This report, submitted in compliance with 105 ILCS 5/1A-4E, provides a discussion of the overall condition of education in Illinois. Information is included concerning student and teacher demographics; data on teacher and administrator licensure; federal, state, and local resources; and other data on Illinois education. The 2021 Condition of…

This past year has been unlike any in recent history. In March, the global COVID-19 pandemic forced Illinois to shift suddenly to remote learning for all students. This adjustment exposed the digital divide as a stark reality. One bright spot in the year occurred in May, when the Illinois' plan for career and technical education (CTE) received…

This report measures Illinois' educational performance from early childhood through postsecondary education. It tracks how students have performed during the past decade and how that performance compares with students in other states. The state knows that improvement does not happen overnight. By tracking what happens to students over time,…

This report assesses Illinois' academic performance from early childhood through postsecondary, providing a snapshot of how Illinois compares to other states and nations as we collectively work to provide all students a world-class education. The analysis is divided into three parts: (1) The first section examines how Illinois public schools serve…

In this paper, a companion piece to "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools" (ED544382), the authors analyze small high school spending in three urban districts--Baltimore City, Boston, and Chicago--to understand whether it is higher than in larger schools; if it is, why it is different; and the policy…

This Report Card is the first full assessment of the educational performance as a state, from birth through higher education. It compares performance to other states, looks at recent trends, and shows whether Illinois is meeting their obligations to all students or just a limited few. The scope of the report runs from birth through higher…

Matched Illinois school districts, with and without teacher collective bargaining, were compared on expenditures in 13 budget categories to determine if collective bargaining is related to decreased nonteacher program expenditures. Results suggested that bargaining has led to significantly higher expenditures in both teacher salaries and other…

A study that examined the relationship between Illinois schools' expenditure per pupil and students' state assessment exam scores is described in this paper. The Illinois reading and mathematics tests were administered to students in grades 3, 6, 8, and 11, and language arts exams were given to students in grades 3, 6, and 8. The number of…

The Unit Cost Study is an annual project involving the direct participation of all public community colleges in Illinois. Each college provides basic data on course offerings, enrollments, and costs in each instructional area to the Illinois Community College Board, which checks the data for consistency with apportionment claims and financial…

Education Resource Strategies (ERS) works with school and district leaders to help them more strategically use resources--people, time, and money--to improve student performance. They have found that many school districts begin creating small high schools without a clear sense of how much they will spend or how to ensure that small schools…

This document contains the budget recommendations for Illinois public community colleges and the Illinois Community College Board for fiscal year (FY) 1978, reviews the funding history and problems of Illinois community colleges and provides a statement of need for the FY 1978 budget request totalling $132,196,218. This figure compares to the FY…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

The history of Illinois community college operating finance policy is traced from July 1964 with the establishment of a semester hour flat rate grant (FRG) through the following: an equalization formula in addition to the FRG; supplemental non-business occupational grants; supplemental appropriations during a sudden enrollment increase;…

In this paper, a companion piece to "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools" (ED544382), the authors analyze small high school spending in three urban districts--Baltimore City, Boston, and Chicago--to understand whether it is higher than in larger schools; if it is, why it is different; and the policy…