From: STATE SUPERINTENDENT
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 5:11 PM
To: District Superintendents, ROEs, Directors of Special Education
Subject: Weekly Message from State Superintendent Robert Schiller - 9/13/02
Good
afternoon. I have six items to outline
for you this week, but I first want to follow up on my call for “a few good men
and women.”
Last
week I told you that, as we seek to fill numerous anticipated management
openings at the agency, I want to make sure persons with field experience are
part of our candidate pool. Below is a
list of positions that will be posted within the next two weeks via the formal
process of the agency’s Vacancy Bulletin. The positions on this list are
currently vacant, filled on an “acting” basis, or will be made vacant by
retirement.
If
there is a position in which you are interested, please, please contact
Personnel by calling
(217)782-6434,
by sending your request to Personnel, Illinois State Board of Education, 100
North First Street, Springfield, IL 62777 or by e-mailing gjacaway@isbe.net.
I
will notify all of you by means of this weekly message when the formal vacancy
list is issued. It will be viewable on
our web site.
|
Title |
Work
Unit |
Salary
Range |
|
Manager |
Department
of External Assurance |
$80,000
- $116,000 |
|
Manager |
Department
of School Finance |
$80,000-116,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Division
Administrator |
Budget
& Financial Management |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Career
Development & Preparation |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Curriculum
& Instruction |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
eLearning |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
English
Language Learning |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Division
Administrator |
External
Assurance (A) |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Multi-Media
& Web Services |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
New
Learning Opportunities |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Organizational
Review (Internal Audit) |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Personnel |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Division
Administrator |
Program
Support |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
School
Business & Support Services |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
Staff
Development |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
Division
Administrator |
System
of Support |
$70,000
– $100,0000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Division
Supervisor |
Accountability |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Certificate
Renewal & Leadership |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
eLearning |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Fiscal
& Administrative Services (Fiscal) |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Fiscal
& Administrative Services (Admin Serv) |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Division
Supervisor |
Professional
Certification & Testing |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Regional
Office Services |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Special
Education Compliance |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
|
Division
Supervisor |
Technology
Support |
$50,000
- $85,000 |
In
addition, this week’s message contains
§ 20-Minute Board Packet
for September 18-19 Meeting
§ ISBE conducts first of four budget
hearings on September 19.
§ State Technology Plan needs your
scrutiny
§ Scholarships, annual stipend make NBPTS
process more appealing
§ Federal grants support technology
capabilities in new, renovated schools
§ Parent involvement is focus on TV public
service announcements
********************
20-Minute Board Packet for September 18-19 Meeting
Complete
meeting materials, including specific documents mentioned below, are available
at http://www.isbe.net/board/
I. Education Policy/Planning Issues
School
District Showcase (Wednesday
morning)
Background
and Issues
· During
the next several months, each State Board meeting will highlight an Illinois
school or school district that has made significant educational progress. School personnel will have an opportunity to
talk with Board members about the actions they have taken that contributed to
their success, as well as the challenges and barriers they have faced.
· The
first showcase will feature Irving Elementary School in Quincy.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· Representatives
from Irving Elementary School and the Quincy district board/administration will
talk formally and informally with State Board members.
Next
Steps
· A
similar session highlighting a local school will be scheduled for October.
2002
Statewide Achievement Data: SAT and Advanced Placement Exams (Wednesday afternoon)
Background
and Issues
· The
statewide results of the 2002 SAT I indicate that Illinois students who took
this voluntary college entrance examination are doing significantly better than
the national average.
· Nine percent of
Illinois high school students participated in this exam. Their verbal scores were 77 points higher
than the national average and 63 points higher than the national average in
mathematics.
· The
Illinois scores represent a continuing upward trend, with verbal scores up 2
points over last year and up 15 points from 1997. Math scores were up 8 points from 2001 and up
20 points from 1997.
· The
average SAT I scores for minority students showed an increase over last year.
· Advanced
Placement (AP) exam results for Illinois public school students also showed
strong performance.
