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Dr. Christopher Koch The State Board of Education appointed Christopher A. Koch, Ed.D. to serve as Illinois State Superintendent of Education effective May 1, 2007. Prior to his appointment as State Superintendent, Dr. Koch served in the position in an interim capacity. Dr. Koch has been with the Illinois State Board of Education, serving in a variety of capacities, including Director of Special Education and ISBE’s Chief Education Officer. Dr. Koch has experience as a special educator having taught in four states in various settings including an Outward Bound program, a college preparatory school, a youth detention center, a psychiatric hospital and a church-sponsored day school. He served at the federal level, with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education where he administered programs in correctional education and School-to-Work (“STW”) transition. As ISBE’s Assistant Superintendent for Special Education he worked to ensure the continuation of federal funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to Illinois, implemented a performance-based accountability system for special education, established public reporting of performance data for school districts, promoted parent and school district partnerships and embraced a philosophy of continuous improvement. Dr. Koch is a member of the Council of Chief State School Officers and serves on that organization’s Early Childhood and Special Education subcommittees. Dr. Koch is an Illinois native, graduating from Brown County High School in Mt. Sterling, Illinois, and from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He obtained his master’s and doctoral degrees in Educational Policy and Leadership from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. |