The Dialogue Group, a diverse group of education advocates, public officials and civic and labor leaders today unveiled a set of strategic goals for Illinois education policy that will equip students for the 21st century’s top jobs and help position Illinois to access a $4.35 billion pool of stimulus money–the U.S. Department of Education’s “Race to the Top” fund.
You can read the press release here.  Here are links to the cover letter (with the signers, including Advance Illinois), the Immediate Action Steps, and the full Burnham 2.0 report.

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Known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released the 2009 results for Mathematics.  Nationally, and in Illinois, the results show students in Grade 4 and Grade 8 generally held steady, but most observers were disappointed, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan who said “the status quo isn’t good enough.”  You can read more in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times and at the official Nation’s Report Card website.

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The Department of Education released its guidelines for its  $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund, known as i3.  Districts and non-profits can apply for grants that promise to do one of 3 things: 1- scale an innovation, 2- support and validate and existing program, 3- support new, unproven ideas worthy of exploration.  This competition is separate from the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” fund. You can learn more from the New York Times, EdWeek, CNN and the Dept’s press release, where you can find also find more materials from the announcement.

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