invitation to
comment on rules
Professional Development Needs
Assessment Survey
Video tool kit
for Refugee and Bilingual Program students
Preventing
diseases associated with animals in public
settings
State TBE/TPI
and Federal Title III consolidated application
workshops
21st
Century Community Learning Centers Program
Mediacom
Communications offers scholarships to high school students
U.S. Department
of Education seeks nominations for American Stars of
Teaching
Positions
available at ISBE
Weekly
newsclips
State Board of
Education action items from April meeting
Motion:
Pupil
Transportation Reimbursement (23
Next
steps
With the Board’s authorization, staff
will submit the proposed amendments to the Administrative Code Division for
publication in the Illinois Register to elicit public comment.
Additional means such as the Superintendent’s message and the agency’s website
will also be used to inform interested parties of the opportunity to comment on
this rulemaking.
The State Board of Education authorized
solicitation of public comment on the proposed rulemaking
for:
Education
Purchasing Program (44
Next
steps
With the Board’s authorization, staff
will submit these proposed rules to the Administrative Code Division for
publication in the Illinois Register to elicit public comment.
Additional means such as the Superintendent’s message and the agency’s website
will also be used to inform interested parties of the opportunity to comment on
this rulemaking.
Motion:
Adopted
recommended changes in the 2005 Board calendar as
follows:
·
Plenary Sessions
shall begin at
·
June 15-16, 2005
meeting will now be held in Springfield, due to the unavailability of hotels in
downtown Chicago, and the possibility of the General Assembly being in
session.
·
August 1, 2005 there
will be a one-day plenary business meeting via phone conference/video
conference.
·
The Annual Work
Conference dates have been changed to August 16-19, 2005 and the work conference
will be held at the Pere Marquette State Lodge in Grafton,
Illinois.
·
The October Board
meeting will be held in Danville, Illinois.
Motion:
The State Board of Education approved the
following programs, authorizing the institutions to conduct the programs and to
recommend candidates for certification by entitlement until the time of the
institution’s next accreditation review.
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Chicago State
University – School Social Worker
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Loyola University
Chicago – Technology Specialist
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McKendree College –
Principal/General Administrative
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Rockford College –
Learning Behavior Specialist I
Further the State
Board of Education authorized the Superintendent to inform the institutions of
the State Board’s decisions.
Next
Steps
Each of the institutions will be notified
regarding the State Board’s decision. The State Teacher Certification
Board will also be notified and the State Board’s Directory of Approved
Institutions and Programs will be updated to identify the new
programs.
Motions
(Waivers):
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The request from
Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 (WM100-3401-2) asking to
waive daily physical education for students in grades 9 through 11 is to be
forwarded to the General Assembly with a recommendation for legislative
disapproval.
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The request from
South Beloit Community Unit School District 320 (WM100-3447-2) asking to waive
daily physical education for students in grades 11 and 12 is to be forwarded to
the General Assembly with a recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The request from
Somonauk Community Unit School District 432 (WM100-3370) asking to waive
instructional time requirements is to be forwarded to the General Assembly with
a recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The request from
South Beloit Community Unit School District 320 (WM100-3447-4) asking to waive
instructional time requirements is to be forwarded to the General Assembly with
a recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The request from
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 (WM100-3390) asking to waive time
limitations for substitute teachers is to be forwarded to the General Assembly
with a recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The request from Cook
County School District 130 (WM100-3454) asking to waive time limitations for
substitute teachers is to be forwarded to the General Assembly with a
recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The request from
Freeport School District 145 (WM100-3506-1) asking to waive time limitations for
substitute teachers is to be forwarded to the General Assembly with a
recommendation for legislative disapproval.
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The requests from
Gavin School District 37 (WM100-3517-1 and WM100-3517-2) asking to waive daily
physical education and classes in art and music for students in grades K through
8 is to be forwarded to the General Assembly with a recommendation for one-year
approval only.
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The remaining 75
requests summarized in the waiver report are to be forwarded without
comment.
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The Board approved
the Spring 2005 Waiver Report, along with the recommendations for disapproval
and one-year approval, and authorized its submission to the General Assembly
before May 1.
