2007-2008 ILLINOIS CTE NETWORKING DIRECTORY
The Illinois Center for Specialized Professional Support is currently updating the Illinois CTE Networking Directory. This Directory is distributed to Illinois secondary and postsecondary career and technical education administrators and coordinators. In order to ensure the accuracy of the print version, please take a moment to register now by clicking on the “Update Your Personal Information” link at: http://www.icsps.ilstu.edu/services/directory. After you have registered, you will receive an e-mail giving you a temporary password (Please also check your junk mail.). Log-in to verify and/or update your current information. You are allowed to change/update information for anyone in your organization.
If for any reason you have difficulty with this process, please call or e-mail Connie Borowski at 309/454-4944 x 201, mailto:cjborow@ilstu.edu. We understand that this updating period is short, but please complete all updates by January 31, 2008. Updates made after this date will be reflected in 2008-2009 directory.
More than 340 teachers learning how to better bring technology into the classroom
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced today that more than 340 teachers in 26 districts statewide will be participating in a series of in-depth, online courses focused on bringing technology into the classroom. The classes, which begin in January, are an integral part of the Illinois Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant program, which aims to improve access to technology and to provide technology integration training to teachers and students in the state.[read more]
Training All Teachers to Help English Language Learners Succeed in Schools
Purpose: The Higher Education Cooperative Act (HECA) grant project under the Educational Administration and Foundations Department (EAF) invites proposals for developing learning modules that help teachers implement successful strategies in their classrooms. All areas of teaching and learning related to the English Language Learners are welcome. These modules will
be placed online so that any teacher can access them.
General Information: The Educational Administration and Foundations Department requests qualified faculty from ISU and NEIU to submit proposals to develop a learning module that supports English Language Learners in the general classrooms. The deadline for the submission of the proposal is Monday, March 31, 2008 by 4:30 PM. The proposal should be 1-2 pages in length.
For more information or to read the guidelines click here.
Dr. George Padavil
Grant Principal Investigator
Training All Teachers to Help English Language Learners Succeed in Schools
Teaching Effectively with Computers
“With a growing array of solutions at their disposal, more and more educators are integrating computers, laptops, and other technology into the classroom, and often with great success. Computer-based technologies offer rich new ways to reach students and fulfill curriculum goals, while bringing information to life for diverse kinds of learners. But teaching with computers also poses many challenges--from finding ways to implement technology effectively, to limiting students' access only to teacher-sanctioned material.[read more]
Enriching Education Through Digital Sharing
Thanks to new technologies, it's now easier than ever for schools and other organizations to create rich, online repositories of learning "objects" that students, teachers, and other users can draw upon at their own convenience to enrich their education. Teachers across the globe, for example, are taking open digital content items and re purposing them for use in their classrooms; universities are making course content available online to users worldwide; and schools and vendors are creating online, interactive learning communities for educators to advance their knowledge and skills.“ [read more]
'Doing What Works' Web Site Launched to Help Educators
The U.S. Department of Education today launched a new Web site to provide teachers, administrators and other educators with recommendations on effective teaching practices and examples of possible ways to implement those practices to help promote excellence in American education and improve student achievement. [read more]
Rehab Act of 1973 is being Amended! Does this effect you?
Section 508 of the Rehab Act of 1973 is being amended! Info on suggested wording can be found on the TEITAC (“TEITAC is a federal advisory committee providing recommendations for updates of accessibility standards issued under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and guidelines under section 255 of the Telecommunications Act. TEITAC members represents over forty industry, disability groups, standard-setting bodies in the U.S. and abroad, and government agencies, among others.”) web site link:
DROPOUTS: A PROBLEM FOR GIRLS AND BOYS
New Report Finds Economic Costs for Female Dropouts Outweigh Those for Males
Released today,(November 15, 2007) When Girls Don’t Graduate, We All Fail: A Call to Improve High School Graduation Rates for Girls,finds that American girls are dropping out of high school at nearly the same rate as boys, and at even greater economic cost. Female dropouts earn significantly lower wages than male dropouts, are at greater risk of unemployment, and are more likely to rely on public support programs.
“The high school dropout crisis has received significant recent attention but almost exclusively as a problem for boys. It is generally overlooked that girls are also failing to graduate at alarmingly high rates,” said Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center. “The dropout rate for girls results in severe economic consequences for them, their families and society as a whole.”
When Girls Don’t Graduate finds that close to half of the estimated dropouts from the Class of 2007 were female students, or over 520,000 of the overall 1.2 million high school dropouts. Overall, an estimated one in four female students will not graduate with a regular high school diploma in the standard, four-year time period. [read the report]
Illinois community colleges generate positive impact on local economy.