· 363
public schools had at least one student taking an AP exam, and 278 schools had
at least ten students taking an exam.
Student participation from these schools represented 60% of the total.
· 46%
of Illinois public students scored a 4 or 5, as compared to 34% for the nation.
· Participation
in AP programs by Black and Hispanic remains significantly lower than by White
and Asian students
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will present the data and policy implications for
Board discussion.
Next
Steps
· Staff
will seek continued federal funding for incentives and support for student
participation in the AP program.
· Staff
will pursue additional program and funding improvements as directed by the
Board and the State Superintendent.
Illinois
Learning Standards (Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The
fourth annual evaluation of the implementation of the Illinois Learning
Standards (ILS) in Illinois schools identified significant correlations among
overall ILS implementation and student ISAT performance in specific content
areas. This is believed to be the first
study in the country to establish significant quantitative correlations between
standards use and achievement.
· The
evaluation also showed that there is greater belief among local educators that
the Standards are “here to stay,” and greater buy-in for the concept of
standards-led teaching and learning.
· Local
educators particularly emphasized their belief that the ILS provide a means for
assuring a more equitable education for all students “by asserting that schools
are accountable for certain levels of content mastery for all their students.”
· Despite
increased acceptance of the Standards, the percentage of schools whose ILS
implementation is at “Level 3” remained about the same this year as last. This prompted the question of what level of
implementation is sufficient (on a 5-point scale) and if further growth is
desired, what must be done to accomplish it.
· The
evaluation also indicated that local educators continue to find it difficult to
understand the link between ISAT and PSAE and the Learning Standards. The timeline and format for reporting
assessment data create perceived barriers for use of test data.
· Recommendations
from the evaluation, which was conducted by Lizanne DeStefano and Nona Prestine
at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, indicate that the State
Board should:
ü set explicit
expectations for local ILS implementation;
ü foster and support capacity building for
effective standards implementation; and
ü clarify the relationship between state
assessments and the ILS.
· Staff
analysis of the implications of this report highlighted the potential use of
the high school performance standards to develop “curriculum frameworks” for
the core courses needed for strong performance on the PSAE and for college
preparation.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
evaluation team will present their findings and recommendations for Board
discussion and response.
· The
Board will consider the recommendations from the State Superintendent that it
do the following:
ü direct staff to
conduct a gap analysis of the recommendations in the report in relation to
current ISBE activities and to develop a work plan for continuing standards
implementation in Illinois;
ü ask the Assessment and Accountability
Task Force to consider the report recommendations regarding assessment;
ü authorize a project to develop high
school coursework “frameworks” and pursue additional policy discussions around
core curriculum; and
ü authorize a second-phase
evaluation/study to answer additional questions about state policies and
support that can help districts improve student achievement in relation to the
Learning Standards.
Next
Steps
· Staff
will disseminate the evaluation report to the education community.
· Staff
will initiate actions consistent with the Board’s decisions and directions on
the recommendations described above.
No
Child Left Behind: Highly Qualified Teacher Guidance Document
(Wednesday
afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB) requires that during the FY03 school year, all newly hired teachers in
programs supported by Title I funds must be “highly qualified” according to the
definition set forth in this law. By
2006, all teachers in the core academic areas (as defined in the law)
must be “highly qualified” for their assignments.
· The proposed guidance document
indicates that most of the certificates issued through the Board’s current certification
system are aligned with the NCLB requirements.
· A notable exception is the
transitional bilingual certificate (Type 29) which will be continued (with
proposed changes) but will not meet the federal requirement for “highly
qualified.” Teachers who hold the Type
29 certificate can be considered “highly qualified” for purposes of federal law
if they pass the applicable examinations.
However, teachers who pass these examinations still have to complete an
approved program to qualify for receipt of an Illinois certificate when their
Type 29 certificate expires.
· The No Child Left Behind Act
also requires that school districts notify parents when their child has been
taught for four or more consecutive weeks by one or more teachers who are not
“highly qualified.”
