FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2003
State Board of Education approves comprehensive changes
in System of Support for academically struggling schools
Required by the federal No Child Left
Behind law of 2001
A new, comprehensive approach to bolstering school improvement
in academically struggling schools was approved by the
State Board of Education today. The accountability requirements
of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) are expected
to dramatically increase the numbers of schools and districts
for which the state will be required to provide academic
assistance.
Illinois first developed its System of Support in response
to requirements of the 1994 reauthorization of the federal
Elementary and Secondary Education Act for schools that
received federal Title I funding. Initial efforts provided
a variety of services, but the approach was not systemic.
The number of schools requiring targeted assistance has
grown from 57 to 715 since 1997, largely because the state
switched to the more rigorous Illinois Standards Achievement
Test in 1999 and Prairie State Achievement Examination
in 2001. These two tests set higher standards than the
previous IGAP tests.
In the coming year, the number of targeted schools is
expected to double or triple as a result of the adequate
yearly progress (AYP) requirements set by the State Board
to comply with NCLB. To meet these AYP requirements, the
percentage of students who must meet and exceed state
standards rises each year. Furthermore, the requirements
apply not only to all students in a school or district
but also to subgroups containing 40 or more students.
Subgroups include race/ethnicity classification, students
with disabilities, English language learners, and children
in poverty as determined by free or reduced-price lunch
status.
Schools that do not meet AYP requirements are placed
on the state Academic Early Warning List (AEWL). Under
current state laws, schools are placed on the AEWL if
less than 50% of their test scores meet state standards
for two consecutive years. AEWL schools that do not demonstrate
improvement are placed on the Academic Watch List.
To handle the increased burden on the System of Support,
ISBE staff, in partnership with the Regional Offices of
Education and others, have developed a plan to shift the
delivery of services from a centralized to a regionalized
model. Currently, services are provided from the top down,
with ISBE staff delivering hands-on assistance to schools
and districts. The new approach would rely on Regional
Offices of Education as the primary provider of services,
except for the approval and program administration of
most of the grants associated with NCLB.
The System of Support has four core elements: a school
improvement plan that is based on analysis of data; standards-aligned
curriculum, instruction and classroom assessment; professional
development for teachers and administrators; and student,
family and community support services. Full details of
the plan to reorganize the System of Support are available
in a report developed for the State Superintendent: http://www.isbe.net/board/meetings/may03meeting/sosreport.pdf.
Funding for System of Support activities comes from both
state and federal sources at the present time. Most funding
in future years, however, will come from federal sources.
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