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Legislation to reduce concussions for student athletes signed into law
House Bill 200, signed into law on July 28, is aimed at reducing the recurrence of concussions in student athletes. The new law will require that young athletes be pulled from practice and game situations if they are found to be displaying signs or symptoms of a concussion. Such players will not be able to return to play until they have been evaluated by trained medical personnel.
The concussion legislation [HB 200 - Senate Amendment (SAM) #1], was passed at the end of May by both chambers of the legislature.
The law makes it mandatory for school boards to develop clear guidelines to educate coaches, student athletes and their parents. This includes:
• School boards shall adopt a policy regarding student athlete concussions and head injuries, and ensuring that the policy be in compliance with the protocols, policies, and by-laws of the IHSA;
• Information on the school board’s concussion and head injury policy shall be a part of any agreement, contract, code, or other written instrument that a school district requires a student athlete and his or her parents or guardian to sign before participating;
• The IHSA shall make available to all school districts, education materials, such as visual presentations, describing the facts and risks.
IHSA’s board has also adopted a new policy with similar guidelines.
House Bill 200 took effect immediately upon signing and has already begun to generate results. Chicago Public Schools has distributed concussion awareness materials to all CPS schools and has begun to hold meetings with the IHSA to discuss next steps for implementation. PRESS, IASB’s policy update service, will distribute material to implement this law in October to subscribers. All schools who would like this material are invited to contact the IASB office for a copy.
Note: Parts of this article have been reprinted from independent news sources, including the blog, The Brain Injury Association of Illinois, July 28, 2011 at: http://brain-injury-illinois.blogspot.com/2011/07/illinois-concussion-bill-signed-into.html
Fraud exemption to Open Meetings Act takes effect in 2012
Effective January 1, 2012, the OMA will allow school boards to enter closed session to “[meet with] internal or external auditors and governmental audit committees, finance committees, and their equivalents, when the discussion involves internal control weaknesses, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards of the United States of America.” 105 ILCS 5/120(c)(28).
Exempting this information from the public is not “new” to Illinois. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) already recognizes the importance of confidential communications held between public bodies and auditors. As such, FOIA exempts these records from public disclosure. However, not having this exemption in the OMA has made it difficult for auditors and school boards to discuss these documents candidly.
This new exception now provides a mechanism for these candid discussions between auditors and school boards that were previously very difficult to have. Now that these sensitive discussions may take place in closed session, school board members can more easily establish and monitor their policies and procedures and even better encourage compliance with laws, regulations and grant agreements. Lastly, this new exception can be expected to help increase a community’s confidence in its school board members as they can now more easily assert their financial oversight responsibilities, for example faithfully protecting the district’s (taxpayer’s) assets.
International tests suggest poverty rate governs school outcomes: Author
Research suggests a student’s educational outcome depends to a large degree on his or her family’s income. This applies to Illinois as often as it does nationwide.
According to author Joanne Barkan, writing in the Winter 2011 issue of the magazine Dissent, U.S. students who attend schools where the poverty rate is less than 10 percent ranked first in reading, first in science, and third in math, when compared with students from nations around the world.
U.S. students attending schools where the poverty rate was slightly higher, between 10 and 25 percent, still ranked first in reading and science, Barkan points out. But as the poverty rate of a school rose, its students performed worse and worse.
The problem is magnified by the fact that 20 percent of all U.S. schools have poverty rates over 75 percent.
Among Illinois’s 869 public school districts, only 46 (or 5.3 percent) had poverty rates over 75 percent, according to the Illinois Interactive Report Card. However, 867 of the state’s 3,915 schools (or 22 percent) had poverty rates over 75 percent. See: http://iirc.niu.edu/CompareDistrictList.aspx .
It is those schools — and those students — that drive down the average ranking of American students, according to Barkan. It is also those schools that drive the demand for public school reform, she says.
Another measure to the link between poverty and student achievement is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2009 NAEP shows only 47 percent of low-income students (with family incomes no greater than twice the poverty level) in Illinois were at or above the basic achievement level in fourth-grade reading, compared with 80 percent of other students.
In fact, among the 10 largest states, Illinois had the second-widest NAEP reading achievement gap between low-income students and other students.
Furthermore, in the 2010 Illinois Standards Achievement Test, 60 percent of low-income 8 th grade students met state standards, while 88 percent of other 8 th graders did so.
