The Illinois State Board of Education released its state report card for the 2015-2016 school year yesterday. Illinois PTA has shared how to navigate the report card, and this year’s version offers some new tools and new information. This year’s report card is also mobile-friendly, an important feature since many families in Illinois only have … Continue reading Illinois Releases New School Report Card
First Lady Michelle Obama Launches Campaign to Help Students Go to College
Improving student success depends on a lot of different variables—poverty, accountability, school climate, teachers, curriculum, and more. One piece of the puzzle that doesn’t get much attention is access to college advising. The Economic Mobility Project notes that in schools serving predominately low-income students there are more than one thousand students per counselor. Those counselors … Continue reading First Lady Michelle Obama Launches Campaign to Help Students Go to College
New Guide Helps Hispanic Families Navigate the College Application Process
Latino students are graduating high school and enrolling in college at the highest rates in our history, and they are now the largest minority group in our nation’s colleges and universities. However, only 23% of Hispanic adults 25 and older have an associate degree or higher, and only 12% have a masters or doctorate. In … Continue reading New Guide Helps Hispanic Families Navigate the College Application Process
College Changes Everything Month and the New FAFSA
The US Department of Education has changed when students heading to or already in college can fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA can be filed as of October 1, 2016, three months earlier than in years past, and will use 2015 income and tax information. In conjunction with this … Continue reading College Changes Everything Month and the New FAFSA
Another Year of Legislative Success for the Children of Illinois!
From youth safety issues to juvenile justice, from children’s health to readiness for college and the work-force, from childhood hunger to an interim budget in a year of fiscal deadlock, the Illinois PTA has advocated successfully for all our children. The highlights are below. Illinois PTA will continue to advocate for every child, and urges … Continue reading Another Year of Legislative Success for the Children of Illinois!
5 Things You Need to Know About the PARCC Score Release
Last week, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released preliminary score reports for this spring’s PARCC assessment. Here are five important points to understand about these scores. The scores are only preliminary. The scores are aggregated at the state level, and school districts have not yet checked the data to eliminate duplicate student records … Continue reading 5 Things You Need to Know About the PARCC Score Release
Understanding ESSA
President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law last December. ESSA reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and made substantial changes to the previous version of the law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Many of these changes focused on moving responsibility for improving education from the federal government … Continue reading Understanding ESSA
September is Attendance Awareness Month
It’s been said that the first secret to success is showing up. That is certainly true for children attending school. Research indicates that missing 10% of the school year—just two or three days each month—can translate into third-graders unable to read, sixth-graders failing classes, and ninth-graders dropping out of high school. Yet many families, students, … Continue reading September is Attendance Awareness Month
The New Illinois Arts Learning Standards
Illinois has been revising its learning standards from the old 1997 standards to encompass what our children need to know to be successful in the 21st century. New standards for Math, English/Language Arts, Science, Social Science, and Physical Education have been revised in recent years. This summer, new Arts Learning Standards have been adopted and … Continue reading The New Illinois Arts Learning Standards
News from National Convention—The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) into law, a significant change in how federal, state, and local governments will guide your child’s education for the next decade or more. While you can read the full 449 pages of the bill, a workshop at the 2016 National PTA Convention … Continue reading News from National Convention—The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Helping Your School Go 1:1 with Technology
Technology is becoming ever more necessary in our society, in our jobs, and increasingly in our schools. Many school districts are now planning on “implementing 1:1”—providing each student with a networked device, whether it is an iPad, Chromebook, laptop, or other technology. Just as PTAs were asked to help put computers in the classroom in … Continue reading Helping Your School Go 1:1 with Technology
News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Assessments
Illinois is currently in the middle of its annual state assessment of students with the PARCC exam. We have highlighted the video series discussing the role of assessment and how they inform teachers. At the 114th Annual Illinois PTA Convention, Dr. Kay Dugan, Assistant Superintendent for Learning at Bensenville School District 2, shared what her … Continue reading News from the Illinois PTA Convention—Assessments
News from the Illinois PTA Legislative Conference—The Illinois Budget
At the Illinois PTA 2016 Legislative Conference, one of the focus issues was the Illinois budget situation. Today is the 280th day without a budget in Illinois, and this lack of a budget is having profound effects on the lives of children, families, and our state’s economic future. The “Do Nothing” Budget Illinois currently has … Continue reading News from the Illinois PTA Legislative Conference—The Illinois Budget
New Report Highlights 21st Century School Facility Needs
When thinking about what makes a quality school, most people cite quality teachers, good curriculum, and perhaps modern technology. Very few think about the school building itself; after all, in many cases the building has been there largely unchanged for decades. In 1995, a U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) report, School Facilities: Condition of America’s … Continue reading New Report Highlights 21st Century School Facility Needs
Illinois First State Chosen to Close Equity Gaps in Advanced Courses
In its 10th Annual Report to the Nation, the College Board noted that while progress has been made between 2003 and 2013, low-income and students of color continue to be underrepresented in Advanced Placement (AP) courses. In Illinois, African-American students represented 13.5% of the graduates in 2003, but only 6.9% of those taking AP exams … Continue reading Illinois First State Chosen to Close Equity Gaps in Advanced Courses
New College Scorecard Helps Families Make Informed Choices
For many high school seniors in Illinois, it’s a nervous time of waiting to hear which colleges and universities they’ve been accepted into. While they may be logging into websites or checking their e-mail rather than looking for that “fat envelope” that their parents did, making the final choice of where to go can still … Continue reading New College Scorecard Helps Families Make Informed Choices
Navigating Illinois PTA’s New Advocacy Tools
You may not think of yourself as an advocate, but if you’ve ever spoken to your child’s teacher about a problem your child was having, if your PTA has ever brought a concern to your school’s principal, if you’ve ever spoken up at a school board meeting, you are an advocate. Illinois PTA has new … Continue reading Navigating Illinois PTA’s New Advocacy Tools
7 Things Families Need to Know About the New Illinois Science Standards
In 2014, Illinois adopted a new set of science standards, based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). School districts have been implementing the standards since then, and all schools must use the standards beginning in the 2016-2017 school year. Here are X things that families need to know about these new standards. The standards … Continue reading 7 Things Families Need to Know About the New Illinois Science Standards
New Report Evaluates Content and Quality of PARCC Assessment
In less than a month, the testing window for this year’s Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) will open and schools will begin assessing students in grades 3 through 8 and in high school. There was some controversy surrounding last year’s PARCC assessment, and this year’s assessment is changing to address … Continue reading New Report Evaluates Content and Quality of PARCC Assessment
Illinois Schools are Closing the “Honesty Gap”
Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), states were required to have annual assessments of students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. For Illinois, those assessments were the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) for the younger grades and the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE) for high school students. Because NCLB set specific percentages … Continue reading Illinois Schools are Closing the “Honesty Gap”
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