Advance Illinois | Blog http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog Advance Illinois | Blog Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:26:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 Illinois a Race to the Top Finalist http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-a-race-to-the-top-finalist http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-a-race-to-the-top-finalist#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:26:10 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=266 Congratulations to Illinois for being named one of the 16 Race to the Top finalists.  State leaders and lawmakers should be proud of their hard work and smart leadership over the past year. Good luck to the team going to do the finalist interview in Washington.  Here is the statement from Advance Illinois Executive Director Robin Steans.   Here is the Dept of Education page on the Race to the Top.

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-a-race-to-the-top-finalist/feed Illinois Joins Six-State Turnaround Effort http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-six-state-turnaround-effort http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-six-state-turnaround-effort#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:24:21 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=262 Illinois was one of six states chosen for a new multi-state initiative to “clear hurdles that have hindered previous attempts to improve underperforming schools.” Read more in EdWeek (article access compliments of edweek.org) or read the press release from MassInsight, which is leading the project.

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-six-state-turnaround-effort/feed Illinois Education Leaders win National Award http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-education-leaders-win-national-award http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-education-leaders-win-national-award#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:20:21 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=259 The Data Quality Campaign awarded 4 state education leaders the “State Policymakers of the Year” award for “their critical leadership role in supporting comprehensive legislation requiring the development of a statewide longitudinal data system.”  Read more…

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-education-leaders-win-national-award/feed Obama proposes NCLB overhaul in 2010 http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/obama-proposes-nclb-overhaul-in-2010 http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/obama-proposes-nclb-overhaul-in-2010#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:10:47 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=256 The Obama administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of President Bush’s signature education law, No Child Left Behind.  Read more in the New York Times and the National Journal. You can also read the U.S. Dept of Education press release and the budget page on ed.gov.

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/obama-proposes-nclb-overhaul-in-2010/feed Illinois joins 40 States Applying in the “Race to the Top” http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-40-states-applying-in-the-race-to-the-top http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-40-states-applying-in-the-race-to-the-top#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:03:31 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=250 Illinois filed a strong application for “Race to the Top” Tuesday, following passage last week of ‘groundbreaking’ legislation.  You can download the 187-page application here, or read State Supt’s Chris Koch’s message here. You can also read the U.S. Dept of Education’s news release. Locally, here’s a helpful Q-and-A from the State Journal-Register and coverage from WBEZ.

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/illinois-joins-40-states-applying-in-the-race-to-the-top/feed Gov. Quinn Signs “Groundbreaking” Reforms http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-signs-groundbreaking-reforms http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-signs-groundbreaking-reforms#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:07:05 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=246 Governor Pat Quinn today signed into law the Performance Evaluation Reform Act of 2010, a bill to implement new, rigorous evaluations for teachers and principals across the state. The new law boosts Illinois’ “Race to the Top” application by addressing one of the four priority areas outlined by the U.S. Department of Education. Read more…

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-signs-groundbreaking-reforms/feed Reform Bills To Governor’s Desk http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/reform-bills-to-governors-desk http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/reform-bills-to-governors-desk#comments Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:53:22 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=242 Congratulations to the General Assembly for passing groundbreaking legislation on teacher evaluation and alternative certification. The legislative process brought together all the education stakeholders to produce a forward-looking and durable set of reforms that will help Illinois school children for years to come and better position Illinois for up to $400 million from the federal “Race to the Top” competition.

The State Journal-Register offered wrapups of the Senate vote Wednesday and the House vote Monday.
The votes were also covered by the Quad-City Times and Illinois Public Radio (pc link here, mac link avail here).

The Chicago Tribune editorialized on the legislation earlier in the week.

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/reform-bills-to-governors-desk/feed Advance Illinois Releases “Race to the Top” Report http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/advance-illinois-releases-race-to-the-top-report http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/advance-illinois-releases-race-to-the-top-report#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:47:07 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=231 A new report recommends Illinois state leaders take bold action to reform the state’s school system, in order to win a chance to bring Illinois as much as $400 million being made available by the U.S. Department of Education.

The report was released today by Advance Illinois, the statewide education advocacy organization, chaired by former Gov. Jim Edgar and former Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley.

“We can’t miss the moment,” said Edgar.  Read more…

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/advance-illinois-releases-race-to-the-top-report/feed Gov. Quinn Announces P-20 Council http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-announces-p-20-council http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-announces-p-20-council#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:54:56 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=228 Congratulations to the new P-20 Council.  Gov. Quinn announced the council today in a press conference. The chair the council is Advance Illinois board member and Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle.  From the Gov’s press release: “Governor Pat Quinn today made 25 appointments to the P-20 Council, a key advisory panel that will make recommendations to the Governor about strengthening our education system. The P-20 (pre-school through graduate school) Council will play an instrumental role in Illinois’ quest to win approximately $400 million in federal “Race to the Top” discretionary funds.”  Read more…

]]> http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/gov-quinn-announces-p-20-council/feed “Race to the Top” Application Released http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/race-to-the-top-application-released http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/race-to-the-top-application-released#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:22:58 +0000 admin http://www.advanceillinois.org/blog/?p=223 The U.S. Dept of Ed. released the application for the $4.35 billion “Race to the Top” fund today.  You can read all about it here.  The executive summary includes how many points each criteria area is worth (for example: Effective Educators are worth 138 points; Standards 70; Data Systems 47 and Struggling Schools 50).  Also, you can find a list of public meetings and deadlines for Phase 1 and Phase 2. Note the deadline for Phase 1 is now mid-January, and phase 2 is in April.   More to come in tomorrow’s news update.

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