Next
Steps
Staff will submit the Spring 2005 Waiver
Report as presented to the General Assembly before May
1.
Motion:
The Illinois State Board of Education
approved the 2005 School District Financial Profile designations based on school
districts’ 2004 annual financial data.
Next Steps
Continue to review any issues that may
still exist with school districts and take all appropriate steps to adjust and
improve the way data is gathered and used and the score is calculated.
School District
Financial Profiles released
The State Board of Education approved the
2005 School District Financial Profiles at their meeting Thursday, April
21. The School District’s Total Profile Score, or Designation, is based on
the Annual Financial Reports (AFRs) from fiscal year
2004.
A School District’s Designation is
achieved by scoring five indicators: Fund Balance to Revenue Ratio (FBRR),
Expenditure to Revenue Ratio (EXRV), Days Cash on Hand (DCOH), Percent of
Short-term Borrowing Available (STB) and Percent of Long-term Debt Remaining
(LTD). Each indicator is calculated from information supplied from the
AFRs and earns a numerical score based upon the range of the indicator.
The indicators are each weighted to arrive at the Total Profile Score; FBRR and
EXRV are weighted at 35 percent and DCOH, STB, and LTD at 10 percent. The
Total Profile Score is on a four-point scale that places school districts in one
of four designation levels: Financial Recognition, Financial Review,
Financial Early Warning, and Financial Watch.
The Financial Watch List represents those
school districts which face the most severe financial problems and includes 79
school districts. The next designation level, Financial Early Warning,
includes 111 school districts. Financial Review contains 249 school
districts this year, and Financial Recognition has 449, an increase of 93 from
last year.
Historical View of the School
District Financial Profile
|
|
2003 Designations (2002
Data) |
2004 Designations (2003
Data) |
2005 Designations (2004
Data) |
|
Financial
Recognition |
431 |
356 |
449 |
|
Financial
Review |
240 |
241 |
249 |
|
Financial Early
Warning |
135 |
140 |
111 |
|
Financial
Watch |
87 |
156 |
79 |
|
Total
|
893 |
893 |
888 |
Analysis of the School District’s AFRs
shows that while districts are raising their Profile scores, many are doing so
while incurring more short- and long-term debt. Significant reductions in
spending are also credited for improving the financial health of school
districts.
Detailed information, including how the
indicators are calculated and the comments districts have supplied for their
Profile Scores can be found at http://www.isbe.net/sfms/P/profile.htm.
If you have questions, please contact Lou Ferratier lferrati@isbe.net or Ken Wargo kwargo@isbe.net via email or by
calling 217-785-8779.
Follow-up on
social emotional learning surveys
The Illinois State Board and the Mental
Health Partnership need information from as many educators as possible to help
in planning future activities. The first of two Social Emotional Learning
surveys are now online in IWAS. The first survey will remain online until
May 11, 2005. The second survey will appear at the beginning of May and
will remain online until May 31, 2005.
Participation in these surveys is
completely voluntary. However, you must have an IWAS account to access the
surveys. If you do not have one, the process is simple and described in
detail below. We ask that you provide this information to your district
teachers and staff so that those interested in filling out the surveys can open
an IWAS account.
How to Get an IWAS Account and
Access the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Practices Survey
Teachers and other staff members can
create their own accounts by using the steps below. IWAS can be accessed
on school computers or a home computer. The account is secure.
1. Access ISBE’s homepage at http://www.isbe.net.
2. From the left-hand menu, click
IWAS.
3. On the right-hand side of the
IWAS login page, click Sign Up Now.
4. Enter the required information (8
items) and click Continue.
5. On the Congratulations page, click Continue.
6. On the Other
Systems page,
scroll to Surveys and click the Sign Up
Now button for
Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Practices - Survey 1.
7. On the My
Profile page,
enter your school's Region County District Type (RCDT) code and click the Submit button (your RCDT is required in your
profile to complete the survey. If you do not know your RCDT, please
contact your administrator).
8. On the Confirmation page, click the System
Listing
button.
9. On the My
Systems page,
click the Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
Practices - Survey 1 link.
10. Complete
the survey.