Likewise, Illinois Interactive Report Card statistics show that out of the 46 school districts with poverty rates over 75 percent, only four (8.7 percent) made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) last year. In contrast, out of 100 Illinois school districts where the poverty rate is less than 10 percent, 49 districts (49 percent) made AYP.
“Poverty is a powerful indicator of shortcomings for children, particularly in education,” according to Voices for Illinois Children executive director Kathy Ryg. Ryg said public schools are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of children from low-income families.
Barkan bases her findings on figures from the two major international tests that break down student scores according to the poverty rate in a school — the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS).
She uses her research to make this argument: the United States does not have an education problem; the nation has a poverty problem.
“People grow up to be poor because they did not get an education. But it is also the case that they did not get an education because they grew up poor. Something about growing up in poverty — the stress, the low birth weights, the parenting style, and later the doubts about being able to afford college — makes acquiring an education difficult if not impossible,” she states.
“Still not convinced?” Barkan asks. “How about the fact that of all those who earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24, only 1 out of every 10 will come from families in the lowest quartile of income? By contrast, over half will come from families in the top quartile.”
Barkan’s two sources for her findings are given every five years and the most recent results are from 2006. That means new results should be on the way this year to test her hypothesis.
The original article can be found in Dissent Magazine, “Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools,” Winter 2011 at: http://dissentmagazine.org /
Administrators Academy course rolled out to pave way for reform law
In light of the new Education Reform Act in Illinois, the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) announced a new Administrators Academy course, “Gathering Evidence During Observations and Conferencing Using the Danielson Model.”
“This new course is an opportunity for school administrators to get a head start by learning the new ISBE default model,” said Dr. Richard Voltz, associate director of IASA, who will be presenting the new course this fall.
The academy, approved by ISBE, includes 14 hours of direct instruction over two days and four hours spent observing and conducting walkthroughs in their own schools.
“Having a good evaluation process is such a critical part of the new education reform landscape in Illinois that school districts will need to get up to speed on the Danielson method or develop their own evaluation model,” he said.
The Education Reform Act mandates that school districts and teachers agree on the evaluation model within a proscribed period of time and process or use ISBE’s default model, which essentially is going to follow the Charlotte Danielson Framework according to the committee charged with establishing the default model.
Voltz currently is teaching another academy titled “Successful Remediation of the Unsatisfactory Teacher” (AAC #1011) that also uses the Danielson Framework.
Jody Ware, superintendent in Mundelein CHSD 120, recently hosted Voltz’s course for her entire administrative team. She said the workshop contained good information, especially in light of the changing landscape for public education in Illinois.
“My team took away so many tips and an understanding about how to perform powerful teacher observations and evaluations,” Ware said. “I thought the workshop was very timely for administrators given the changes in teacher evaluation requirements due to the recent legislation.
IASA said participants will learn skills and strategies that they can apply to a case study of professional practices as it relates to their work in the teacher appraisal system. The course is designed for participants to learn effective skills and strategies for using the Danielson Framework.
Voltz said the IASA would conduct training for administrators in a district or do combined training for several smaller districts. He recommended that teacher leaders be included in the training. For answers to questions, or to schedule training, contact Voltz at rvoltz@iasaedu.org. Or contact the IASA office at 217/753-2213.
Peoria again to host principals conference featuring legal and administrative updates
The 40th Annual Principals Professional Conference will be held at the Peoria Civic Center on Oct. 16-18.
The conference will feature keynote speakers Jason Dorsey and Dr. Yong Zhao. More than 48 small group sessions on a variety of topics, including bullying, RtI, and new testing will be offered.
Another important feature at this year’s IPA conference will be legal updates from experts in the field of school administration and updates from the Illinois State Board of Education.
Among the presenters will be staffers from IASB.
Tom Leahy, IASB executive searches consultant and a past president of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, will discuss “Seeking the Superintendency” on Monday, Oct. 17.
Also presenting will be IASB field services director Patrick Rice. Rice, a former school principal, will discuss “The Principals Role in Understanding and Reporting to the Board of Education,” on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
For more information about the conference visit the IPA conference website http://www.ilprincipals.org/professional-development/ipa-conferences/principals-professional-conference .