Study: Illinois community colleges generate positive impact on local economy. The Southern Illinoisan (10/3, Malkovich) reports that a study performed by the Northern Illinois University Center for Governmental Studies, and released by the Illinois Community College Board on Monday, found that Illinois' "taxpayers are getting a great return on their investment in community colleges, including the four in the Southern Illinois area." During its inspection of the State's 48 community colleges the study, titled "The Economic Impact of Illinois Community Colleges," found that Illinois's community colleges add skills to the workforce and boost the competitiveness of businesses, produce graduates who "generate billions of dollars in local, state, and federal tax revenues," help students increase their earning potential, and generate billions of dollars in local sales and wages by providing more than 55,000 jobs. Illinois Community College Board chairman Guy Alongi pointed out that 'community colleges are one of the best bargains around'. Last year the State's community colleges only received about 23% of higher education funding but it is estimated that they "educate about 62 percent" of the college students in Illinois's system. (view the Illinoisan article)
Washington Community College wins National Science Grant for DNA sequencing
Washington State's Seattle Times (10/18, Peters) reported that Bellevue Community College (BCC) has been awarded a $478,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that "will allow students to do hands-on DNA sequencing" of a bacterium that has shown potential for protecting crops from a root-attacking fungus. The fungus is particularly damaging to wheat and barley crops, and "can devastate an entire field with a disease called Take-All." The students will analyze the genes of the bacterium and determine if the bacterium benefits the plants in any way. According to the Times, "The bacterium...will be provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS)." David M. Weller, an ARS plant pathologist and his colleagues chose this organism for the project because of its importance to agriculture in the Northwest and throughout the world. The BCC students' findings will be entered in the GenBank Database, which is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Data collected will be made available to scientists all over the world who are "searching for solutions to protect crops susceptible to the disease." (view the Seattle Times article)
Assistant Secretary for OVAE outlines CTE's future, importance of business partnerships, sharing best practices
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) has added an interview with Troy Justesen, assistant secretary for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), to its “Career Tech Talk” pod cast series, which features interviews with leaders and innovators in CTE. Justesen discusses issues ranging from CTE priorities, the No Child Left Behind Act and workforce development, to his reading list and greatest hero.[read more]
Identify effective strategies for students to enroll, complete postsecondary education
ACTE has released an issue brief exploring the significant role that career and technical education programs play in aiding students’ successful transition from secondary to postsecondary education. [read the brief]
Q & A on programs and services for Special Populations under Perkins IV
The staff at the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity and Michael Brustein of Brustein and Manasevit developed the attached Q & A to help interpret issues related to the provision of programs and services for special population students under Perkins IV. We hope you find it useful. [view document]
National Girls Collaborative Project
The goal of the National Girls Collaborative Project is to maximize access to shared resources within projects and with public and private sector organizations and institutions interested in expanding girls' participation in STEM.
NGCP NewsletterStudy: Dads Shape Daughters' Interest in Math, Science
Fathers play a major role in their daughters' interest in math and science, according to a 13-year University of Michigan study that traced the sources of the math and science gender gap. Females and males scored equally well on tests of science and math ability, but parents' attitudes -- particularly fathers' gender stereotypes -- had a significant effect on their daughters' math achievement and eventual career choice. [read more]
Few of Sylvia Grace's female students in advanced science classes had considered engineering as a career: stereotypes of engineers as the geeky guys with glasses meant the profession was not even on their radar. But Grace -- a former engineer -- is breaking those stereotypes and encouraging her students to pursue the well-paying career.[read more]
Title IX also came to mean that if schools sponsored sports for boys, they should sponsor them for girls, too. ... No shots were fired, but a revolution followed, fought by an invisible army of committed activists, parents, coaches and kids. Within a few short years, tens of thousands of girls were suiting up for basketball, volleyball and soccer.[read more]
This peer network is the resource and information-sharing forum for state vocational and technical education professionals. A joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education and the states, this site provides a peer-to-peer forum for states to improve their capacity to collect quality data as it relates to the Perkins accountability requirements and to promote quality vocational and technical education programs. The focal point of this site is peer collaboration -- a participant-driven medium that fosters communication and the exchange of innovative ideas and approaches among states. So join your peers in building high quality performance systems and outstanding vocational programs! [site link]
A single classroom at Montgomery County's poorest high school has yielded $1.6 million in college scholarships for its students. Of the 26 students in the Wheaton High School engineering academy, three will attend Cornell, two will go to Penn State, and one each will attend MIT, the University of Maryland, Virginia Tech and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. [read more]
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced today the Illinois Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) Network will be receiving a $471,038 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help implement programs aimed at teaching character development. [read more]
Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Chairman Jesse H. Ruiz today joined thousands of parents, students, educators and education advocates at a statehouse rally in Springfield to call for increased education funding. Chairman Ruiz was one of several speakers at the Capitol Action Rally for Education today that called for legislators to work together now to reform how Illinois funds its schools. [read more]
This 2+2+2 robotics career pathway program was implemented giving students seamless transitions from secondary to postsecondary education. [read more]
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced today that the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) named Dr. Christopher Koch to serve as the State Superintendent of Education. Dr. Koch, who has been with ISBE since 1994, served as Interim Superintendent since December 2006, and was selected to lead the agency after a national search. The State Superintendent serves as the chief education officer in Illinois for elementary and secondary schools.
