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What we’ve been up to...
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It’s been a busy past two weeks with lots of travel to-and-fro across Illinois.
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We held another employer session for In the Workplace Aurora at the Aurora Economic Alliance Office in Downtown Aurora. You are encouraged to share these sessions with Aurora-area employers, and we thank the Dunham Foundation for their support for this project.
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We also attended the Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) Conference in Peoria. In addition to all of the high-quality learning sessions and important conversations focused on everything from financial and operational best practices to policy updates to supporting learning, there was even time to begin learning how to juggle!
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Last week was this year’s Educational Coaching Network Conference. This year’s conference featured a full house of dozens of school districts, regional offices of education, and other educational organizations at NIU Naperville with Jim Knight. Collectively, we explored the critical role of humans in instructional coaching and where artificial intelligence holds promise to support coaching and instructional growth and where it may be more limited.
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We were also excited to attend the Golden Apple Foundation’s Accelerators Induction Ceremony for the 2026 Accelerators cohort and to support these individuals who are choosing to join our profession as teachers.
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On Wednesday, we were at the ISBE Career Connections Conference in Normal. In addition to learning from others from across Illinois, we were pleased to co-present about the In the Workplace Aurora project alongside leaders from VALEES, East Aurora School District 131, and West Aurora School District 129. This work is supported by the Dunham Foundation.
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KEEP Illinois Defining Educator Compensation Study |
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Today, we are releasing the KEEP Illinois Defining Educator Compensation study. This study was based on a statewide survey that was conducted with support from a wide range of statewide partners. In addition to the PDF publication of the study, we also hosted a webinar earlier this week that provides an overview of the study.
View the Webinar
Read the Report
This study provides a number of recommendations for action locally in school districts as well as for statewide policy consideration. Additionally, as a foundational, exploratory study, this study proposes a wide range of possibilities for additional future research.
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Career Readiness Research Webinars – on YouTube |
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Recently, the Illinois P-20 Network hosted two webinars as part of the Research Webinar Series. Both of these free webinars featured recent Northern Illinois University College of Education doctoral graduates whose dissertations focused on topics related to career readiness.
Joe Bruno focused his research on student motivation and career and technical education (CTE) course selection. Student Motivation and CTE Course Selection – Dr. Joe Bruno |
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Amanda Pelsor focused her research on district-level career readiness implementation in school districts across Illinois. Career Readiness Implementation across Illinois – Dr. Amanda Pelsor |
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In addition to these videos, there are countless additional resources on our YouTube channel, from original research to practitioner-focused sharing. |
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One Click College Admit Deadline Approaching |
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The May 22 opt-in deadline is fast approaching for high school juniors for One Click College Admit. With growing interest and participation in this new student support initiative, ISAC is providing additional virtual workshops for students and families in May per the schedule below. This is a great way to help your Class of 2027 take a simple, no-cost step toward college admission before the May 22 OCCA opt-in deadline. During virtual workshops, ISACorps members will give a walkthrough presentation, answer questions, and help attendees complete the opt-in process. People can register at isac.org/OCCA-workshops. Please share with counselors, families, and others.
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Virtual OCCA Student Workshops
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Tuesday, 5/5/2026 — 12:00 p.m. (CT)
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Thursday, 5/7/2026 – 6:00 p.m. (CT)
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Wednesday, 5/13/2026 – 12:00 p.m. (CT)
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Tuesday, 5/19/2026 – 6:00 p.m. (CT)
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Thursday, 5/21/2026 – 12:00 p.m. (CT)
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P-20 Network Email Newsletter —
Pass it along today! |
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P-20 Network Newsletters will typically come out every two weeks on Friday. The newsletters include updates on critical policy developments, professional development opportunities, success stories from the Network and much more.
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You are receiving this message because you have previously attended a P-20 Network Meeting and/or have been on previous P-20 Network emails. We encourage you to forward this email to others in your organization, such as principals, assistant principals, and department chairs by using the Forward to a Friend link below. Others can subscribe by simply completing this very short form.
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Forward this message by using the “Forward to a Friend” button below. |
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Copyright © 2026 Illinois P-20 Network, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Illinois P-20 Network
Lowden Hall
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
United States
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