P-20 Network Newsletter — March 8, 2024

Northern Illinois University is excited to announce that it will begin offering benefits to students who have graduated high school having earned their College and Career Pathway Endorsement in any of the seven Career Pathways. Highlights of the benefits for students who have earned endorsements include:

NIU Honors Program
Research Rookies
Living Learning Communities

NIU is excited to provide real currency for students that have built knowledge and skills through having earned an Endorsement in high school.

Work continues in earnest on a review of research about educator retention and engagement. This is part of a larger project to understand the field and provide districts and policymakers with guidance on how to help teachers and administrators thrive. At the March Forum, a group of educators from across the state came together to discuss a 2022 study from Matthew Kraft and Melissa Lyon entitled, “The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession: Prestige, Interest, Preparation, and Satisfaction over the Last Half Century.” Participants noted that the teaching profession has had cycles of high or low interest depending on a variety of forces, with today’s levels being at historic lows. Those forces create a complex problem that can’t be solved easily, but the group has started to identify some local and broader changes that could result in greater job satisfaction and elevate the profession.

Studies like this are being added to a growing database of research that will culminate in a series of reports and resources educators and leaders can use to enact policies that will result in greater retention and more positive school cultures for educators across Illinois.

If you want to learn more about KEEP Illinois, contact Tim Dohrer (tdohrer@niu.edu).

Stand for Children Illinois has released a two-page summary factsheet of House Bill 5020. This document provides information on student enrollment gaps across different demographic groups as well as highlights the pace at which dual credit continues to grow.

More importantly, the factsheet provides a quick summary of the proposed amendment to the Dual Credit Quality Act. This includes:

Multiple measures for student eligibility and increased communication with families.
Statewide framework for minimum qualifications to teach (per the new HLC guidelines).
Guidance on partnering with alternative postsecondary institutions.

The Illinois P-20 Network’s Dual Credit Think Tank will continue to collect feedback from educators across Illinois from both school districts and postsecondary institutions throughout the process.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Rodrigo López, Director of P-20 Initiatives (rodrigo.lopez@niu.edu).

The conference planning committee has announced who will be participating in the Work-Based Learning: Perspectives on Partnering with Industry Leaders panel. Joining this very important conversation and sharing their unique perspectives will be:

Eric Hill, Executive Director of SkillsUSA
Kraig Kistinger, Director of Human Resources at National Tube Supply
Danielle Kuglin Seago, Manager of Project Hire-Ed at College of DuPage
Daniel Serato, Vice President of Government and Public Affairs at Aon

For information on the panelists, please visit the ISBE Career Connections Conference website.

Registration for ISBE Career Connections 2024 continues! A discount is available for groups of 5 or more educators from the same school district, community college, or other organization. Pricing information as well as the link to the registration page is available on the ISBE Career Connections Conference website.

Alongside the launch of the new Illinois Literacy Plan, ISBE has also launched Literacy Office Hours. These Office Hours allow school districts to connect directly with ISBE team members to ask questions and/or discuss the Literacy Plan and its implementation.

These Office Hours continue a well-established pattern of Office Hours that ISBE has offered the field on topics ranging from College and Career Pathway Endorsements to Summative Designations, Career and Technical Education, and more.

Learn more on the ISBE Comprehensive Literacy Plan website.

Registration continues for SELCON 2024, with Early Bird registration ending soon on March 22, 2024. This year’s conference theme is Mindful Connections: Nurturing SEL in School Communities.

General sessions will feature talks by author and leadership expert Krystal Hardy Allen and educator Dr. Evisha Ford, who recently published “Benches in the Bathrooms.” Both authors will also be featured on a panel discussion for the third General Session. Over 20 local educators and experts are offering breakout sessions throughout the day on topics such as mindfulness, SEL and classroom culture, integrating SEL in the arts classroom, and mental health first aid.

SELCON 2024 is Friday, April 19, 2024, from 8:30 AM to 3 PM at Wolcott College Prep High School in Chicago.

The Family Action Network (FAN) curates a high-quality speaker series on a variety of topics relevant to our work. Events are always free and open to the public.

Please visit the FAN website to register for upcoming events provided via Zoom, including FAN’s next event:

Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls
Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at 7 PM.

If you're not able to participate in a live FAN event, all events are recorded. Visit the FAN website's Past Events page to view the library of past event topics and recordings. In addition to being a great resource for you, you are also encouraged to share information about FAN and FAN events with your staff, students, and families.

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