What we’ve been up to...

Since the last Newsletter, we have all moved into the new academic and fiscal year. Many of us have started new positions or moved to new places, and we are all fully ramping up to onboarding new staff and the start of classes with learners of all ages. While it is getting very busy, we continue to hope that you are carving out time to relax and recharge! In the meantime, we've remained very busy, too, over the past couple of weeks.

Golden Apple Scholar Institute 4 – This week, as part of our integrated team with the NIU College of Education, we have the privilege of partnering with the Golden Apple Foundation for Scholar Institute 4, which includes recent graduates entering the teaching profession from across Illinois. With a rigorous mix of professional development focused on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to be an effective teacher for all students, we were excited to contribute not only to the overall program but also with specific workshops for how to offer engaging, meaningful, and rigorous instruction in today’s complex political environment.

Research Projects – We continue to move forward with multiple research projects, including the Defining Educator Compensation Survey. If your school district is engaging in collective bargaining negotiations this year, we hope that this report will be able to inform local conversations about what may be of most value in terms of salary and benefits to support educators given the limited resources that educational organizations have. While this research has been done in the early childhood through secondary space as part of our KEEP Illinois work, we anticipate that the questions for local consideration will also be helpful for collective bargaining at the postsecondary level.

Have you moved into a new position? Do you have colleagues new to your organization?

Subscribing to the Illinois P-20 Network Newsletter is free, fast, and easy. Simply fill out a quick form to subscribe to the P-20 Network Newsletter.

Also, please pass this along to colleagues new to your organization, so they can subscribe! Invitations to participate in P-20 Network committees and workgroups as well as to attend P-20 Network events are shared through the newsletter, which is released every other Friday.

Is your district ready for the Career and Postsecondary Readiness requirement?

Did you know that the PaCE Framework requirement of Public Act 102-0917 is now in place for all school districts across Illinois that serve students in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12? We have been working with many school districts, and particularly elementary school districts, helping to support their development and implementation of a career and postsecondary readiness framework. We are finding that this work can be deeply engaging for teachers and administrators who have typically not considered workforce outcomes or the postsecondary landscape for their students. We have also been able to ensure that these efforts are deeply integrated with instructional improvement within each district and that such efforts are not a meaningless checkbox for educators, nor just another initiative that will come and go.

Interested in learning more about how we can support your school district with career readiness planning that is integrated with your strategic goals and with instructional improvement efforts? Set-up a time for us to meet to discuss your needs!

ECN Student-Centered Coaching Series with Diane Sweeney

We are so excited for this year’s innovative and custom ECN Student-Centered Coaching Series with Diane Sweeney. We have been privileged to be able to partner with Diane to develop a new and unique approach to examining Student-Centered Coaching this year that promotes partnerships between coaches and both teachers and administrators, as well as aligning with The School Leader Paradigm, a model for promoting growth among school leaders.

This year’s series includes six workshops divided into three levels. Participants can choose to attend as few or as many individual workshops as they can. The paired workshop dates are designed to promote the attendance of administrators and coaches together on the first day and just coaches on the second day. Of course, coaches are welcome and encouraged to attend without administrators, and administrators are welcome to attend both days of each level!

November 17 – 18 – Level 1 Workshops
February 24 – 25 – Level 2 Workshops
April 14 – 15 – Level 3 Workshops

Learn more and register now

Take (and share!) the Stand for Children Illinois High School Survey

Over 40% of Illinois’ 12th graders were chronically absent last year. About a quarter of high school students disagree or strongly disagree that what they learn in their classes prepares them for what they plan to do in life.

Stand for Children Illinois is asking: How can we reimagine high school to make it meaningful for all students? How can we ensure that every student has access to high school coursework, work-based learning and internships, early college or career training, clubs and extracurricular activities, and authentic relationships with peers and adults that give them a sense of belonging in their school community and a unique pathway to pursue their individualized goals for the future?

Stand for Children Illinois invites you to take this 5-minute survey to help us understand how to make high school meaningful for all students. We also encourage you to share this with others who may be interested and willing participants!

New Illinois Laws Bridging Secondary and Postsecondary

Career and College Readiness is one of the Illinois P-20 Network’s four Areas of Focus, and this continues to be a major area of educational policy efforts in Illinois. This week, Dr. Sanders provided a great overview of key new laws that were passed in this year’s session of the General Assembly that seek to further provide bridges between secondary and postsecondary education for students. Check out this article at the top of this week’s ISBE Weekly Message, and if you do not already subscribe to the ISBE Weekly Message, you can subscribe for free!

P-20 Network Email Newsletter —
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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.

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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