“The State Board of Education made the right choice when it named Chris Koch today the new State Superintendent of Schools. Chris and I share the same belief that one of the most important functions of state government is providing children with the best possible education,” said Gov. Blagojevich. “Our schools have been chronically underfunded for decades. Our Helping Kids Learn plan is not just an investment in schools, it’s an investment in our future and in our children. Chris is the right person to lead our schools as we propose historic funding increases that will improve the quality of our education system, while raising the bar for accountability and building needed infrastructure.” [read more]
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), Illinois State Police (ISP) and the Illinois Terrorism Task Force announced today they are teaming up to improve local school security by training all ISP Safety Education Officers (SEO) to be multi-hazard instructors for their local school districts. The training is part of a larger effort to better prepare Illinois schools to plan for and manage a variety of possible hazardous events.[read more]
More than half of parents and teachers who participated in a national survey responded that their schools are not adequately preparing students with the skills necessary for success in the 21st century workplace. [read more]
Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education today released new state-by-state data on the effectiveness of Reading First, indicating that students who receive instruction through the program achieve strong gains in reading proficiency. Another measure of the program's success since its launch in 2002, the state-by-state data demonstrate that Reading First is working to help our nation's neediest kindergarten through third-grade students significantly improve their reading skills. [read more]
Over the last two weeks, both the House and the Senate have begun intense work on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held two hearings during the week of March 5. On Tuesday, March 6, the Committee held a hearing titled “NCLB Reauthorization: Strategies for Attracting, Supporting, and Retaining High Quality Educators.” This hearing featured testimony from teachers, administrators, researchers, and teacher educators from around the country. [read more]
ACTE has released a new paper addressing postsecondary CTE and workforce preparation. “Expanding Opportunities: Postsecondary Career and Technical Education and preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce” will soon be available. [read more]
The Association for Career and Technical Education has established a new Web site highlighting best practices in career and technical education. [read more]
The long-awaited final report from The Commission on No Child Left Behind focuses on making sure teachers and principals are effective, improving accountability measures, school improvement, rigorous standards and making schools stronger. [read more]
Fixing Engineering's Gender Gap
President Bush recently announced a $136 billion program to encourage innovation and strengthen the ability of the U.S. to compete in the global economy. The conventional wisdom is that the nation needs to graduate more engineers or India and China will eat our lunch.
We can debate whether an engineering gap between the U.S. and India and China exists, but among U.S. engineers there is an indisputable gender gap -- fewer than 20% of engineering graduates are women, according to the National Science Foundation. Perhaps a simple solution to maintaining American competitiveness is to encourage more women to enter engineering. [read more]
Preparing Students for the World Beyond High School
This report finds that the Career Academy model is the model that is most clearly oriented toward the goal of helping students prepare for a productive future because it provides a work- based learning opportunity while students are still in school. The study also included three key findings.
~The earning impact for young men in Career Academies is linked to career awareness activities and internships.
~School and employer relationships are most beneficial when the partnerships are well structured.
~It may be necessary to improve the academic component within Career Academies in order to raise students’ achievement on standardized tests. [read the report]
The upcoming reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) presents an unprecedented opportunity to continue building on the successes of the law thus far, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in an address to the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) federal conference Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C. Spellings outlined her vision for the reauthorization which will focus on maintaining the law’s emphasis on standards, accountability, and data-driven decision-making provisions, and giving schools greater flexibility in how they can use federal funds – including Perkins Act money. [read more]
In 2001, President Bush worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass NCLB with overwhelming support, and he was proud to sign it into law in 2002. President Bush is committed to re authorizing NCLB this year and building on the good progress that has been made. Strengthening and reauthorizing NCLB is critical – if we were to lower standards and roll back accountability now, we would be leaving children to the former status quo that failed them for decades. [read more]
Tampa teacher Nick Holtvluwer says he can relate to kids because he feels like one at heart, but, as a male teacher, Holtvluwer is a rare breed there and across the country. Although principals say they provide a needed role model, the percentage of male teachers is at a 40-year low, according to the National Education Association.[read more]
Dr. Patricia (Pat) Stanley has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of OVAE and will be leading their efforts regarding community colleges. Prior to Dr. Stanley's retirement, she was President of Frederick Community College (FCC) from 1998 - 2005. Prior to joining FCC, Dr. Stanley was executive vice president of Cypress College in Cypress, California. She has been a board member of the National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE), a member of the executive committee of the Presidents Academy, and on the National Council for Staff, Professional and Organizational Development (NCSPOD), receiving the President's Award in 2001. Dr. Stanley is an active member of national community college associations. Her community activities include Rotary and board positions with the local YMCA, Advocates for Homeless Families, the community hospital, FITCI (Frederick Incubator), and the Community Health Charities.
