LM Sept. 2018

IASA: What were the main takeaways from ISBE’s yearlong study into the teacher shortage? Dr. Smith: The most important thing is that we hear you. People in schools have been saying there is a real need to be addressing the shortage of teachers. This report took into consideration the entire range. Recruitment, retention, the pipeline, preparation, diversity and any other piece was considered. The board reviewed the report and will talk about recommendations. They’re considering those and will come back. It’s open for public comment right now. If anybody has comments, please get those in by October 2. (Comments can be emailed to teachillinois@isbe.net ). IASA: Could the basic skills test be eliminated or cut scores be reduced? Dr. Smith: What I did say recently is that I am hard pressed to find evidence to defend it. If people have been accepted into a program, the acceptance criteria means the person has met some sort of rigorous standard in the first place and completed coursework and demonstrated mastery of content. If there is another exam that has a disparate pass rate and tends to exclude people of color, it seems to me there is something going on with that assessment. Right now, I don’t see a reason to keep it. IASA: Would eliminating the test require legislative approval or could you do it administratively? Dr. Smith: That’s a board activity, so we will have conversations with the board about what they’re going to recommend. IASA: How quickly can things get moving with recommendation in the report? Dr. Smith: The board will consider action in October. I will say there is such a desire to do something, so I would expect some things definitely to happen in the spring session. IASA: What was the thinking behind changing the disbursement with the Early Childhood Block Grant? Dr. Smith: These are five-year cycles, and we just finished the second of two cycles that had the same participants. At the outset of the last five-year cycle there was a commitment to a re-competition that would open up the ability to get funding to the whole state. That hadn’t been possible in the last 10 years. What happened was everyone was eligible to apply and had the same common standards and criteria. Getting the passing

• All students are supported by highly prepared and effective teachers and school leaders • Every school offers a safe and healthy learning environment for all students. • All English learners achieve proficiency in English within five years of their identification as English Learners. IASA: What are your thoughts on striking the right mix of balancing test scores and growth on the ESSA plan? Dr. Smith: The importance of growth and to have it weighted so heavily was critical. If we are honest, kids come in with varying degrees of capacity at each grade level, so our ability to a make commitment to student growth each year was critical. I recognize the work of moving kids up sometimes multiple grade levels is really important and has significant value. There was no way to really account for that. Before we had a binary system where students were proficient, or they weren’t. If you were not proficient, you were a failing school, when in fact, you could be doing remarkable things. Now there’s a different way of talking about it and that is probably the most significant transition. IASA: What is the biggest misconception you’ve heard about the Illinois’ ESSA plan? Dr. Smith: Unless people are really engaged, I still think there is a sense it’s just No Child Left Behind with a new name. So maybe it’s not a misconception but some people still haven’t really understood what we’re doing. When people see the work, they might see it is in fact different. IASA: What are the next steps with ESSA implementation? Dr. Smith: The biggest and most critical piece in all of this is the peer-to-peer network, creating opportunities for practice sharing, positive stories and really shaping the narrative in Illinois about schools, with districts and educators taking responsibility to improve academic and social outcomes for the kids. That is the force of this. I think at the heart of that for us is the IL-Empower work. The core of that is focusing first and foremost on those schools that still have the highest need. There is more autonomy now and using the quality rubric to ask a set of clear-guiding questions and have much more clear language about how to get help in different areas. Overall, we’re just much better and clearer about how we’re going to be talking to each other and targeting support.

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