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What we’ve been up to... 

As is always the case during October and November, there are lots of in-person events taking place. This year is no different! Over the past two weeks, we’ve... 

• Met with other dual credit leaders from across Illinois. 

• Held a customized career awareness experience at NIU with our VALEES/Waubonsee Community College region Future Educators Conference. 

• Engaged with IASBO and faculty and instructors about the academic and professional development needs of school business officials and other operational leaders in school districts. 

• Kicked off a family engagement series that will continue throughout the rest of the school year in Round Lake School District 116. 

• Hosted an Adventure-Based Learning workshop with educators from a wide range of school districts across Chicagoland. 

• Presented to leaders from across College of DuPage and superintendents from throughout DuPage County about the creation of DuPASS, a regional dual credit leadership group who we have been privileged to help develop in partnership with leaders throughout DuPage County. 

• Attended the debut showing of In a Teacher’s Shoes, a documentary produced by the NIU College of Education’s Morgridge Endowed Chair Office which followed three teachers throughout their day! Watch this space for more information to view this inspiring documentary. 

• Engaged in meetings about new localized projects on topics ranging from research on math achievement and instruction to developing a local vision for career readiness and supporting that vision with ongoing professional development. 

If you will be attending the Illinois Joint Annual Conference next week, please say, “Hi!” We’d love to connect and chat! 

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ECN Conference – AI with Jim Knight

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting this year’s ECN Conference with Jim Knight on Thursday, April 30, 2026. The ECN Conference will be held at NIU Naperville, and this year’s topic will be: Using AI: Best Practices and Tools for Instructional Coaches and Leaders. This is an area in which Jim has been doing a significant amount of work, and the ECN Conference will allow participants to discover how artificial intelligence can elevate the practice of instructional and peer coaching—without losing the essential human connection at its core. We will explore how AI tools can streamline planning, analyze lessons, and support strategic decision-making while leaving the empathy, intuition, and trust of coaching firmly in human hands. 

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Dual Credit and Weighted Grades – New Survey

Please take just a few minutes to help provide updated information to Illinois’ statewide dual credit community! 

During the 2021-2022 school year, the Illinois P-20 Network conducted a short survey on Dual Credit and Weighted Grades. The results of this survey were shared with districts across Illinois through an ILACEP webinar and slide deck. Read more about the 2021-2022 survey on the Illinois P-20 Network website. Since March 2022, the Illinois P-20 Network is aware of many school districts who have reviewed and refined their practices, and now, we are launching this new survey to better understand the current state of grade weighting for dual credit courses across Illinois.

This new survey is confidential (your school district will not be disclosed). Please take this very quick and short, but very important, survey, and please share it with others! 

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ISBE Accountability Plan Listening Tour 

As we have previously published, ISBE has been conducting a second round of its Accountability Plan Listening Tour. ISBE has recently announced that they are extending this with three virtual sessions from 4 to 6 PM on November 19, November 24, and December 1. Register for a virtual session now! 

Additionally, ISBE is seeking public comment through 11.59 PM on December 7. ISBE asks that you first read the proposed redesign. Then, you can provide feedback via this survey, which is estimated to take between 10 and 30 minutes to complete. You may also choose to email written comments or questions to: essa@isbe.net. 

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Does your school or district need an Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources team-based challenge? 

Check out NIU’s Innovation Challenge! 

Teams of high-school and community college students will strengthen their critical thinking and communication skills by collaborating with team members to solve an authentic problem. This is great for FFA, 4H, and other student clubs as well as for science classes. 

Teams will choose one of two authentic food system problems: 

• Microplastic contamination in seafood 

• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria contamination in beef and dairy 

Students will work in teams of 2 to 4 to analyze the problem, utilize the authentic employability competencies, and collaborate with an industry partner to generate a solution. By aligning to these goals, the Innovation Challenge meets the criteria established by ISBE for Team-Based Challenges. 

You can register your team directly via the NIU Innovation Challenge Registration Form. 

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