In accordance with the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act, the Illinois State Board of Education conducted an evaluation of the Competency-Based Education Pilot Program during the 2021-22 school year using external evaluators who analyzed data collected from school districts participating in the program. This report includes a summary…

The current education system is failing our children. Yet the system shifts the blame as well as the search for possible solutions to teachers and learners, avoiding responsibility for its role in the existing oppressive structures. In turn, it fails to address the needs of a vastly diverse student population. This article looks at the development…

Over the last few years, Texas, Connecticut, and California have led the way in approving courses in ethnic studies to provide high school students with engaging, culturally relevant instruction. Texas blazed the trail in 2018 when its state board of education approved an elective course in Mexican American studies. Then in April 2020, the board…

The Illinois Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act (EBF), a comprehensive overhaul of the state's school funding formula, was signed into law in August 2017. The Act requires an overall increase of more than $7 billion in state education aid and sets 2027 as the deadline to reach full funding of the EBF formula. The Act also sets $350…

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement is now more than twenty years beyond its inception when it was built on the concept that digital materials make learning content easy to reuse and share. This report discusses current legislative trends in OER and offers recommended OER practices for states.

Through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD), the U.S. Department of Education disseminates data on local educational agencies (LEAs), commonly known as school districts. During the school year (SY) 2018-19, the CCD recorded 13,711 LEAs with English learners (ELs) enrolled. This fact sheet looks more…

This report describes the establishment of and delivery of Illinois Career and Technical Education (CTE), the existing condition of Illinois CTE based on fiscal year 2022 data, and the future developments and recommendations for CTE in our state as required by Illinois School Code 105 ILCS 435/2e. Further, this report provides an update on police…

This report captures state leaders' perspectives on various issues relating to education technology at this unique moment in time. To be more precise, the report provides an analysis of the feedback collected from state leaders through surveys administered in April and May 2023. It seeks to catalog the ways in which state education agencies are…

State education finance sets the stage for what is possible in schools. Too many state education finance systems today are inequitable, outdated, and inadequate, and there are often significant political barriers to change. Advocates for educational equity can and should play an essential role in shaping the allocation and structure of state…

The following resource is an impact story of how NCSI built the capacity of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to design a state system of support to begin addressing the special education teacher shortage. The resource provides context for the intensive technical assistance focusing on improvement science, provides qualitative and…

Much attention has been focused on the importance of providing physical and mental health services to students in educational environments in recent years. Millions of students receive school-based health services, and for many students, schools are their first and only option to receive health care. State policymakers have a lot to consider in…

The Charter Schools Program (CSP) is the nation's only source of dedicated federal funding to support the creation, expansion, and replication of public charter schools. Since FY2019, the CSP has been flat funded at $440 million. The CSP amounts to less than 1% of federal spending on K-12 education, however, it has a substantial impact on the…

Systems navigators help local educational agencies (LEAs) meet the needs of students experiencing homelessness and decrease barriers to their education by connecting them--and often their families--to resources and community organizations that can provide wraparound services. This National Center for Homeless Education brief: (1) provides…

Over the years, as states have sought to incorporate more inclusive and relevant academic standards and curriculum for K-12 students, they have interpreted ethnic studies in both broad and narrow terms. While most states use the term ethnic studies to describe their efforts to incorporate the knowledge and perspectives of traditionally excluded…

In spring 2022, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET) committed to advancing digital equity through the Digital Equity Education Roundtables (DEER) Initiative. Through DEER, OET hosted a series of national conversations with leaders from community-based organizations, as well as families and learners furthest…