1 Illinois Education Research Council ierc.siue.edu Jennifer B. Presley Director SHEEO Professional Development Conference August 16, 2006 Chicago, Illinois

2 What We Do Provide objective and reliable evidence for Illinois P-16 education policy and program development

3 About the Illinois Education Research Council Established in 2000 to bridge the knowledge gap across educational sectors in Illinois Housed at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Keys to success are –Linked to policy community – high-profile Advisory Board –Modest permanent base state funding. Allows multi-year projects and permanent staffing (augmented with grants) –Excellent researchers with content knowledge –Illinois’ priorities are our priorities -- not chasing tenure/promotion or faculty’s own interests –Independence to present uncomfortable results

4 Opportunity Knocks: The Research Data Map

5 Opportunity #1 Longitudinal Study of the Class of 2002

6 The Data All 113,660 public high school students in the Illinois Class of All took ACT in 11 th grade so we have scores and background information. Enrollments in institutions of higher education, public and private, in state and out of state, from the National Student Clearinghouse each year. Certificates and degrees from Illinois Community College Board (and the NSC in the future). Plan to follow the Class for six years. We now have the fourth year’s data from NSC for AY

7 } } College Ready Not Ready Partially Ready Roughly a third of the 2002 Cohort are not/least ready for college, about a third are partially ready, and about a third are college ready.

8 Regional analysis of college readiness has been very helpful for in-state communication College readiness is an issue across the state.

9 Tracking transfers is critical: Year 3 status of Year 1 starters by first year institution type 9 Benefit of NSC is that it includes transfers among ALL institutions

10 Opportunity #2 The Distribution of Teacher Quality in Illinois

11 The Data State Teacher Service Records and Teacher Certification Information System – 140,000 teachers in public schools in ACT Inc. Barron’s Guide, for college competitiveness Common Core of Data (NCES) Illinois School Report Cards

12 Creating the Teacher Quality Index (TQI) Teacher Characteristics Averaged at the School Level Teachers’ Average ACT Composite Scores Teachers’ Average ACT English Scores % of Teachers Failing Basic Skills Test on First Attempt % of Teachers with Emergency/Provisional Certification Teachers’ Average College Competitiveness Ranking % of Teachers with 3 or Fewer Years’ Experience Our ‘independence’ made it safer for us to use sensitive measures } TQI (Principal Components Analysis)

13 Distribution of School TQI by School Percent Poverty TQI distribution is strongly related to school poverty levels

14 Linking school TQI to student college readiness TQI is closely related to students’ college readiness, regardless of school poverty and minority characteristics. TQI matters more for schools serving mostly disadvantaged students

15 Examples of Impact of Results Teacher Quality Distribution: Considerable national, Chicago and statewide media coverage – with help from the Education Trust Raised legislative questions about teacher quality –what can be done? More open to additional funding initiatives for preparation and professional development Unease in some colleges of education College Readiness and Success: Increased legislators’ and board members’ understanding of the extent of under-preparation, and interest in secondary education Demonstrates link between college readiness and teacher quality – extends higher education’s understanding of its involvement in school quality Tracking students through college provides new accountability opportunities

16 Where Illinois is Going IBHE working with data custodian (SIUC) to add some variables to the higher education unit- record enrollment system, and to be able to address some questions directly Student ID in K-12. Will be included in higher education unit-record reporting Eventually – value-added measures for teachers and feedback to teacher preparation programs IERC will continue to be an independent but directly connected component in P-20 efforts