IPA PrinciPal Connection

Message from Jason Leahy, IPA Executive Director

As you have likely seen on the listserv or in the State Superintendent's Weekly Message, ISBE is considering moving the ACT testing dates up from late April to early March in 2009. During IPA's State Superintendent Advisory Council Meeting on Wednesday, April 2nd, the group provided a consistent message that moving up the test dates was not in the best interest of students. Though the positive outcome of moving up test dates would be getting data back sooner, it did not outweigh the loss of instructional time, lack of time to plan for the move next year, and potential conflicts with spring break and the IHSA state basketball tournament. Regarding getting data back in a timely fashion, it has been my experience that ACT does a good job of getting data back to schools in a timely fashion, and I believe we can resonably expect that the PSAE data can be returned in just as timely a manner with April test dates. We will continue to dialogue with ISBE on this issue. Please feel free to email me your thoughts at jason@ilprincipals.org, and please be sure to email ISBE your impressions of the potential move at psae@isbe.net.

Training Announced for Illinois Response to Intervention (RtI) District Self-Assessment Template

With the development of the State RtI plan, the next step for the stakeholder group was to develop a district self-assessment template. The stakeholder group reviewed self-assessment tools from multiple technical assistance projects, such as ASPIRE, PBIS, and CHOICES. Additionally, the group reviewed RtI self-assessment tools from several different states.

The purpose of this self-assessment template is to assist districts in determining their initial readiness toward implementation of RtI to meet the learning needs of ALL students. This template will assist districts in gathering baseline information regarding current resources and practices addressing scientific research-based instruction, progress monitoring, ongoing assessment and levels of intervention and problem-solving. The template is available at http://www.isbe.net/RtI_plan/default.htm.

ISBE will provide training on Friday, April 11, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. The training will be offered via a live webcast. The links to the webcast will be as follows (the links are not currently live):

Real Player
http://www.state.il.us/video/streaming/isbe/response-to-intervention-041108.ram

Windows Player
http://www.state.il.us/video/streaming/isbe/response-to-intervention-041108.asx

Further information will be provided next week regarding submitting questions during the webcast. Presentation materials will be available online for viewing and printing.

Slogan contest for 2008 Illinois State Fair

The theme for the 2008 Illinois State Fair will be "A Family Tradition," and feature a contest inspired by the well-known 1950s advertising campaign for Burma Shave. The Illinois State Fair is scheduled for August 8-17, 2008. As part of the 2008 State Fair, the contest is modeled after Burma Shave’s advertising campaign and encourages children statewide to submit five-line rhymes that reflect the theme. Winners will be featured on State Fair promotional materials and signs. Entries are being accepted from the general public, but the committee choosing the winners will set aside several series of sign slogans submitted by children in grades K-8. Each entry must consist of five lines of text with up to four words maximum on each line. A sixth line –"Illinois State Fair August 8-17" – will be added to the end of each rhyme. Entries will be accepted by mail and online through Friday, April 11. The winners will be announced at an event this spring, the same time the Grandstand line-up for this year’s fair will be unveiled. Those seeking examples of Burma Shave signs can Google search “Burma Shave slogan” or visit http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm. Applications and instructions are available on our website at www.illinoisstatefair.info.

Cities in Crisis Report

Go to http://www.americaspromise.org/APA.aspx to read the Cities in Crisis Report which is an independent analysis of graduation rates in America’s 50 largest citie by Christopher Swanson, Director of Editorial Projects in the Education (EPE) Research Center.

IRTA Foundation Grants Available

The Illinois Retired Teachers Association (IRTA) Foundation is making $15,000 in grant money available to 45 counties in Illinois. This special grant will provide additional funds to public school educators (Pre-K through 12) so that their students will have the means to participate in special projects. The program will rotate each year among Northern, Central, and Southern Illinois. The grant is available in IRTA Areas 5 and 6 for this current year. The following counties are included: Alexander, Bond, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Macon, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Moultrie, Perry, Piatt, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, Shelby, St. Clair, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson. Go to http://www.irtaonline.org/index.cfm?go=GetPage&id=124 for more information.