As I watch the statewide temperatures on the weather every morning or evening, there’s no question that summer has arrived everywhere in Illinois from East Dubuque to East Cape Girardeau. And as we approach the end of June, there is something else with which Illinois educators must contend as well.

 

It is that time of year when those educators whose certificate registrations expire on June 30, 2005 are busy getting renewals done. The Certification Division staff members in both the Springfield and Chicago offices are working very hard to meet the increased demand and will do everything they can to help get everyone registered on time. We especially appreciate everyone’s patience in the Chicago office last Monday when (to utilize restaurant parlance—yes, I did my time as a server when going to college) we were “slammed.”

 

As we get through this week, there are a few things to remember to help avoid waiting in lines and on the telephone during this peak period:

·              Though certificate registration expires on June 30, teachers and administrators need not have the registration completed until the first day of school (unless they are working during the summer). Waiting an extra few weeks until the initial peak period is over will result in less waiting. All certificates are registered by fiscal year, so they will show a July 1, 2005 registration date.

·              Certificates may be renewed online by paying with a credit card without going into the Chicago Certification Office or any Regional Office of Education. Use the OTIS website at www.isbe.net/otis/default.htm . Create a login and establish a secure account, then follow the step-by-step instructions. It is fast and easy.

·              The volume of telephone calls may mean that not everyone can get through immediately. Check with the ISBE web site first www.isbe.net/certification/default.htm to see if your question can be answered there or send an email to one of the addresses listed. Making multiple calls or sending multiple emails may slow the response because it adds to the overall volume of messages we have to process.

 

The Certification and ROE-Chicago Services Divisions ask that you please be patient during this busy period. I shall make that same request on their behalf as I know they are absolutely assisting everyone as quickly as possible. I want to close by thanking all of the staffers in those Divisions, as well as their Administrators: Dennis Williams (Certification) and Jeff Aranowski (Acting, ROE-Chicago Services).

 

Keep cool; rest, relax and stay safe over the 4th; and have a great week.

 

Randy Dunn

 

Also included in today’s message:

• Important notice concerning the grade 5 ISAT reading results
• End of session report available
• Invitation to comment on rules
• Notice of completed rulemaking
• ISBE employment opportunities
• Weekly news clips

 

Important notice concerning the grade 5 ISAT reading results

Because of a security breach involving one of the passages on the grade 5 ISAT reading test (passage 1), students’ responses to the extended-response and multiple-choice items associated with that passage were not used to calculate grade 5 ISAT reading results. In other words, grade 5 ISAT reading scores returned for individual students were calculated based on a test that was shorter than the one that students actually took. Because students’ responses to passage 1 items were not used to calculate grade 5 ISAT reading results, they did not impact AYP performance outcomes (either positively or negatively).

 

Passage 1 and its associated items were dropped so that no student, school or district would be treated unfairly because of this breach. The grade 5 ISAT reading results for students, schools, districts and the state were calculated based on students’ responses to items associated with the remaining grade 5 passages only.

 

On ISAT School and District Performance Profile reports, the section of Chart C that provides results for the extended-response item for reading passage 1 shows 0 percent for all score points (0 – 4). On the ISAT School Roster, all students show a score of 0 for reading passage 1. Despite the fact that zeroes appear on the School Roster, no student received a score of 0 for this extended-response item. In fact, all students received no score for this item.

 

Because of scheduling and programming constraints, it was not possible to show blanks instead of zeroes on Performance Profile and School Roster reports. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. If you have any questions, please call the Student Assessment Division at 217/782-4823 or Pearson Educational Measurement at 800-627-7990, extension 814.

 

End of session report available

The spring session of the 94^th General Assembly came to a close on May 31. ISBE staff has prepared a list of all legislation the agency tracked during the past six months. To access this information please visit http://www.isbe.net/pdf/end_of_session.pdf

 

To review the full text for any piece of legislation, please visit www.ilga.gov. Using the left side of the page you can search for legislation by bill number. For a House Bill type in HB and the bill number (for example: HB 1) or for a Senate Bill, type in SB and the bill number (SB 1). The bill status for that particular legislation will come up. Click on “full text” to see the bill in its entirety.

 

For additional information, please contact ISBE’s Governmental Relations Division at 217-782-6510.

 

Invitation to comment on rules

The State Board of Education has released 11 proposed repealers of sets of rules that regulate activities that have not been funded for a considerable period of time. These rules include:

 

Part 30             Staff Development Plans and Programs

Part 56             Insurance for Certificated Employees

Part 160            Professional Development Block Grant

Part 220            Scientific Literacy

Part 225            Alcohol and Drug Education Initiative

Part 230            Summer School for Remedial Education

Part 240            Alternative Learning Opportunities Program (Subpart B only (Alternative Learning Opportunities Program Grants))

Part 245            Urban Education Partnership Program

Part 250            Comprehensive Arts Programs

Part 360            Mathematics and Science Loan Program

Part 575            School Technology Program (Subpart A only (School Technology Grants)

 

At the same time, ISBE has proposed a new Part 500, Replacement of Required Rules. This new Part acknowledges that the underlying statutes require rulemaking on the part of the State Board and indicates that rules will be promulgated again if funding is restored in the future for any of the initiatives involved.

 

All 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.

 

Deadline for Public Comment:    August 8, 2005

 

Notice of completed rulemaking

Please be advised that one other rulemaking recently adopted by the State Board of Education is now in effect. This set of rules has been posted on the agency’s web site at www.isbe.net/rules; choose “Rules Currently in Effect” and scroll to the relevant Part number. (If you print only the affected Sections, remember to include the table of contents for the Part, which changes every time the Part is amended.)

 

Access to Information of the State Board of Education Under the

Freedom of Information Act (Part 5001)

 

Several months ago we amended Part 5001 to deleted unnecessary or redundant provisions. While those amendments streamlined ISBE’s FOIA rules, they were not meant to represent any substantive change in ISBE’s FOIA procedures. However, we have been advised that the consolidation of two existing provisions has created an unintended discrepancy with respect to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act (IAPA).

 

Section 5-15(a)(2) of the IAPA provides that a request for copies of agency rules is not a FOIA request unless the requester designates it as such. In our recent amendments, however, we repealed Section 5001.600 (which dealt with the inspection of documents that are incorporated by reference into ISBE’s rules) and amplified Section 5001.500 (Inspection of Records) to include those materials. That change needs to be reversed so that the rules will conform to both applicable Acts by treating the incorporated materials separately.

 

The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules also requested minor technical revisions in Sections 5001.110 and 5001.210 that were overlooked in the previous amendments.

 

Under the IAPA, no public comment period is required before amendments to this set of rules can be adopted by the agency and placed into effect.

 

Affected Sections:         5001.110, 5001.210, 5001.500 and 5001.600

 

Effective Date:              June 2, 2005

 

ISBE employment opportunities

Please visit http://www.isbe.net/hr/pdf/VL05-16.pdf for the most recent job openings.

 

Weekly news clips

This week’s news clips can be reviewed at http://www.isbe.net/news/2005/newsclips/050624.htm