2001-2002 School Year

District employment decisions are affected by NCLB.

• Paraprofessionals employed after NCLB was enacted (January 8, 2002) to work in a program funded by Title I must meet the federal definition of qualified.” This does not include individuals who serve only as interpreters, who are personal care providers, who are parent involvement contacts or who serve in other non-instructional roles. A qualified” paraprofessional is someone who:
  • has completed two years of post-secondary study; or
  • an earned Associate’s (or higher) degree; or
  • meets “a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate, through a formal state or local academic assessment, knowledge of and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing and mathematics.”
• Teachers hired to work in Title I-funded programs after the start of the 2002-2003 school year must be “highly qualified," i.e., they must hold an early childhood, elementary, secondary or special certificate and appropriate endorsement(s) if necessary, directly related to the subject(s) and grade level(s) they are teaching.

School Improvement Status is determined for high-poverty, low-performing schools.

• The spring 2001 assessment results were used to determine which Title I funded schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and which will be in "school improvement" status for 2002-03 because they have not made AYP for two or more consecutive years.

NCLB grant requirements must be used.

• Noncompetitive grants, such as Title I, must be used in accord with the new law as of the beginning of the school year. Grant applications for Titles I, II, IV and V were available in March 2002. Program operations in school districts in 2002-2003 must follow the requirements as delineated in the grant applications and instructions.

2002-03 School Year

Annual achievement targets are established. The April 2002 ISAT and PSAE results will be used to determine the Adequate Yearly Progress needed to ensure schools reach the goal of 100% of students meeting standards by 2013-2014.

School Improvement status consequences begin.

• Title I schools that are in "school improvement I" status and have not made AYP for two consecutive years must offer parents the option for their students to attend a better-performing public school within the district.
• Title I schools that are in a "school improvement II" status and have not made AYP for three consecutive years must offer parents the choice option as well as provide Supplemental Education Services for their students in the school.
• The State Board of Education is required to define the criteria and then solicit, evaluate, select and distribute a list of approved providers of supplemental education services.

School Improvement Planning underway for the 2003-04 school year for schools in "school improvement" or "corrective action" status regarding how to apply for and allocate their Title I funds.

Reporting requirements begin for districts and states.

• States and districts must begin reporting their progress toward ensuring all teachers are "highly qualified."
• ISBE must report annually to USDE the progress in meeting measurable objectives at the district and school level, and other data.
• The state must prepare and disseminate an annual state, district and school report card. (Illinois currently does so with report cards distributed no later than October 31st).
• The state must prepare and disseminate an annual report that includes professional qualification of teachers, the percentage of teachers with emergency or provisional credentials, and the percentage of classes in the state not taught by highly qualified teachers (may or may not be a separate report, given the information in the state report card).

ISAT, PSAE remain unchanged, other assessment requirements begin to expand.

• Illinois schools selected by the National Center for Education Statistics to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress for reading, math or writing in grades 4 and 8 are required to do so.
• Districts must do an annual assessment of English proficiency of all English Language Learners.

Districts, states must meet new notification requirements.

• LEAs must notify parents of children who attend Title I schools that they may request information about the professional qualifications of all classroom teachers.
• Schools that receive Title I funds must provide timely notice to a parent whose child has been taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is not highly qualified.
• The state must prepare and disseminate an annual report that includes professional qualification of teachers, the percentage of teachers with emergency or provisional credentials, and the percentage of classes in the state not taught by highly qualified teachers (may or may not be a separate report, given the information in the state report card).

Districts must adopt new policies based on NCLB.

• Policies on choice, supplemental services, and unsafe school choice (from persistently dangerous schools) should be in place.
• Local policies on parental rights and student privacy should be in place at the beginning of the year, e.g., notices to be given at the beginning of the year, including expected dates of surveys and information.
• A local school district must certify that it doesn't prohibit constitutionally protected school prayer in the buildings.

The state must plan and implement new accountability processes.

• A single system of accountability must be proposed and initiated by May 2003.
• ISBE must submit a plan that includes steps it will take to ensure poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, uncertified or out of field teachers.

2003-04 School Year

School Improvement status sanctions continue for Title I schools.

• ISBE must ensure that public school choice is offered for those schools/districts which are in "school improvement I" status for the first time.
• ISBE must ensure that public school choice and supplemental education services are offered by schools/districts that are in "school improvement II" or "corrective action" status.

2004-05 School Year

School Improvement status sanctions continue for Title I schools.

2005-06 School Year

All Grades 3-8 and Grade 11 must be tested by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

Existing Title I paraprofessionals must be “qualified” by June 30, 2006.

All teachers must be "highly qualified" by the end of the 2005-06 school year. (New HQT Plan - veteran teachers may use HOUSSE)

States must have annual state assessments for reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 for the 2006 assessment.

States must have standards for science (Illinois already does), and an assessment, by 2007-08.

2007-08 School Year

States must test science in at least one of each of the following grade spans -- 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12 (Illinois already does).

2013-2014 School Year

All schools must have made AYP toward having all students meet or exceed the standards in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-14 school year.