Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2007

In April 2007, Christopher Koch was named as Illinois' new state superintendent of schools, a position he had held as interim since Randy Dunn left in December 2006 to become president of Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. To help school board members get to know the person who now heads the state's education agency, Koch answered the following questions submitted to him by The Illinois School Board Journal:

ISBJ: First, would you please share some background information about yourself with our readers?

Koch: I am an Illinois native and a product of Illinois public schools. I graduated from Brown County High School in Mt. Sterling and from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. My master's and doctoral degrees are in educational policy and leadership from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

I have been with ISBE since 1994, serving in various capacities, including assistant superintendent of special education and chief education officer. I have seven years 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. I served at the federal level, with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education where I administered programs in correctional education and school-to-work transition. I currently reside in Bloomington.

ISBJ: When Randy Dunn was named interim in September 2004, he said he was given four charges by the governor: create a culture of collaboration; clear teacher certification backlog; save local districts money; and develop innovative strategies to address long-term problems. Could you please address the progress ISBE made on those charges and tell us about any charges you have been given? How are you approaching this new challenge of leading ISBE?

Koch: Collaboration remains an important goal and I think we continue to demonstrate such collaboration through our day-to-day interactions. The certification backlog was greatly reduced in Randy's tenure and we have worked to cut costs to local districts with programs like the Illinois School Purchasing Network.

My goals are to continue the progress our agency has made with regard to these and other issues. I would like to focus on maximizing efficiency for districts through such means as e-grants and combined plans filed electronically. My goal would be to reduce the time districts are required to spend on requests from our agency. We also need to continue to leverage state resources to pay for products and services at a reduced rate and to better use data to inform policy. I would like to move Illinois forward with enhanced longitudinal data systems and collaborate, in particular, with our higher education partners. We are pursuing this effort through an agreement between the governor's office and the Gates Foundation. Additionally, I would like to help Illinois become eligible to pursue growth models as a means to measure student progress and to participate in the reauthorization process of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Finally, I want to ensure that the current business of the agency is conducted with integrity and is of high quality. Thus our day-to-day services and products — from assessment scores and AYP determinations to grant applications and certificate renewals — need to be on time, clear and of high quality.

ISBJ: How has the rapid succession of state superintendents affected the state board of education?

Koch: Anytime you have a change in leadership it does impact the agency. However, this agency continues to have very dedicated staff that continues to excel in providing services. Stability and continuity are important for our agency. This is something I believe I bring to the table with my history with the agency.

ISBJ: How much impact can or should the state superintendent have on state education policies?

Koch: Any state superintendent depends on a vast network of individuals both to complete the work of the education agency and, in particular, to shape policy. The state superintendent is the main advocate and point person for education issues as they come before the General Assembly as the budget is being formulated and new laws are being considered.

A critical role of the state superintendent is to oversee a large number of state and federal laws and regulations. This requires constant communication and outreach with those impacted by the laws to minimize the possibility for unintended consequences. Additionally, the state superintendent can provide insights into what impact is being seen as a result of the implementation of law and regulation. This is why chief state school officers across the country participate, both individually, through the office of the governor, and through professional organizations, in discussions with members of Congress towards the reauthorization of critical federal laws, such as NCLB and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

ISBJ: High school reform leader Willard Daggett recently claimed that the state's learning standards and assessments have little relevance in the real world. What can or should the state board of education do to adjust academic curriculum to real-world challenges?

Koch: The state board of education has chosen preparing students for success beyond graduation as one of its main focal points. Illinois is a leader in this area, having adopted Work Keys as part of our high school assessment several years ago. In doing so, we adopted standards from the Secretary's Commission for Achieving Necessary Skills. These standards do align to "real world" applications and attempt to measure work-readiness. We currently are taking the next step in reviewing our standards through our recent partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the governor's office via the Illinois College and Work Readiness Project.

It is important to remember that real world challenges are different for different students. For some students, college is the goal and adequate academic coursework will be necessary for the real world of higher education. For other students, further training or employment will be a goal following high school, and any work skills the student has will be valued. For still others, living independently will be a major focus of life after high school.