Five meeting sponsors provide support for fall training program
This year’s round of Illinois Association of School Boards’ fall division dinner meetings is sponsored by the following organizations, at these levels:
Legat Architects Bronze Level $ 2,500
Constellation Energy Bronze Level $ 2,500
First Midstate Inc. Bronze Level $ 2,500
Kings Financial Consulting Inc. Bronze Level $ 2,500
Wight Company & Bronze Level $ 2,500
This new sponsorship program provides opportunities for individuals and organizations to provide financial sponsorship to support and enhance all of the division meetings program purposes: board member professional development, networking, peer recognition, association governance and learning about resources available from IASB.
For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact any IASB field services director or Cathy A. Talbert, Associate Executive Director, Field Services and Policy Services, at 217/528-9688 or 630/629-3776, ext. 1234 or ctalbert@iasb.com.
Member district rejoins Association in North Cook
After being gone for a year, East Prairie District 73, Skokie, has rejoined IASB as a member district. East Prairie is located in the association’s North Cook Division.
Membership now totals 852 or 98.6 percent of all school districts in the state.
IHSA votes to keep testing high school athletes for steroid use
Random drug tests will remain for tournaments
The association that oversees Illinois high school sports has announced it will continue testing student athletes for performance-enhancing drugs, a program that began at the start of the 2008-09 school year.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced its board voted on Aug. 9 to continue the steroid testing. Illinois is one of only three states that conduct such tests; the others are New Jersey and Texas.
Mark Harms, the IASB Board of Directors’ liaison to the IHSA, recently noted that last year’s testing produced four positive results. Two of those were cleared by medical review and two were found to be true positives, the first two punishable offenses in the history of the testing program.
A total of 747 of 348,789 student athletes who were eligible were tested last year, which was the third year for the program. To date, 1,758 tests have been conducted. Only student athletes who are involved in post-season state finals competition are randomly tested. Even at that level, fewer than 10 percent of the participating athletes are tested.
IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman said critics might consider the low number of positive test results a reason to stop testing. But he said the program is meant to be a deterrent rather than to catch all offenders, and ending the tests could have negative results.
“Students would know that there is no opportunity for them to be tested,” Hickman said. “And we think it’s money well spent simply to have a deterrent out there.”
Depending on the complexity of the test, steroid testing can easily exceed $100 per student, but the IHSA has chosen to pay for continuing the tests even after state funding has ceased.
The state law mandating the testing has sunset, explained Hickman. He notes that the IHSA funded the program during its first year, but the state paid in years two and three. “Our board believes in this program and made it clear that they want it to continue,” he said.
In comparison to Illinois, the state of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association have tested approximately 2,000 student-athletes, according to The Press of Atlantic City — with only one positive test result. The NJSIAA randomly tests 500 athletes each year, testing only students who participate in state tournament competition.
In Texas, according to the Associated Press, more than 50,000 tests of football, baseball and track participants have yielded fewer than 30 confirmed findings of steroid use since 2008. Yet Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst believes, according to his spokesman Mike Walz, “the program is important and that it saves lives.”
Many school leaders in Illinois apparently agree with that view. “School boards seem to feel that as long as the program works, it should continue,” said Harms, a board member from Flanagan-Cornell Unit District 74, and IASB’s Corn Belt Division Director.
Note: Parts of this article have been reprinted from independent news sources, including: The Associated Press, “Drug tests to continue for Ill. high school sports,” Aug. 8, 2011, and Athletic Business Newswire, “Illinois To Keep Testing High School Athletes for Steroids,” Aug. 8, 2011.
Annual school calendar of legal dates, deadlines available online for 2011-12
IASB’s Annual School Calendar of legal dates and deadlines for 2011-2012 is now available on the Association’s website.
IASB makes the Annual School Calendar available in order to help school districts prepare their local school calendars. Dates listed comply with all statutory deadlines contained in the Election Code, School Code and selected acts of the state legislature. It does not contain dates imposed by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) or its regulations.
The school calendar is posted online so that it is available more quickly and to allow for revisions to reflect any new legislation enacted, and for the correction of any errors.
Subscribers to IASB’s Online Update are notified when the calendar is published, and as any revisions are made.
To find the calendar, visit: https://www.iasb.com/law/ and click on “2011-12 Annual School Calendar.”
