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ROEs/ISCs

EDUCATOR LICENSE RENEWAL

Educator license renewal opened on April 1 and will continue until June 30. Currently, 17,551 out of the 115,000 licenses have been renewed.

ROEs can help educators renew by:

• Checking that professional development hours have been satisfied.

• Making sure employment status is accurate.

• Accessing ELIS from a laptop or desktop and utilizing Firefox or Google Chrome as the browser.

• Renewal FAQ

• Renewal webpage

APPROVED PD PROVIDER RENEWAL

All approved professional development providers are required to renew their registration on an annual basis. Renewal opened on April 1 and closes June 30 in PD+. All districts and Regional Offices of Education/Intermediate Service Centers will access their PD+ account from ELIS for Administrators in IWAS. Providers who fail to renew by June 30 will be removed from the approved provider list, and educators will not be able to enter PD from those providers until the provider renews. Please be sure that your ROE/ISC has renewed its registration and please remind your districts to do so as well.

PD+ FOR EDUCATORS

PD+ was released to all users on Aug. 29, 2022. The system is synced with the Professional Development page in an educator’s ELIS account. Educators are encouraged to begin familiarizing themselves with the PD+ page in their ELIS account by entering new PD on that page. An icon that helps you navigate to the PD+ page is at the top of the ELIS screen. PD will be reflected on both the PD+ page and the existing Professional Development page.

PD+ UPDATE

PD+ is currently in phase II of development, which is the integration of the Illinois Administrator Academy Management System. Phase I is open and ready for use. Please be sure you are sharing PD+ with all districts in your region. We recommend all ROEs/ISCs provide training and helpful resources from the ISBE PD+ webpage to their districts.

SPRING 2023 ROE/ISC TOUCHPOINT

Thank you to all who attended the Spring 2023 ROE/ISC Touchpoint. Post-training materials, including the presentation, a copy of the recording, training materials, and an FAQ document, were sent to all attendees. 

DIVERSE EDUCATOR RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT

ISBE is partnering with American Institutes for Research (AIR) to provide leadership, facilitation, and content expertise pertaining to diverse educator recruitment and retention to the agency and educator preparation providers (EPPs). Fifty-two percent of students in Illinois are students of color, yet 83% of teachers are White. ISBE Strategic Plan Goals 3.1 and 3.4 prioritize building partnerships to result in a diverse teaching corps that better match the demographics of our state’s children. Specifically, AIR will assist EPPs and ISBE with developing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and revising plans for diverse educator recruitment and retention. ISBE led a pilot with a subset of Illinois EPPs during the 2021-22 school year to develop diverse educator recruitment and retention plans. This project will build upon the work of the pilot. IHE and ROE AIR will partner with ISBE for two years to accomplish project goals. All EPPs will receive an invitation in the near future for a kickoff event to be held in August.

ILLINOIS APPROVED PD PROVIDERS

Professional development is vital to the growth and success of teachers in Illinois. The Illinois approved provider list is extensive and reaches a wide variety of interests. We would like to highlight a few of the providers available for services related to young children in general and children with autism in particular.

• Collaboration for Early Childhood: Collaboration for Early Childhood, which is in Oak Park, seeks to support families, systems, and communities in the growth of children under the age of 5.

• Easter Seals Central Illinois Learning Academy and Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago: Easter Seals provides support and advocacy services to ensure children with special needs are supported and empowered to meet their full potential.

• Start Early: Champions for Early Learning: Start Early is an established national organization that focuses its care and consulting to the youngest of learners. Start Early offers professional development as well as early learning programs and supports.

• Turning Pointe Autism Foundation: Turning Pointe is a not-for-profit organization in Naperville. The foundation offers education, programming, and family resources.

See the complete list of Illinois-approved professional development providers.

PROFILES IN IMPROVEMENT: HOW ILLINOIS DEVELOPED A DATA SYSTEM TO ADVANCE TEACHER PREPARATION

New America recently published a research brief on the IEPP. The brief describes the work by ISBE and the Partnership for Educator Preparation to develop the platform and shares lessons learned for state and federal policymakers, as well as for advocates looking to support similar efforts across the nation.

MEET OUR NEW TEAM MEMBERS

Meagan Budke joined the Educator Effectiveness team in January. She attended Western Illinois University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2014. She later attended Olivet Nazarene University, where she earned her master's degree in 2020. She is part of the renewal team and is facilitating the Performance Evaluation Advisory Committee meetings. Meagan taught in Illinois public schools for eight years before joining ISBE.

Sabrina Ollie

Meagan Budke

Sabrina Ollie joined the Educator Effectiveness team in December and currently serves on the preparation team. She attended Northern Illinois University and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social services and higher education, respectively. Sabrina has served in various roles within both the K-12 system and higher education, including as head of a Science Department and biology teacher. She has had teacher leadership and development roles and was the associate director of precollegiate programs at Northern Illinois University.

Illinois Institutions of Higher Education

PD+ FOR EDUCATORS

PD+ was released to all users on Aug. 29, 2022. The system is synced with the Professional Development page in an educator’s ELIS account. Educators are encouraged to begin familiarizing themselves with the PD+ page in their ELIS account by entering new PD on that page. An icon that helps you navigate to the PD+ page is at the top of the ELIS screen. PD will be reflected on both the PD+ page and the existing Professional Development page.