ISBJ: Testing is probably tops on the list of school district concerns, right behind finances. After all of last year's problems, what assurance does ISBE have from Harcourt Assessment Inc. that test results will be timelier? Will having all students in the Student Identification System (SIS) help and, if so, how close are we to having everyone in the system?

Koch: We have already demonstrated that scores will be provided in a more timely manner this year. All districts had access to scores for grades 3 through 8 by the second week of June and all districts should have had their high school scores available for review by the end of July. We now have all districts in SIS and this allows us to conduct a greater degree of scrutiny to ensure accurate data. SIS is a valuable tool that will allow us to capture demographic, enrollment, program and assessment data for all students. This will allow us to more accurately and efficiently report information required under NCLB and other state and federal reports. When the system is fully operational, requirements such as the Fall Housing and End of Year reports will no longer be necessary because the data will already be accessible here at ISBE.

ISBJ: On the financial front, what else can be done to help school districts that were promised help with school construction funding? What is the state board doing to increase school construction funding?

Koch: School construction funding does not fall within the state board's budget; however, we continue to provide information regarding school construction needs to the General Assembly. I would encourage all districts to work with their local legislators to make their needs known. In order for additional construction funding dollars to be available to local districts, legislators must approve a state capital bill. ISBE also continues to recommend funding for school maintenance grants.

ISBJ: Your background is in special education. What will the recent changes in federal law mean to Illinois schools in terms of "Response to Intervention"?

Koch: It has always been important for all students that learning difficulties be identified and addressed early and that if a particular intervention is not having the desired effect on a student's performance, adjustments be made to the intervention or a different one be used. Response to Intervention (RtI) plays a critical role in this process, in that it focuses on high quality general education instruction, universal screening of all learners, frequent monitoring of student progress through such mechanisms as curriculum-based measures, and supplementing instruction to intervene early with struggling learners. Consequently, it is essential that schools approach RtI as a general education process and that this process be integrated into general education instructional, intervention and assessment practices.

NCLB language such as "scientific, research-based interventions" now also appears in IDEA, so we must be responsive on many fronts. NCLB has been particularly effective in helping districts understand performance data for subgroups such as students with disabilities and English language learners, and we continue to learn more about how to best serve these populations. Districts that understand and systemically use effective instructional and assessment practices and intervention strategies for all learners recognize the importance of meeting students' needs in general education to the greatest extent possible and not relying on special education to serve students who do not truly qualify. In turn, they see less need for "special" education to address the needs of such students as progress is regularly monitored, transparent to the learning community, recognized by parents and used to guide interventions. Successful implementation requires strong leadership from district and school administrators, as well as school board members, and we must continue to work collaboratively to ensure that school personnel have the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to effectively implement a process that involves RtI.

ISBJ: There are discussions in the legislature about adding new accountability measures for school board members and school district staff. Do you believe there is a significant lack of accountability at the local school district level? If so, what types of accountability measures would you support?

Koch: Local school board members are critical to the success of education in Illinois. We are fortunate in this state to have the Illinois Association of School Boards offering some of the finest training for board members in the country. On occasion we do see board members who are not responsible, but these are rare occasions on the whole and in these instances, additional tools may be necessary to protect the students in those local districts. We support the notion of an oversight board, which we are using voluntarily in one district, and financial oversight panels, which have had many years of demonstrated success in this state. Certainly there are occasions when some sort of intervention over local boards is necessary, and these are evident when students are being neglected. Again, these are rare instances but they do occur. We also need to continue to encourage citizens to run for local boards and become involved in the oversight of their local schools.

ISBJ: What changes, if any, do you see in the near future for ISBE?

Koch: If the past is a predication of the future (and I believe it is), we will be asked to do more with less. This will continue to require creative problem solving and partnerships with key state organizations like IASB. You will also see more reliance on and better use of technology and data in accomplishing our mission, which will also prove beneficial to districts as it translates into more efficiency for them in their interactions with our agency. I am very impressed with members of the state board as they continue to provide leadership for education.

ISBJ: What is one thing you would like school board members to know about Christopher Koch?

Koch: I would like them to know that I, and members of the Illinois State Board of Education, appreciate their willingness to run for and serve as local board members! Their work is critical to the children of Illinois. Thank you for the opportunity to serve with you in such a great state!

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