The second listening tour concludes with stops in Lockport, East St. Louis, Chicago, Streamwood, and Sycamore to solicit community and stakeholder feedback on the first draft of the Illinois ESSA State Plan, which was presented at the August State Board of Education meeting. ISBE welcomes all stakeholders who may have missed the opportunity to give feedback at an earlier tour stop to attend one of the final meetings.

“Feedback is essential as staff and stakeholders work together to refine the initial draft. I encourage parents, teachers, principals, superintendents, community, and business leaders to take advantage of this time and share their thinking on the opportunities and areas of concern in ESSA,” said State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith, Ph.D. “ISBE, our staff, and stakeholders truly rely on community questions and feedback to guide our thinking as we define common, high expectations and revamp Illinois’ education practices to benefit all children.”

In order to facilitate understanding of and inform questions regarding the ESSA State Plan, ISBE and Partners for Each and Every Child have produced a Reader’s Guide with summaries, key facts and stats, discussion prompts, and additional information.

After staff and stakeholders refine the draft to reflect the feedback gathered statewide, ISBE will post the revised version online for a third and final round of review later this fall before the Board votes to finalize the plan.

The second statewide listening tour includes 14 meetings total, held between Sept. 6 and Oct. 5. All meetings take place from 4:30-6:30 p.m. with the exception of the stop in Streamwood, which starts at 5 p.m.

Remaining stops in the tour include:

The first listening tour, which occurred in April and May, focused on an overview of ESSA and ideas and questions from meeting participants. The second round of meetings focuses on sharing the substance of the initial draft plan and receiving feedback from the field.

Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, reauthorizing and amending the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replacing the most recent version of the law, called No Child Left Behind. Illinois’ ESSA State Plan embraces the significant opportunity ESSA presents to better serve all students. By considering what educating “the whole child” means and designing supports and programming that take into account every student’s unique strengths and settings, the State Plan aims to equip all students to succeed in college and career. The new law takes effect in phases over the next two school years. For more information regarding ESSA, please visit http://isbe.net/essa/.