· Staff have developed sample
information and notice forms that can be used by districts to meet this federal
requirement.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Board will discuss and take action on the recommended guidance document.
Next
Steps
· Pending
Board approval of the guidance document, it will be widely disseminated along
with the sample information and notice forms.
No
Child Left Behind: Supplemental Educational Services (Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB) requires that schools that have not made Adequate Yearly Progress for a
third consecutive year must provide “Supplemental Educational Services” or SES
for their students.
· The State Board is required to
develop a list of approved providers of SES, which can include public, private
and faith-based organizations as well as local school districts. The Board is also required to monitor and
publicly report on the quality and effectiveness of services provided by
approved providers, and withdraw approval from those providers that fail to
demonstrate student achievement.
· As the first step in meeting these
and other state responsibilities regarding SES, the staff have developed draft
criteria for review and approval of potential SES providers. These criteria were developed consistent with
federal law and draft guidance and with the advice and counsel of numerous
stakeholders in the public and private communities.
· The proposed criteria include the
following requirement:
ü evidence of previous
success by the provider;
ü the use of programs and practices that
reflect research and are aligned with the Illinois Learning Standards;
ü instruction that is linked with the
academic program services received by eligible students during the regular
school day and that is secular, neutral and non-ideological;
ü evidence of employment of competent
staff who at a minimum meet the requirements for paraprofessionals under NCLB
and have successfully completed a recent criminal background check; and
ü evidence of the provider’s financial
soundness and capacity to supply uninterrupted quality services for the term of
the contract with the local school district.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will present the proposed criteria for SES providers
and ask the Board to adopt the document.
Next
Steps
· Staff will disseminate the criteria
and, in early October, release an “Application for Supplemental Service
Providers.”
· In November, the Board will be asked
to take action on approvable providers that have submitted early applications.
· In December, the Board will take
action on approvable providers that have submitted applications subsequent to
those reviewed at the November meeting.
· The list of approved providers will
be disseminated and staff will provide technical assistance for those schools
that must provide SES during the second semester of the FY03 school year.
Report
on ISAT and PSAE Cut Score Setting
(Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· In response to Board member
questions, the staff have prepared a summary of the process and history of cut
score setting for ISAT and PSAE, as well as the IGAP which preceded these
tests.
· With the exception of the cut scores
for 4th grade science on ISAT, all cut scores for the state
assessments (whether IGAP, ISAT or PSAE) have remained exactly as initially set
by the State Board.
· The 4th grade ISAT cut
scores, which were set by the Board in 2000, were reexamined upon a special
request and partially re-set in 2001.
The only change was between the bottom two performance categories (i.e.,
Academic Warning and Below Standards).
· Assessment best practices call for
maintaining cut scores for 5-7 years to ensure that longitudinal trends can be
maintained and progress in any given year is measured against the same
standards.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will respond to Board member questions/comments about
the report in the Board packet.
· The
Board will be asked to refer further discussion of cut score setting to the
Task Force on Assessment and Accountability for its consideration within the
broader context of refining and improving the state testing process.
Next
Steps
· Further
action will be based on Board direction at this meeting and the recommendations
from the Task Force on Assessment and Accountability.
The
Illinois After-School Initiative Task Force
(Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· Identical resolutions passed by the
Illinois House and Senate in 2001 led to creation of the Illinois After-School
Initiative Task Force. This group’s
assignments were to (1) assess the state of after-school services in Illinois,
the number and location of students in need of after-school programs, and the
funding streams for such programs; and (2) develop a plan for coordinating
after-school services and “achieving a goal of providing after-school services
for every school age child in the state.”
· The Task Force, co-chaired by leaders
from the State Board of Education and the Department of Human Services, has
developed a preliminary report which emphasizes that its goal is to make
high-quality after-school services available to all Illinois students
and not to mandate student participation.
· The preliminary Task Force report
identifies the desired roles of families, communities and the state and
includes guiding principles for after-school services, core elements of such
services, funding streams and funding issues, critical policy questions and
recommendations for priority and secondary actions.