Seven full-day preconference workshops set to offer core and elective board training
Registrants for the 2011 Joint Annual Conference can choose from seven full-day workshops on Friday, Nov. 18, prior to the first general session. These workshops require a $220 fee and advance registration.
The workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers. Registration includes a continental breakfast at 8 a.m. and lunch at 11:30 a.m.
All seven workshops qualify participants for School Board LeaderShop credit; some are offered as “core” courses; others as “elective” courses. Here are this year’s core offerings:
The Basics of Governance
This workshop will focus participants on board and board member roles and responsibilities and what effective school district governance looks like. Topics will include:
• the role and work of the school board and how to distinguish it from that of the superintendent and staff;
• the school board’s relationship to the community;
• how each member relates to the full board;
• practical tips, and pitfalls to avoid.
Participants can try out some tools and procedures that make a board effective and sharpen their decision-making skills.
Note: this workshop fulfills the governance overview requirement for admission into the LeaderShop Academy.
The Basics of School District Finance
This one-day workshop will cover the basic knowledge board members typically need for informed decision making in the vital area of school finance. Topics covered will include: budgeting, revenue, expenditures, borrowing and investing, internal controls and district audits, monitoring and communicating district fiscal health, important finance policies, fiscal responsibility and choices.
Data First for Governance: Building the Foundation
How will we know that we are making progress toward our student learning and district goals? How can we communicate that progress simply and effectively to our public? How can we use data to ensure continuous improvement? How should data inform decision making? And how can data help us make decisions in times of limited resources?
This workshop is designed to help boards and board members answer these questions and more. It is the result of a pilot project led by NSBA’s Center for Public Education along with state school board associations in California, Illinois and Michigan.
Visions, Values, Conflicts and Choices! Preserving the Public in Public Schools
This workshop is about the public in public education. What’s public about it, other than its funding? For what purpose, and towards what ends, do we invest in educating the next generation?
This is not about what’s wrong or how to reform public schools, how to restructure classrooms, how to improve teaching, or how best to teach. It is not to offer one right answer, but rather to help identify the right questions that will preserve public schools.
This workshop is for board members who understand that differences and conflict are an integral part of board life, but would like a better way to express conflict and address these differences. It also is for administrators who support representative democracy with its system of shared power between elected and appointed officials, and those who want to help their boards govern rather than manage.
Making Meetings Matter
This participant-centered workshop will challenge you, whether you are a new or veteran board member, to evaluate your board meetings and consider the following: How effective are your school board meetings? Do your board meeting agendas align with your district’s goals/priorities? Are your meetings focused on student achievement? Do you dread or look forward to attending your board meetings? Are you satisfied with the length of your meetings? How can you become a better board member?
Here are this year’s elective offerings:
Comprehensive Workshop for Board Presidents
Being an effective board president requires special skills. Participants will learn the role of the president as it relates to the rest of the board and superintendent, the keys to effective meetings, parliamentary procedure, managing board conflict, communications, ethics and teamwork. This hands-on, interactive workshop will give you an opportunity to learn and compare notes with other board presidents from around the state.
An Introduction to Collective Bargaining for School Board Members and Administrators
Attend this workshop to learn what every school board member needs to know about collective bargaining – and every administrator, too:
• What the law requires of school boards and employee unions;
• Steps involved in bargaining labor contracts;
• Alternative processes; etc.
More information including detailed workshop descriptions are available at https://www.iasb.com/jac11/preconfworkshopbrochure2011.pdf. Online registration is available now at https://www.iasb.com/jac11/precon_reg.cfm.
Note: participants are encouraged to make hotel reservations Thursday night in order to attend these workshops. Limited rooms at conference rates are available; if they are not reserved at the time of conference registration, an option would be to arrange a Thursday night stay at a suburban hotel.
Online preview of 2011 Conference to list all 108 panels, key events
A preview of the 2011 Joint Annual Conference is now available online and includes a master schedule of all Conference events, descriptions and time slots for 108 panel sessions, and descriptions of pre-conference workshops.
This year’s event will be the 79th Joint Annual Conference of the Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois Association of School Administrators and Illinois Association of School Business Officials, in Chicago.
The preview lists all 108 panel sessions that will be offered over the course of the three-day conference and a description of each.
The preview also details the seven pre-conference workshops and Chicago Schools Tours, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 18, along with the Carousel of Panels, professional development activities for board and district secretaries, and other key conference events.