If you have any questions about the
content of the survey, please contact Glenn Steinhausen at gsteinhausen@isbe.net, Richard Carlson
at rcarlson@isbe.net or call
217-557-7323. If you need technical assistance regarding IWAS or setting
up an IWAS account, please contact the help desk at 217-558-3600.
Thank you in advance for participating in
these surveys.
Invitation to
comment on rules
At its March meeting, the State Board of
Education released two related sets of proposed rules for public comment.
These items have been posted on the agency’s web site at www.isbe.net/rules; choose “Proposed
Rules and Amendments”. Please submit any comments or suggestions you may
have to rules@isbe.net.
Repeal of Part 1100 (Procurement by
the State Board of Education)
New Part 1105 (Procurement by the
State Board of Education)
This rulemaking results from the
comprehensive review of the agency’s rules. When the Procurement Code was
adopted in 1998, the State Board of Education was directed by the Joint
Committee on Administrative Rules to adopt administrative rules implementing the
new Code. JCAR’s Executive Director outlined two options for ISBE:
(i) adopt rules naming the Chief Procurement Officer for the Board, or naming
the CMS CPO as ISBE’s Chief Procurement Officer, and then cross-reference CMS
rules in their entirety; or (ii) develop totally separate rules. ISBE
chose to develop totally separate rules, although these rules do not
substantively differ from the procurement rules adopted by CMS. As a
result, ISBE staff and Board time must be spent adopting amendments to ISBE’s
procurement rules to reflect changes in law to the Procurement Code. In
addition, the General Counsel believes that the incorporation of CMS’ rules is
more consistent with the Procurement Code’s structure and
intent.
Therefore, existing Part 1100 is being
repealed at this time and replaced with a new, much shorter Part that relies
upon the rules of the Department of Central Management
Services
Deadline for Public
Comment: May 31,
2005
Professional Development Needs
Assessment Survey
In conjunction with preparing an
application for a federal special education grant for State Personnel
Development, the Illinois State Board of Education is seeking your input on
the professional development needs of school personnel and parents in the
state. The grant is designed to support “projects that assist state
education agencies in reforming and improving their systems for personnel
preparation and professional development in early intervention, educational and
transition services in order to improve results for children with
disabilities.” ISBE is interested in focusing the grant application
on establishing a regionalized system of professional development that will
ultimately help school districts better meet certain NCLB and IDEIA (Individuals
with Disabilities Education Improvement Act) requirements, particularly those
related to student performance.
In order to prioritize the areas in
which professional development will be provided, we are asking that school
administrative, instructional and related services personnel and
parents complete a needs assessment survey. The survey may be
accessed at http://webprod1.isbe.net/SpecEdProfNeedsSurvey
and will be available from April 18 through April 30, 2005.
It will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Questions
about the survey may be directed to Kathryn Cox at kcox@isbe.net or
217-782-5589.
Video tool kit
for Refugee and Bilingual Program
students
Two videos that premiered last fall at
the “Challenges and Opportunities in Educating Refugee Children” conference are
now available as part of a video tool kit. The videos, “Welcoming New
Learners: A Professional Development Tool” and “In Our Country: Educating
Newcomers in American Schools,” were developed by the Illinois Refugee Children
School Impact Grant (RCSIG) program (comprised of the Illinois State Board of
Education, the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Chicago Public
Schools). The productions are based upon conversations with newcomer
refugee children and parents, refugees who have been in the United States for a
while and their teachers (including some teachers who themselves had been
refugees).
These videos
attracted much positive response from conference participants representing
educators and refugee social service agency staff from Illinois and 16 other
states. Both videos are part of a tool kit that includes:
·
A VHS tape of
“Welcoming New Learners: A Professional Development Tool” in English (with
closed caption option) and in Spanish; originally developed for teachers,
other school staff and social service agency staff that serve refugee children
and their parents.
·
A DVD with “In Our
Country: Educating Newcomers in America” in English (with closed caption option)
and also in Arabic, Maay Maay, Somali, Spanish and Swahili. Also included
on the DVD is “Welcoming New Learners: A Professional Development Tool” in
English (with closed caption option) and in Spanish.
·
A Guide to Using the
Videos, a 45-page
study guide.