· The key recommendation calls for
continued work by the Task Force and others to answer the strategic questions
in the report and to develop a plan for meeting the goal of universal
after-school program availability.
· Policy issues associated with the
report include (1) the challenge of funding after-school programs at a time
when there are so many other priorities for state education dollars, and (2) the
potential impact of the federal “Supplemental Educational Services” requirement
on the development of after-school programs and services in Illinois.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· Staff
will present the preliminary Task Force report and respond to questions.
· The
Board will be asked to endorse the preliminary recommendations for inclusion in
the Task Force’s final report.
Next
Steps
· The
final report will be provided to the Board in October for Board approval.
· The
report is to be submitted to the General Assembly by the end of October.
Rules
for Initial Review: Part 29 – Standards for Administrative Certification and
Part 226 – Special Education (Wednesday
afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The proposed amendments to Part 29
put in place a new credential that will eventually be required of all
individuals who wish to serve as directors or assistant directors of special
education. The standards for this new
credential were adopted previously.
· The proposed amendments to Part 226
phase out the current approval requirements of the special education director
position.
· The State Teacher Certification Board
has reviewed and endorsed these complementary sets of proposed rules.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Board will be asked to authorize distribution of the proposed amendments for
public comment.
Next
Steps
· Consistent
with Board authorization, the proposed rules will be submitted for publication
in the Illinois Register and made available for public comment through
various other means.
· Following
the public comment period, the rule amendments will be brought to the Board,
with changes as indicated by the public comment, for final action.
Rules
for Adoption: Part 1 – Public Schools
Evaluation, Recognition and Supervision
(Wednesday
afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· These amendments respond to
legislation that established requirements for the supervision of
speech-language pathology assistants and paraprofessionals. The proposed rules set out specific
requirements and exempt individuals with experience.
· The Board reviewed the proposed rules
in June and submitted them for public comment.
· The only comment, from the State
Advisory Council on the Education of Students with Disabilities, expressed
concern about the underlying legislation, fearing that it could decrease
student access to services by fully qualified speech-language pathologists and
possibly increase the cost of such services.
· Since this comment did not pertain to
the proposed rules, no changes have been made to the version presented in June.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will present the proposed rule amendments for adoption
by the Board.
Next
Steps
· Staff
will submit the adopted rules to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
for its required review.
· When
that process is complete, the adopted rules will be filed with the Secretary of
State and disseminated as appropriate.
Rules
for Adoption: Part 25 – Certification (Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The
proposed rules deal with electronic registration for certification tests,
making that a more feasible option.
Other changes are technical in nature.
· The
Board reviewed the proposed rules in June and submitted them for public
comment. There was none so the rules are
presented as they were in June.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will present the proposed rule amendments for adoption
by the Board.
Next
Steps
· Staff
will submit the adopted rules to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules
for its required review.
· When
that process is complete, the adopted rules will be filed with the Secretary of
State and disseminated as appropriate.
Waiver
Report to the General Assembly (Wednesday
afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· The
Fall 2002 Waiver Report is the fifteenth report to be submitted to the General
Assembly pursuant to the waiver law. It
contains 33 waiver requests covering ten topic areas, all of which must be
acted on by the General Assembly, as well as 220 requests that have been
approved by the State Board of Education under its statutory authority.
· Three waiver requests
are highlighted because of staff concerns about their impact on student
learning:
ü The
Boone/Winnebago Regional Learning Academy request to count as full days of
attendance sessions of no less than three and one-half clock hours for some
students:
ü The
Sauk Village Consolidated School District #168 request to provide
every-other-day physical education for students in K-5 and to provide students
in grades 6, 7 and 8 with nine weeks of computer instruction in place of daily
physical education; and
ü The
Fisher Community Unit School District #1 request to excuse students in grades
9-12 from daily physical education in order to participate in the band during
school time.