Registration fee is $360 per person until Oct. 17, when it goes to $385. In addition to the registration fee, there is a nonrefundable $200 per room hotel deposit fee for each individual listed on the registration forms who desire conference housing.
To register, districts must submit two copies of the completed registration form and four copies of the completed housing form, with a check or credit card to cover the appropriate fees. Both forms are posted online and available to download at: https://www.iasb.com/jac11/registrationforms.cfm.
The completed forms and fees (check or credit card payment) must be forwarded to: IASB Conference Housing/Registration, 2921 Baker Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-5929.
Questions on registration procedures for conference can be answered by staff at 217/528 9688, ext. 1115 or 1102.
Housing registration for the conference is now open.
Cassel departs from Field Services department; DiPrima moves over to fill post
IASB Field Services Director John Cassel left his position at the end of August.
Cassel has served in that capacity for nearly 18 years and served districts in the North Cook, DuPage and Starved Rock divisions.
“John’s professionalism, dedication, wisdom and caring will be missed by all who worked with him,” said Cathy Talbert, associate executive director for field services. “We sincerely thank John for his years of service and for all his many contributions to our members, division leadership and staff in pursuit of excellence in local school board governance. We wish John all the best in the years ahead.”
Laurel DiPrima, an IASB policy consultant since 2005, assumed Cassel’s duties on Sep. 1.
Both Cassel and DiPrima, who is a former board member for Mt. Prospect SD 57, have done extensive work in board training at the district, division and regional level and at the Joint Annual Conference. Both have also done presentations and workshops at NSBA’s annual conference.
Cassel has regularly led workshops on parliamentary procedure, Myers-Briggs, team-building and board roles and responsibilities, among other topics. He also contributed significantly to the development of IASB’s Foundational Principles of Effective Governance, the philosophy that underlies all of IASB’s governance work.
“I love my work with school boards,” Cassel said. “I have been privileged to be at IASB during an incredible transformation and maturation of field services. I am grateful to have had this opportunity. However, because of some chronic hearing issues, I felt the need to step away from my role. But I look forward to finding ways to continue to invest my energies.”
Division realignment
As this change of personnel is taking place, there will be a realignment of division assignments for field services directors working out of the Lombard office.
DiPrima will serve the Kishwaukee, Northwest and Starved Rock divisions. Field Services Director Barbara B. Toney will continue working with the Lake County division and will now serve North Cook and DuPage divisions.
Toney has been a field services director since 2008. Prior to that she was a consultant for IASB’s Targeting Achievement through Governance program and was a board member for the West Chicago SD 33 district.
Field Services Director Jeff Cohn will continue to serve districts in the South Cook, Three Rivers and West Cook divisions.
Shelbyville board says co-superintendency saved money in tight financial circumstances
It has been just over a year since two principals were promoted as co-interim superintendents by the Shelbyville CUSD 4 Board of Education. But Denise Bence and Kevin Ross have done well enough that they were given the go-ahead for another year at the helm in a board meeting on July 21.
The two have been running the Shelbyville district in partnership since stepping up to the top job in July 2010. At the time, Ross was the high school principal and Bence was the elementary school principal, posts both have continued to hold in addition to their shared duties.
“I think it’s pretty obvious that this has worked out well for the district,” Board President Rob Bosgraaf told the Journal Gazette & Times-Courier newspaper on July 23. “We’re all very happy with the situation.”
When asked if the district has any plans to eventually hire a single superintendent, Bosgraaf said “Probably eventually we will, we talked at our last board meeting about that. But right now what we are doing is beneficial.”
He adds that evaluating two people at the end of the year was not particularly problematic. “They each have responsibility for different parts of the job,” Bosgraaf said. “One of them feels that being out in the public and being ‘that’ person and contacting the board and working with us is the focus. The other is more the behind-the-scenes administrator. Working with the financial side, and getting grants is that person’s focus.”
Bence noted that it has been a learning experience, but she added: “It’s been a great experience. Kevin and I have really worked as partners. I’ve learned a lot.”
She told the school board that the district had weathered a difficult financial year well and actually would be able to add back some previously eliminated items, including class field trips in the 2011-12 school year.
“We have been very conservative, very careful,” Bence said. “It’s paid off.”