While created for
use with refugee students and their parents, these videos also have value in
assisting non-refugee immigrants to understand life in American schools.
The professional development video provides valuable background about the lives
of newcomers and relates life experiences to pedagogic concepts of educational
and social integration of new students into school
life.
For further information about the
Illinois RCSIG Video Tool Kit, contact Sherry Johnson, RCSIG coordinator,
Illinois State Board of Education at 312-814-3850 or email sjohnson@isbe.net. The
videos and study guide are also available at http://www.isbe.net/bilingual/htmls.refugee_services.htm.
Preventing
diseases associated with animals in public
settings
The Illinois State Public Health
Department has issued the following information for
schools.
Schools frequently offer opportunities
for students and staff to learn about and come in contact with animals through
field trips to petting zoos or farms or animal exhibits that visit schools or
animals residing in schools. A recent outbreak of an intestinal, bacterial
infection due to Escherichia coli
O157:H7 is
probably linked to petting zoos in Florida. This outbreak illustrates one of the
risks associated with public contact with animals.
In an effort to
reduce such risks, the National Association of State Public Health
Veterinarians, Inc. (NASPHV) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) have issued the annual Compendium of Measures To Prevent
Disease Associated with Animals in Public Settings, 2005, it is attached.
The compendium considers the various
human health risks due to animal contact, including intestinal disease
infections, injuries, rabies exposures and other infections, including those
caused by bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic agents. The report
outlines recommendations for managing public and animal contact, guidelines for
visiting animals and having resident animals in schools. It also contains
recommendations for animal care and management. The single most important
disease prevention recommendation from the report is to wash hands after
exposure to animals.
Schools are encouraged to review the
information in the report and use the guidelines to minimize risks due to animal
contact in the school or during school functions. IDPH understands the
benefits of human-animal contact and hopes this information is beneficial while
educating students about animals.
State TBE/TPI
and Federal Title III consolidated application
workshops
The Illinois State Board of Education
Division of English Language Learning (DELL) is offering a series of five free
workshops to facilitate submission of the State Transitional Bilingual Education
(TBE)/ Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) and Federal Title III
Consolidated Application for FY06. Please be aware that there are several
changes to the FY06 electronic document.
The five workshops
include three in the Chicago area, one in Springfield and one in southern
Illinois in Carterville. All registrations must be made through the
Illinois Resource Center and must be mailed in. DO NOT FAX OR SEND
REGISTRATIONS TO ISBE. To download information and registration form
please go to http://www.thecenterweb.org/irc/pdf/consol-wksp.pdf
For questions
about the workshops or the application please call DELL at 312-814-3850. The
sessions are scheduled as follows:
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Palatine - Thursday, April
28, 2005 - 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Location:
Harper College,
Wojcik Conference
Center Auditorium
1200 W. Algonquin
Road, Palatine, Illinois 60067, 847-348-5100
Maps: http://www.harpercollege.edu/contact/index.shtml
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Springfield - Friday, April 29,
2005 - 8:30 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Lincoln Land Community
College, Workforce Development Resource Center Classrooms
2-3
5250 Shepherd Road, Springfield, Illinois
62794, 217-786-2200
Maps: http://www.llcc.cc.il.us/masterplan/
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Elgin - Tuesday, May
3, 2005 - 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
Elgin Community College,
Segal
Auditorium
1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, Illinois
60123, 847-697-1000
Maps: http://www.elgin.edu/facilitiesindex.asp
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Lake County - Wednesday, May
4, 2005 - 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
College of Lake County,
High Schools Technology Campus facility
19351 W. Washington, Grayslake, Illinois
60030, 847-543-2430
Directions: http://www.clcillinois.edu/maps/direct.asp#Grayslake
Maps: http://www.clcillinois.edu/maps/pdf/graycamp.pdf
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Carterville - Thursday, May
5, 2005 - 8:30
a.m. to 3 p.m.
John A. Logan Community
College, Workforce Development Building, Room
H127
700 Logan College Road, Carterville,
Illinois 618-985-2828
Maps: http://www.jalc.edu/Online_Student_Handbook/Maps/
Illinois Learn
and Serve America grants awarded
Forty-five Illinois school districts and
regional programs have been awarded K-12 School-Based Learn and Serve
America (LSA)
two-year grants to support incorporation of service-learning into their local
schools and regional special education, vocational education, and alternative
education programs.
