Art Teacher Diane Mitchell

For more pictures from the Student Open House please click on link

The team members of the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education would like to thank each and every person who provided support as we moved through tremendously challenging budgetary times. In November, the legislature passed SB3828 which restored compensation to Regional Superintendents and Assistant Regional Superintendents as well as school services funding for the full 2011-2012 fiscal year. Needless to say, we are pleased with the opportunity to continue to serve students, parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, substitutes, and administrators in order to enhance educational opportunities for youth. We greatly appreciated your unwavering support.

There have been several initiatives on which team members of the Regional Office of Education have been working diligently to ensure that support and resources are available to you:

• Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), Senate Bill 315, Public Act 96-0861- Requires performance evaluations of administrators and teachers of a school district. The performance evaluations must comprise the inclusion of student growth data and indicators. An evaluation system which includes four category ratings will be utilized by September 1, 2012. Please log on to http://www.isbe.net/PERA/ for more information.
• Performance Evaluation Advisory Council (PEAC)- An advisory council established to provide advisement to the Illinois State Board of Education regarding recommendations for the principal, assistant principal, and teacher evaluations along with a state model for evaluations.

For more information, please log on to http://www.isbe.net/peac/.

• Illinois Educator Licensure-Senate Bill 1799; Public Act 97-0607-Creates and requires new licensure system (replaces certification to licensure) to be in effect by July 1, 2013. Beginning January 1, 2012, a new fee structure will be implemented for licensure applications, endorsements, and registrations along with an increase in fees. Please see http://www.isbe.net/certification/ for further details.
• New Illinois State Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core – New standards in the areas of Math and English Language Arts have been adopted by the Illinois State Board of Education for grades K-12. To access further information, please log on to http://www.isbe.net/common_core/.

The Rock Island County Regional Office of Education recognizes the challenges entailed in working to integrate these initiatives. As always, the team members of the Rock Island County Regional Office of Education look forward to the opportunity to lend assistance to you by providing support and resources.

In recognition of educator’s efforts, please remember to observe Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-11, 2012 and National Teacher Day on Tuesday, May 3, 2012. This provides focus at a local and national level for teachers’ tremendous contributions to society and our youth. The Rock Island County Regional Office of Education appreciates and celebrates the contributions of our teachers ensuring the successes of each student in Rock Island County.

The purpose of the Teacher Job Fair is to bring school districts looking for teachers together with teachers looking for jobs.

All prospective and current teachers, counselors and administrators are invited to attend the Teacher Job Fair.  This event will be an opportunity to talk to school district representatives from Illinois and Iowa at no charge.  Please bring copies of your resume.  Licensure information for Iowa/Illinois will be available.

WHEN
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
2:00 – 5:00 PM

WHERE
The Waterfront Conference Center
2021 State Street
Bettendorf, Iowa 52722

TO REGISTER
Log on to www.aea9.k12.ia.us
Click the Programs and Services button
Click Teacher Job Fair Registration

Questions?  Please contact Dawn Meier, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency
563-344-6411 or email her at dmeier@aea9.k12.ia.il.us

The Illinois State Board of Education has adopted new Math and English Language Arts standards for K-12 education known as the New Illinois State Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core.  The goal is to better prepare Illinois students for success in college and the workforce in a competitive global economy.

Why new standards?

Our expectations for what students must know and be able to demonstrate were different in 1997 when Illinois adopted the current standards.

The new standards aim to provide clear, consistent academic benchmarks with “fewer, clearer and higher” academic standards for essential learning and skills.  The standards were developed while considering the standards of top performing countries and the strengths of current state standards.

The 2010 state standards provide benchmarks for academic progress (skills and knowledge) that students should have at the conclusion of each grade level.  This will allow teachers to establish the best approach to help their students meet those standards. 

Students and parents will clearly understand the knowledge students are expected to attain each year.

How will the new state standards be implemented?

The process to fully implement new standards touches numerous systems including assessment, curriculum, professional development, instruction and various support components such as RtI.  As the details for implementation are determined, the many reform efforts and initiatives underway will be considered to ensure the work is aligned and coordinated.  It is anticipated the development and implementation will span over the next 18 – 24 months with varying phases of work:

PHASE I: Adoption, Communication, and Coordination (June-End of 2011 school year)

PHASE II: Communication, Resource Design, and Design of implementation Sys tem (ongoing)

PHASE III: Transition, Implementation, and Technical Assistance (ongoing)

What about assessments?

The transition process should begin with local review and discussion.  The new assessment system will be in place 2014-15.

The development of a plan for transitioning from 1997 standards and assessments to 2010 standards and assessments is an ISBE priority for 2010-2011. 

Illinois is a governing state in a 26 state consortium on assessment called the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).  PARCC assessments will incorporate more frequent assessments and include performance tasks to measure the new Illinois standards more effectively.

For more information on the Common Core State Standards, log onto www.corestandards.org and www.isbe.net.

Other Resources Available:

Common Core: Mathematics
http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_Math%20Standards.pdf

 Common Core: Gap Analysis
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/common_core/htmls/gap_analysis.htm

 PARCC and the 2014-2015 Assessment
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/common_core/htmls/parcc.htm

 National Parent Teacher Association
http://www.pta.org/4446.htm

 Ohio Model Curriculum
http://ode.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?page=3&TopicRelationID=1699&ContentID=86942&Content=104144

 Great Lakes West Planning Tool
http://learningpointassociates.wceruw.org/Members/Survey/Default.aspx

Students use dip nets to collect aquatic invertebrates at Loud Thunder during an ECO Camp field trip.