Board president Bosgraaf said the co-superintendency also has paid off, noting, “When we needed a new superintendent, that’s when everybody was going through a financial squeeze from the state and this saved us about $65,000 a year, and thus saved us from letting go of two teachers.”
It is working so well that the term “interim” has been removed from the shared job title.
Chicago (July 25, Chicago Sun-Times) Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on July 19 his decision to send his children to the University of Chicago Lab Schools was made “as a parent in the best interest of my children,” insisting it’s not a value judgment on Chicago Public Schools. The question of whether the mayor’s kids would attend CPS schools was a touchy subject during the heated mayoral election campaign.
Chicago (July 25, Chicago Tribune) Chicago District 299 officials are proposing a $7 million state-of-the-art security system at 14 high schools. Footage from up to 80 high-definition cameras could be monitored by CPS and will be fed to a nearby police station, then linked into the citywide network of surveillance cameras. That network includes cameras operated by the Chicago Police Department, Office of Emergency Management and Communications and Chicago Transit Authority.
Chicago (July 28, Chicago Tribune) Medical doctors recently spread the word about concussions to Illinois coaches at a symposium in Chicago. There’s no such thing as a “ding,” concussion experts told Illinois school coaches on July 27 in preparation for compliance with a new state law. “Ding” is a misnomer; “it’s a traumatic brain injury,” Players who suffer blows causing the head to suddenly jerk may still have concussions even if they don’t lose consciousness, doctors said. Symptoms may be as subtle as headaches, feeling momentarily dazed, and even sleep problems. But they should not be ignored, experts told about 100 school coaches, trainers and others from around Illinois.
Decatur (July 25, Herald-Review) Regional superintendents at their offices in the Decatur area are going to continue fulfilling their duties despite uncertainty over whether they’ll get paid. Gov. Pat Quinn eliminated funding for the salaries of superintendents and their assistants just hours before the start of the fiscal year that began this month, saying the organizations could possibly seek funding from other state sources.
DeKalb (August 3, Daily Chronicle) DeKalb District 428 is sounding a siren to curb truancy. The school board wants officials in DeKalb, Malta and Cortland to enact a truancy ordinance. DeKalb High School administrators said city support would help reduce the number of students with chronic truancy problems. In 2009-2010, more than 53 percent of students were absent from at least a portion of a school day without a valid cause. Last year, 44.8 percent were recorded absent.
Huntley (August 12, Northwest Herald) Huntley District 158 high school science teacher Erin Stefanik says fear and lack of confidence commonly turns students away from taking senior-level classes or pursuing a career in science. Schools across the country deal with similar issues regarding math and science. As a nation, the United States falls behind other countries in math and science achievement. Data from the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment exam in 2009 ranked U.S. students 25th in math and 17th in science out of 34 countries.
Lincolnshire (July 27, The Daily Herald) Many ex-administrators in Illinois school districts get large pension boosts when they reach age 61, complain anti-tax critics. According to the United Taxpayers of America, the Illinois Teachers Retirement System holds the money from annual cost-of-living increases for them until they reach age 61, when it’s released over the course of that year. Even though Illinois lawmakers took a stab at reining in future pension costs by changing the annual increase formula, the new rules don’t prevent early retirees from accumulating those annual adjustments and getting the money when they reach age 61.
Statewide (July 28, Northwest Herald) While there is state testing for third- through eighth-graders under the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, there is no statewide assessment tool for kindergartners. “We don’t have that now,” said Mary Fergus, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education. A committee of educational leaders, however, has suggested a program that would change that. The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey process, or KIDS, would look at things such as a child’s development of language, social, and emotional skills, health and approaches toward learning. The program was presented to the ISBE in April with a recommendation for it to be piloted in the 2012-13 school year and then expanded the following year. The ISBE is moving forward with the development of a kindergarten readiness assessment, but, in part because of state budget cuts to education, there is no specific timeline as of yet.
Statewide (July 25, [Aurora] Beacon News) The state’s decision to cut the essay exam from the Prairie State Achievement Exam to save cash is leaving students with costly headaches, according to Erika Schlichter, director of educational services for grades 6-12 in Kaneland CUSD 302. Legislators cut funding for the writing component of the test when passing the budget in May, reportedly saving the state $2.4 million. But for students headed to college, the change could mean more time and money spent on test-taking for college applications, said Schlichter. And though school administrators said they won’t change their curricula because of the test’s elimination, they are losing a measurement of how students are progressing.