The State Board’s Learn and Serve
America program
is designed to enhance student academic learning, social-emotional development,
civic responsibility and leadership, and student volunteer service to their
communities by encouraging the use of service-learning as a teaching methodology
in all Illinois K-12 elementary and secondary schools. This approach combines
meaningful student service to the community with inquiry-based learning, aligned
with Illinois academic and social-emotional learning
standards.
The recipients of the grants include:
Chicago Public Schools 299, Elgin U-46, Sangamon County ROE 51, Community Unit
School District 300, Thornton 205, South Cook ISC 4, Berwyn South 100, Newark
18, Sesser-Valier 196, South Holland 150, Knox County ROE 33, West 40 ICS 2,
Charleston 1, Iroquois-Kankakee County ROE 32, Park Forest-Chicago Heights 163,
North Suburban Special Education District, Waukegan 60, Homewood 153, Oak Grove
68, Sterling 5, Community High School District 94, West Northfield 31,
Adams/Pike ROE 1, Cornell 426, Alden-Hebron 19, Rural Champaign County Special
Education, Wabash 348, South Holland 151, Lewistown 97, Atwood-Hammond 39,
Special Education District of Lake County, Sparta 140, Norris City-Omaha-Enfield
3, Carmi-White Country 5, Jersey 100, Tazewell County ROE 53, Iroquois West 10,
Mannheim 83, Plainfield 202, Vermillion Vocational Education Delivery System,
Des Plaines 62, DeKalb County ROE 16, North Shore 112, New Trier 203, and
Bushnell-Prairie 170.
The grants are provided through funding
from the federal Corporation for National and Community Service, under Title B
of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-82).
Illinois’ appropriation for 2005 is approximately
$800,000.
Chronic Illness
and postsecondary education conference
planned
DePaul University and the Lupus
Foundation of Illinois present the First Annual Symposium on Chronic Illness and
Postsecondary Education. The event will feature Maureen Pratt, author of
Peace in the Storm: Meditations on
Chronic Illness. explore what students with chronic illness need
to be successful in college and beyond and what the faculty and staff who work
with them need to know.
When:
Tuesday, May 17, 2005, 2 to 5 p.m.
Where: DePaul University Lincoln Park, Student
Center, Room 120
To register for this free event go to https://secure.campagne-online.com/registrant/startup.aspx?eventid=2543
or email Lynn
Royster at lroyster@depaul.edu; in the
subject line please put Symposium and include in the text of the message your
name, address and telephone number.
The Illinois State
Board of Education, Division of Curriculum and Instruction, has announced
Advanced Placement Incentive Program Grant (APIP) awards. These grants are the
result of a competitive bid process initiated as a result of Illinois receiving
funds from the federal government. This title grant, part of No Child Left
Behind Section 1705 Part G, was created to promote Advanced Placement and
pre-Advanced Placement programs for low income students. For this reason, only
schools and districts with 40 percent or more students on free and reduced lunch
were eligible to apply.
Funds from this grant will be used to
train teachers and administrators in AP philosophy and methodology and encourage
teaming between high school and middle school teachers. Additionally funds can
be used to promote these courses to parents and students, support for students’
academic achievement and on supplies and materials for coursework. Ultimately
funded programs will encourage teaming of teachers, but also result in more
students taking AP courses and achieving better scores on the AP tests as a
result of better preparation. Additional grant funds from ISBE will be utilized
to send staff from these programs to summer and other institutes conducted by
the College Board, allow selected staff to attend national meetings, support
mentoring of new AP teachers by experienced AP
teachers.
The coming months will see the
seventeen successful applicants develop teams of teachers to expand AP courses
and support services, train new teachers and create vertical
teams between
high school and middle schools for the purpose of creating course articulation
and planning. ISBE looks forward to working closely with these newly award
programs and helping to promote AP to the wider community. For more information
contact Lou Berkman at 312/814-3853.
