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…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been increasingly emphasized in educational research and practice for promoting children's wellbeing. Perhaps the most well-known SEL framework is the model provided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This framework has become the dominant framework informing state SEL…

The Illinois Educator Preparation Profiles (IEPP) system, housed at the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), provides public information on the performance of Illinois teacher preparation programs (TPPs) across the state. TPPs are scored on 11 indicators grouped into four domains--candidate selection and completion, knowledge and skills for…

Developing and releasing a user-friendly school report card site is a process for ongoing engagement and improvement. This report describes the continuous improvement efforts of three states--Georgia, Illinois, and Virginia--to make their school and district report cards more user-friendly. The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has…

Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) invited 10 districts to participate in a community of practice designed to increase understanding of how to braid and blend federal funds. District teams composed of principals, superintendents, business managers, and other district leaders participated in four 90-minute virtual sessions. The purpose of…

In this article, we advocate for a new movement in education, particularly an approach emphasizing blending research-based practice with practice-embedded research. We do so by describing and discussing Project Excite, a working example that demonstrates such a model in the context of gifted education. We first trace the history, the impetus, and…

The Center for the Study of Education Policy utilized several grants to develop principal preparation program tools to assist programs in the implementation of the new standards and requirements for the licensure of school principals and assistant principals. Also, with the help of another grant in partnership with several PK-12 school districts,…

This report provides findings from an evaluation of the newly designed Illinois High School to College Success Report (HS2CSR). The evaluation study examined the dissemination, usefulness, and impact on collaborative efforts of the new HS2CSR. Education stakeholders' suggestions for improving the report are also included. Recommendations to…

Section 104(a) of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) available to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and schools in high poverty areas. Under the CEP, families are not required to submit applications for free or reducedprice (FRP) meals, and schools must provide free lunch and breakfast…

In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in financial incentives to encourage students to attend school and to improve their academic achievement, graduation rates, and other outcomes. Conditional cash transfer programs in developing countries, especially PROGRESA in Mexico, have found positive effects on attendance in large-scale…

Extended learning opportunities (ELOs) provide safe, structured learning environments for students outside the traditional school day. ELOs include afterschool and summer learning programs as well as before-school, evening, and weekend programs. ELOs come in many forms and can include tutoring, volunteering, academic support, community service,…

Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

The purpose of this study was to use journal feedback from student teachers to understand and document how well the Physical Education-Teacher Education (PETE) program prepares teacher candidates in relation to the three primary goals of the PETE program. Analysis of the journals revealed areas of merit and concern for the PETE faculty. The most…

A seminar held in October 1978 brought together teams from public and school libraries in 36 Illinois communities representing the 18 Illinois library systems, in order to: (1) provide an environment where school and public librarians who work with young adults could identify their problems, assess their needs, and begin working toward mutual…

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM PLANNED PURPOSEFUL READING INSTRUCTION WERE STUDIED. TWELVE PURPOSES WERE THEN SELECTED FOR PURPOSEFUL READING AT THE NINTH-GRADE HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL. STUDENTS IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP AND CONTROL GROUP WERE THEN SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF NEED FOR PURPOSEFUL READING INSTRUCTION. INDIVIDUALS IN THE CONTROL AND…