Burroughs nominations
The deadline to nominate local school board presidents for the Thomas Lay Burroughs Award is Oct. 15. Created in 1991 in memory of the late ISBE chairman, the award is presented every November at the Joint Annual Conference. This year’s conference will be held Nov. 18-20, and the award will be presented on Sunday, Nov. 20. Award criteria include: 1) Leadership on behalf of improved student learning and educational excellence; 2) Leadership on behalf of equal educational opportunities; and 3) Leadership in resolving a crisis or major difficulty. For more information, phone ISBE’s Jean Ladage at 217/557-6626. Nominations may be sent via e-mail to Ladage at jladage@isbe.net. The email subject line must say: Burroughs Nomination.
Common Core Standards
New state standards for all public schools are in the works. In pursuit of that, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) released draft model content frameworks for public review on Aug. 3. The frameworks identify the main ideas in the Common Core State Standards for each grade level and will help determine the focus for state assessments being developed. The first draft frameworks have been posted on the PARCC website. Final frameworks will be released in the fall. PARCC is 24-state consortium working to develop common assessments, which is funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The alliance is led by the member states and Achieve, a nonprofit group that aims to align K-12 education policies with the demands of employers and postsecondary institutions. Visit http://www.parcconline.org for more information.
Board secretary nominations sought
The deadline to nominate board secretaries for IASB’s Holly Jack Outstanding Service Award is Oct. 3. Districts are encouraged to nominate district employees (superintendent’s secretary, superintendent’s administrative assistant, school board secretary, etc.) who do the work of the school board secretary for this honor. To be eligible, however, the employee must have been employed in that position, either by their present school district or another, for a minimum of five years. The award was created as a tribute to the memory of Holly Jack, a long-time IASB employee who was instrumental in promoting and developing the secretaries’ program at the annual conference. It will be presented at the IASB/IASA/IASBO annual conference in Chicago. Nomination forms are available on the IASB website, https://www.iasb.com, or contact Anna Lovern, director of policy services, at 217/528-9688, ext. 1125, or at the email address alovern@iasb.com.
Members’ site survey looks at current issues
If you are a new board member you may not know that IASB’s Members-Only website includes an interactive general survey on current issues in education. It’s a place where you can “vote” on the topics and compare your responses to those of other board members. To access this feature, log onto the Members-Only website at: http://members.iasb.com. Registration is required. This requires the member’s seven-digit Member ID number and last name. The number appears on the mailing label of all materials sent to IASB members, and begins with “2.” After completing this step, members need to set up an account with an email address and a password of their choosing.
September 9 – New Superintendents’ Luncheon (open to new and first-year superintendents only), Candlelight Inn, Rock Falls
September 10 – Basics of School District Finance, IASB, Springfield Office
September 12 – Basics of Law on Board Meetings & Practices , IASB, Springfield Office
September 13 – Wabash Valley Division Fall Dinner Meeting, Neoga CUSD 3, To Be Determined
September 13 – Basics of Law on Board Meetings & Practices , Holiday Inn, Carbondale
September 14 – Professional Advancement – Seeking the Superintendency, IASB, Lombard
September 15 – Basics of Law on Board Meetings & Practices , NIU, Naperville
September 20 – New Superintendents’ Luncheon (open to new and first-year superintendents only), Thayer’s 158 North, Joliet
September 20 – Professional Advancement – Seeking the Superintendency, IASB, Springfield
September 21 – North Cook Division Fall Dinner Meeting, LaCave Banquets, Des Plaines
September 22 – Kishwaukee Division Fall Dinner Meeting, Marengo CHSD 154, Marengo
September 22 – Illini Division Fall Dinner Meeting, Matoon CUSD 2, Mattoon
September 24 – Basics of School District Finance, Holiday Inn, Carbondale
September 26 – Western Division Fall Dinner Meeting, Knoxville CUSD 202
September 27 – BoardBook demonstration webinar , online
September 28 – Southwestern Division Fall Dinner Meeting , O-Fallon THSD 203
September 29 – West Cook Division Fall Dinner Meeting, Elmcrest Banquets, Elmwood Park
For more current information, see www.iasb.com/calendar/