The programs and amounts of the awards are as
follows:
Moline Unit School District 40 - John Deere Middle
School
$10,000
Benton Cons High School District 103 - Benton Cons
High
School $10,000
Rockford School District
205
$15,000
Granite City Community Unit School District 9 -
Coolidge Middle
School
$10,000
South Holland School District 150 - McKinley Jr. High
School
$10,000
Community High School District 218 - Dwight D
Eisenhower High
School $10,000
J S Morton H S District 201 - J Sterling Morton East
High
School
$10,000
Crete Monee Community Unit School District 201U -
Crete-Monee Middle
School $10,000
City of Chicago School District 299 - North Lawndale
Charter
HS $10,000
City Of Chicago School District 299 - Farragut Career
Academy High
School $10,000
City Of Chicago School District 299 - Kelvyn Park High
School $10,000
City Of Chicago School District 299 - Lane Technical
High
School $10,000
School District U46 - Elgin High
School $15,000
City Of Chicago School District 299 - Chicago
Vocational Career Academy
HS $10,000
Sparta CUSD 140 - Lincoln Middle
School $10,000
Champaign Community Unit School District 4 - Franklin
Middle
School $10,000
Alton Community Unit School District
11 $10,000
21st
Century Community Learning Centers
Program
Illinois State Board of Education does
not currently plan to release an FY 2006 Request for Proposal (RFP) for the
21st Century Community Learning Centers Program grant. Available funds will
provide continued support of the current 21st Century programs. Future announcements
regarding available funds for this grant program will be posted on the Illinois
State Board of Education’s 21st Century website at www.isbe.net/21cclc.
Questions regarding this announcement
should be directed to Carol McCue, Federal Grants and Programs Division, at
217 - 782-4832.
This week, the format of the Special
Education website at www.isbe.net/spec_ed will change to a style that is
similar to the pages of other divisions on the Illinois State Board of Education
website. The format is designed to make it easier for you to locate
special education resources.
While the address of the Special
Education homepage will remain the same, the addresses to other special
education pages and documents will change making it necessary for you to update
any items that you currently have bookmarked.
Please contact the Division of Special
Education Services at 217-782-5589 if you have any
questions.
Mediacom Communications offers scholarships to high school
students
Mediacom Communications is offering
$50,000 in scholarships to senior high school students in five states where it
conducts business – Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin –
through its World Class Scholarship Program. The deadline for application is
April 30, 2005.
Mediacom Communications will award up to
50 scholarships of $1,000 each to graduating high school students attending
accredited post-secondary institutions (e.g., a four-year university, a two-year
community college, a technical institution or other institutions that provide
further training and education beyond high school) in the fall of
2005.
Applications for the Mediacom
Communications World Class Scholarship Program may be obtained on the Internet
at www.mediacomworldclass.com or by
sending an inquiry to World Class Scholarship Program, Mediacom Communications,
2195 Ingersoll Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312. The deadline for applications is
April 30, 2005.
U.S. Department
of Education seeks nominations for American Stars of
Teaching
The
U.S. Department of Education is seeking nominations for its second annual
American Stars of Teaching project, which recognizes outstanding teachers who
are using innovative strategies to raise student achievement, Secretary of
Education Margaret Spellings announced today.
Teachers across all grade levels and
disciplines will be honored this fall as 2005 American Stars in Teaching. One
teacher, or team of teachers from a school, will be recognized in every state
and the District of Columbia. Parents, students, colleagues, school
administrators or others can nominate a teacher who they believe has the
qualities to be an American Star of Teaching.
U.S. Department of Education officials
will again visit the schools of American Star teachers to congratulate them on
their success. The American Stars of Teaching project is part of the
Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, which offers teacher and principal roundtables,
teacher workshops and conferences, regular e-mail updates, and a free online
professional development tool. Nomination forms for American Stars of Teaching
and information on the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative are available at www.ed.gov/teacherinitiative.
Positions
available at ISBE
The Illinois State Board of Education
external vacancy list can be viewed at http://www.isbe.net/hr/pdf/positions.pdf.
Weekly
newsclips
Highlights of last week’s education
newsclips can be found at http://www.isbe.net/news/2005/newsclips/050422.htm.