This study examines the impact of a technical degree on earnings. The research shows that completers from the Moore-Norman Technical Center earned a higher income then their counterparts who earned a high school diploma. Throughout Oklahoma technical degree holders earned on average $4,600 more annually.[see the study]
This issue brief will explore the dynamic role that career and technical education plays in economic competitiveness. High-quality career and technical education can ensure America's future in the global cognomen through increased student engagement, the innovative integration of math, science and literacy skills, and by meeting the needs of both employers and the economy as a whole.[read brief]
"The phenomenon was a familiar, distressing one to educators: In 2000, Arizona's growing Latino population was dramatically lagging behind most other student groups in school performance. Policy makers and business leaders wondered why--and what could be done . . ." [read more]
National Women's Law Center feels that the final DOE regulations on single sex education will allow schools to exclude students from educational opportunities based on their gender. “Although the Department’s announcement claims to enhance schools’ flexibility to improve education, in reality the regulations will distract attention from true educational reform,” said Marcia D. Greenberger, NWLC Co-President. [read more]
On 10/24/06, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the release of final Title IX single-sex regulations. These regulations give educators more flexibility, under Title IX, to offer single-sex classes, extracurricular activities and schools at the elementary and secondary education levels. [read more]
10/4/2006
On September 19-20, 2006 the Illinois Community College Board's Fifth Annual Forum for Excellence took the Springfield Hilton by storm. Blowing in gusts of fresh air were a variety of state and local representatives showcasing best practices and promising ideas. Sprinkled throughout the two day conference were powerful featured speakers, including J. Domenic Giandomenico, Director of Government Relations for the National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education; Debra Mills, Center for Occupational Research and Development; Dr. Larry Warford, League for Innovation; A. Cameron Ferguson, Director of Product Safety & Engineering Services; and Tom Ryder, Legislative Counsel for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association. Speakers brightened the days with details on everything from updates and details on the Perkins reauthorization to student transitions; preparing workers to lobbying state legislators. [see speaker information and handouts].
9/27/2006
On Tuesday, October 3, 2006, from 2:00-3:30 p.m. Central time, the National Dissemination Center for CTE will present a webcast that discusses recent research and CTE best practices, as well other strategies and solutions for parents and schools to use when encouraging their students to stay in school. [read more]
9/20/2006
"The Illinois Community College Board is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the Promising Practices designation. This award is given to Illinois Tech Prep consortia that demonstrate the outstanding nature of consortium-based practices that effectively address one or more of the six components of Tech Prep implementation. This year's winners were chosen through a blind selection process by a statewide team of experienced Tech Prep leaders. The winners will be featured at the Forum for Excellence meeting on September 19th and 20th in Springfield, Illinois." [read more]
"The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook—updated every 2 years—describes hundreds of jobs. For each job, it tells what workers do, working conditions, the training and education needed, earnings, and expected job prospects. Job search tips, information about the job market in each state, articles about specific occupations and industries, and additional career information are included." [read more]
9/6/2006
"The State Board of Education has named Christopher Koch (pronounced “Cook”), interim state superintendent beginning in December 2006 and until the board names the next state school superintendent.
Koch, who has been with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) since 1994, will serve in an interim capacity after Superintendent Randy Dunn leaves the post to begin serving as president of Murray State University (MSU) in Murray, Kentucky. MSU announced in May that it had selected Dunn as its next president. Dunn agreed to stay on as Illinois state superintendent of education through December 1, 2006. Dunn was named superintendent in August 2005 after having served as interim superintendent since September 2004." [read more]
"On the heels of its successful Perkins Webcast, ACTE is proud to announce a series of Webcasts that will look into some of the great and interesting things happening in career and technical education. Each Webcast will highlight a successful program or idea, provide information on how other schools can replicate the success, and share with viewers additional useful and practical tips and ideas." [read more]
"The dissemination of best practices has been hailed as one of the greatest single tools for improving both participation in training and the quality of the provision on offer. Certainly the variety of the agencies involved in the ‘Programmers and Practices That Work’ Awards in the USA would seem to support this, as they gathered to raise the profile of the winning project from Illinois." Read more from an article in the Future Education News from the UK