· The
Superintendent has recommended that the Fall 2002 Waiver Report be submitted
without comment, except for a recommendation from the Board to deny the three
requests described above.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will respond to Board member questions about the
report and recommendations.
· The
Board will be asked to take final action regarding the transmittal of this
report with three recommendations for General Assembly denial.
Next
Steps
· Consistent
with Board direction, the waiver report will be submitted to the General
Assembly on or before the due date of October 1, 2002.
2002
Title II State Report Card
(Wednesday afternoon/Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· Title II of the Higher Education Act
requires that each state submit to the public and the U.S. Department of
Education a “report card” on the status of teacher preparation.
· The law requires specific data
elements in the state report card, including statewide and institutional pass
rates on state certification exams, criteria for assessing the performance of
teacher training programs, a listing of “low-performing” teacher preparation
programs in the state, information on waivers of the state’s certification or
licensure requirements, information on alternative routes to certification, and
a description of efforts by the state to improve teacher quality.
· This is the second State Report Card
to be developed consistent with these requirements and, with one exception, the
data are similar to that in the 2001 Report Card.
· The exception is in the area of
waivers to state certification and licensure, where the data indicate that
Illinois has a greater percentage of teachers on waivers in 2000-2001 than in
1999-2000. In 1999, 2.6% o the teaching
force held one of the waiver certificates; that percentage increased to 3.2% in
2000. This increase is noteworthy because
the total teaching population increased by nearly 4000 between the two years.
· The percentage of teachers on waivers
in high-poverty districts (6.5%) remains higher than the state average or
percentage in low-poverty districts.
Moreover, that percentage grew from 5.4% in 1999 to 6.5% in 2000.
· Pass rates on certification tests
remain high among all teacher preparation institutions in Illinois; however,
this picture may change next year when the results of the Enhanced Basic Skills
test will be reported.
· Beyond next year, the percentage of
teacher candidates reported as passing the state certification tests will be
impacted by new legislation that requires passage of the Basic Skills and
content area tests as a condition for (respectively) teacher education program
admission and student teaching. When
those changes are made, teacher preparation institutions should be able to
report 100% passage on the assessments.
· If the Assessment of Professional
Teaching (APT), which will assess core knowledge, language arts and technology
knowledge and skills of all teachers beginning in October 2003, is retained as
a certification test, future Title II reports could show a disparity between
results on the APT and the other types of tests. If it is required as a condition of program
completion, all institutions should be able to report 100% passage on all three
assessments. The State Board has not yet
made this policy decision.
· These factors will make the Title II
more difficult to understand as an accountability measure. Further complicating the Title II report is a
difference in the definition of federal definitions for “highly qualified”
teachers and teachers on “waivers.”
· With the continuation of high pass
rates in the 2002 State Report Card, it is problematic to assign credible
meaning to the quartile rankings.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· The
Superintendent and staff will present the report and its policy implications
for Board discussion.
· The
Board will be asked to approve the report for submission to the U.S. Department
of Education.
Next
Steps
· Based
on Board action, the report will be submitted to the federal government and to
the citizens of Illinois, as required by the federal statutes.
II. Finance and Audit Issues
Budget
Development/EFAB Report (Wednesday
afternoon and Thursday morning)
Background
and Issues
· State
Board budget hearings have been tentatively scheduled for September 19 and 24
and October 7 and 17 in Springfield, Naperville, Chicago and Collinsville.
· The recommendations of
the Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) will be considered during the
development of the FY04 budget.
What
will happen at the Board meeting
· Bob
Leininger, chairman of the Education Funding Advisory Board, will present the
findings, conclusions and preliminary recommendations of that group. No Board action is expected at this meeting.
· The Board will
continue to discuss the process and structure for development of the FY04
budget proposal and it will adopt a schedule for budget hearings.
Next
Steps
· Announcements
regarding the budget hearings will be widely disseminated.
Finance,
Audit and Agency Operations Reports Report (Wednesday afternoon and Thursday
morning)
Background
and Issues