DIVERSE EDUCATOR RETENTION AND RECRUITMENT

ISBE is partnering with American Institutes for Research (AIR) to provide leadership, facilitation, and content expertise pertaining to diverse educator recruitment and retention to the agency and educator preparation providers (EPPs). Fifty-two percent of students in Illinois are students of color, yet 83% of teachers are White. ISBE Strategic Plan Goals 3.1 and 3.4 prioritize building partnerships to result in a diverse teaching corps that better match the demographics of our state’s children. Specifically, AIR will assist EPPs and ISBE with developing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and revising plans for diverse educator recruitment and retention. ISBE led a pilot with a subset of Illinois EPPs during the 2021-22 school year to develop diverse educator recruitment and retention plans. This project will build upon the work of the pilot. IHE and ROE AIR will partner with ISBE for two years to accomplish project goals. All EPPs will receive an invitation in the near future for a kickoff event to be held in August.

ILLINOIS APPROVED PD PROVIDERS

Professional development is vital to the growth and success of teachers in Illinois. The Illinois approved provider list is extensive and reaches a wide variety of interests. We would like to highlight a few of the providers available for services related to young children in general and children with autism in particular.

• Collaboration for Early Childhood: Collaboration for Early Childhood, which is in Oak Park, seeks to support families, systems, and communities in the growth of children under the age of 5.
• Easter Seals Central Illinois Learning Academy and Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago: Easter Seals provides support and advocacy services to ensure children with special needs are supported and empowered to meet their full potential.
• Start Early: Champions for Early Learning: Start Early is an established national organization that focuses its care and consulting to the youngest of learners. Start Early offers professional development as well as early learning programs and supports.
• Turning Pointe Autism Foundation: Turning Pointe is a not-for-profit organization in Naperville. The foundation offers education, programming, and family resources.

See the complete list of Illinois-approved professional development providers.

APR SYSTEM CLOSES APRIL 30

The Annual Program Reporting (APR) system opened Feb. 1; the collection window will close April 30. Please ensure that you have uploaded and certified your report year data by the closing date. We have included resources to assist you in the reporting process on our website. If you have questions, you can consult the APR user guide or reach out to the ISBE educator preparation team at preparation@isbe.net.

REMINDER: PLACE YOUR LCENSURE CANDIDATES IN 'PRE-COMPLETION' STATUS

Licensure officers are reminded to place your licensure candidates into “pre-completion” status upon enrollment in your program. Pursuant to Section 25.170 of the Illinois Administrative Code, licensure officers must add candidates to ELIS in pre-completion status within 60 days of enrollment. Section 25.110 further defines “enrollment” as “a declaration, by a student who has accumulated at least 60 semester IHE hours (or equivalent) of undergraduate credit of an intent to graduate with an undergraduate major or minor leading to educator licensure, or a graduate or post-baccalaureate registration as a candidate in a licensure program.” This requirement was effective July 13, 2022. If you have not added your 2022-23 new enrollees to ELIS yet, please add them as soon as possible. Be sure that you enter the correct enrollment date in ELIS; this date will drive the list of “enrolled” candidates that are pulled for inclusion on the Illinois Educator Preparation Profile (IEPP) during next year’s reporting period.

TEACHER APPRENTICESHIPS

ISBE has received many inquiries about teacher apprenticeships. We are excited that there is great interest in this work! Our team is currently exploring ways that we might be able to begin teacher apprenticeship programs in Illinois. On a statewide scale, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has invited ISBE’s feedback on the Illinois Apprenticeship Expansion Grant that is due May 1. ISBE advocated for the specific inclusion of teachers in the grant proposal. DCEO also plans to work with stakeholders to develop a complete Apprenticeship Plan that will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor by December 31, 2023, with the goal of integrating the work into the 2024 Unified State Workforce Plan. ISBE will keep stakeholders in the loop as we learn more about funding and as we progress through the planning stages.

PROFILES IN IMPROVEMENT: HOW ILLINOIS DEVELOPED A DATA SYSTEM TO ADVANCE TEACHER PREPARATION

New America recently published a research brief on the IEPP. The brief describes the work by ISBE and the Partnership for Educator Preparation to develop the platform and shares lessons learned for state and federal policymakers, as well as for advocates looking to support similar efforts across the nation.

MEET OUR NEW TEAM MEMBERS

Meagan Budke joined the Educator Effectiveness team in January. She attended Western Illinois University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 2014. She later attended Olivet Nazarene University, where she earned her master's degree in 2020. She is part of the renewal team and is facilitating the Performance Evaluation Advisory Committee meetings. Meagan taught in Illinois public schools for eight years before joining ISBE.

Sabrina Ollie

Meagan Budke

Sabrina Ollie joined the Educator Effectiveness team in December and currently serves on the preparation team. She attended Northern Illinois University and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social services and higher education, respectively. Sabrina has served in various roles within both the K-12 system and higher education, including as head of a Science Department and biology teacher. She has had teacher leadership and development roles and was the associate director of precollegiate programs at Northern Illinois University.

The Illinois State Board of Education is the State Education Agency for Illinois. Our mission is to provide each and every child with safe and healthy learning conditions, great educators, and equitable opportunities by practicing data-informed stewardship of resources and policy development, all done in partnership with educators, families, and stakeholders.

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