A Question for Illinois Residents:
When it is time for our children to lead, will they be ready?
Right now, the answer is no. We can do better
As we reported last November, in The State We’re In, by almost any standard one might choose, we are not preparing Illinois students for the challenges of the 21st century.
For every four students who enter high school in Illinois: One will drop out. Two will finish school, but be unprepared for work or further education. Just one will graduate ready for whatever comes next.
As community activists, policymakers, educators, parents and business leaders, we owe the next generation better than that. All children deserve an education that prepares them for whatever path they may choose—that prepares them to be world-ready.
If that’s the goal, how do we get there? Over the last eight months, Advance Illinois has traveled the state to hear your ideas. We listened to you, the residents of Illinois; we listened to educators; we listened to students and parents; we listened to representatives of the greater community and to policymakers. We also delved into evidence-based studies and researched what other states and countries are doing. Assimilating all this information, we arrived at specific ideas and policies we believe could make Illinois —if it has the courage to embrace them— a national model for education excellence.
In traveling the state and the country, certain themes emerged, grounded in common sense and a deep-seated belief that education is the key to each child’s future and to our collective well-being:
People are at the core of good education. From engaged parents who are the first educators, to effective teachers who motivate and help students at various skill levels, to capable principals and superintendents who know how to manage people and resources to create a powerful culture —education is a people business. We are blessed as a state to have a great deal of talent in our schools but, as most are quick to point out, a dysfunctional set of rules and practices drives many away.
Kids want to be challenged. It may surprise some to hear this, but kids want to be challenged. As importantly, they want to see how their education relates to the world around them. They know when they aren’t being pushed to do their best. They know when their materials are out of date and when their teachers are overwhelmed. And they blossom when they are challenged to stretch and allowed to pursue learning beyond the four walls of the classroom.
Educators, students and families want to be measured on what matters. While most everyone likes the idea of focusing more on results, they want to be held responsible for results that matter. Everyone needs to know how well students are mastering material, but schools and families also care about growth, about whether students are learning the wider skills that will serve them well beyond school, whether schools are safe, and how kids do when they go on to the next level.
Everyone believes schools are out of date. People across the state are hungry for new technology and new ideas. Students don’t understand why classes still take place in school between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the Internet is always available and when hands-on learning is so engaging. Community colleges are anxious for better ways to reach students during the high school years. And everyone has ideas for how schools might put more time and greater flexibility to good use.
We do not pretend that the recommendations contained in this report are the only strategies Illinois should pursue. There are, of course, an unlimited number of things we might do to improve our schools. We must confront how our schools engage today’s students, who bring a more complex set of problems to the schoolhouse. We continue to need a greater focus on early childhood, particularly for at-risk and bilingual populations. We are overdue for dramatic revisions to the state’s funding system.
Instead, it is our considered view that these are some of the first steps the state must take if it is to begin the hard work of change—first steps in rethinking public education for this century.
The great news is that we have witnessed enormous energy in Illinois to improve our schools. While Illinois’ economy continues to reel, we have good leadership in key places, and an unprecedented opportunity to take advantage of federal support. Some important efforts are already underway, and additional hard work and immediate investments will position the state to reap significant dividends in the form of sizable stimulus dollars, improved student achievement and more equitable outcomes.
While the stakes are high, the timing is right. We rise not to criticize or castigate those who are working so hard now, but to offer our support to them and to the next generation.
As we said in our first report, their future is in our hands— and ours is in theirs.
Join us.
