1. Illinois Public Agenda Dashboard
August 11, 2009
I will be brief in my comments, bringing you up to date on our progress in Phase I of the Illinois Public Agenda implementation plan. You have before you, the complete Phase I dashboard; this presentation will focus on those areas where we have progress to report – or barriers to overcome. As with all of our activities regarding the Public Agenda, we continue to review the implementation plan, including this dashboard approach, to ensure we are being as transparent, collaborative, and informative as possible. We certainly welcome any suggestions or observations you may have.

2. Goal 1
Goal 1: Increase educational attainment to match the best-performing states.
Goal 2: Ensure college affordability for students, families, and taxpayers.
Goal 3: Increase the number of high-quality postsecondary credentials to meet the demands of the economy and an increasingly global society.
Goal 4: Better integrate Illinois’ educational, research, and innovation assets to meet economic needs of the state and its regions.
Just a quick reminder of the 4 Public Agenda goals – attainment, affordability, workforce demand, and economic development.

3. P-20 Longitudinal Data System Goals 1, 2, 3 SB 1828 signed into law
Action Step
Action Step
Progress
Future Steps
Barrier
P-20 Longitudinal Data System
Goals 1, 2, 3
SB 1828 signed into law
$200,000 appropriated
Federal grant approved
ARRA reporting requirement
Implement LDS, Phase II, FY 10
Early Intervention Academic Readiness
Goals 1, 2
Pass Legislation
HB 150, SB 37 failed to pass
Work with ISAC, ISBE, CPS to develop new proposal
Perhaps the greatest success to date has been the progress made in creating and developing a comprehensive P-20 student information system. Legislation was passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor; $200,000 was appropriated to IBHE for costs associated with implementation of the system; ISBE has secured a federal grant to build the system; putting the longitudinal data system – or LDS – in place is a condition of receiving federal stimulus dollars. So we have come a long way in the past 6 to 9 months, and we will begin to draft the agreements among the various participants and make the connections needed construct this very vital information system.
One of the key Goal 1 action steps is to develop an early intervention program to reach into the middle school – or earlier – to interest kids in college and get them on track to graduate from high school ready for college. Legislation to establish a program similar to Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars hit some potholes this session, primarily over funding issues, but this battle will go on.
We are on track in our efforts with the State Board of Education to strengthen standards for the training of school leaders. Legislation to revamp the certification system for principals and superintendents will be a major Phase II endeavor for our staff and ISBE.
School Leader Standards
Goals 1
Legislative Resolution
SJR 55 passed Senate,
HJR 42 passed House
ISBE, IBHE develop new standards, recommend legislation

4. High School to College Report Goal 1 Informational workshops presented
Interagency Agreements approved
Collect data, submit to ACT
Distribute report to high schools, CC, IIRC, agencies
Dual Credit
Goal 1
Pass Legislation
HB passed GA
Governor approve
HB 1079
ICCB , IBHE
draft rules
We are on track also with the High School to College Report, which will better inform high school leaders about how well their graduates are performing in college. We expect the report will be piloted within coming months.
The legislation passed by the General Assembly, and under review by the Governor, will advance Goal 1 by strengthening standards for dual credit programs and expanding oversight to four-year institutions that offer these college courses for high school students. We believe that by codifying the standards for evaluation of dual credit coursework, senior institutions will have more confidence in the quality of such courses and accept the credits for transfer.
One anomaly of this year’s budget process was that we were appropriated $1 million for a program that doesn’t yet exist. The Governor included this new high-need health grant program in his budget – hence the funding was approved – but the General Assembly hasn’t taken up the substantive legislation we introduced to actually create the new program. We will work with legislators to both get a renewal – and hopefully an increase – in the funding while achieving passage of the enabling legislation to set up the program in the next legislative session.
High-Need
Healthcare Grant
Goal 3
Budget
$1 million appropriated
Pass Legislation
Bill held
Develop proposal for FY11funding, pass enabling legislation

5. Expand participation in u.select
u.select, IAI
Goals 1, 3
Budget
$200,000 appropriated
Expand participation in u.select
American Diploma
Project (ADP)
Goals 1, 3
Identify statewide
college-readiness
standards
Reconcile state and national standards
Adopt new H.S. graduation standards & assessments
Receiving an appropriation for the u.Select online course planner is a major step forward in putting this vital program on firm fiscal ground and expanding its reach to more institutions. As you recall, this was formerly known as CAS – for course applicability system – and is a highly useful tool in assisting students in determining which courses will transfer from one college or university to another. This will help students better plan their courses of study and reduce time-to-degree.
The American Diploma Project continues to progress through the cooperative efforts of staff at IBHE, ISBE, and ICCB.

6. Phase II SB 1883 passed GA Baccalaureate completion incentives
Goal s 1, 3
SB 1883 passed GA
Governor approval of
SB 1883
Develop funding proposal FY 10
IBHE/ICCB develop grant program
Baccalaureate completion
Goal s 1, 3
NIU agreement with 11 community colleges
Oakton CC, Rock Valley College initiate program spring 2010
Additional CC initiate partnership program with NIU
I’m excited to report progress during Phase I on a major action step for Goal 1 – efforts to improve baccalaureate completion. The General Assembly passed SB 1883 which authorizes IBHE to establish a new grant program with incentives for partnerships between 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities for bachelor’s degree completion programs on or near community college campuses.
Meanwhile, as the Chairwoman noted, on your agenda today is a new program offering from Northern Illinois University to establish a bachelor’s of applied science program with 11 community colleges in the northern part of the state. Two of those will be “classroom-ready” by the spring term – Oakton and Rock Valley.
These are two significant steps forward, but they are first steps – each will require continued effort in Phase II (fiscal 2010) to fully implement them. Still, we are thrilled with the progress on these two fronts and look forward to bringing you more good news from these initiatives in the future.
That concludes my update of the Public Agenda implementation, Madam Chairwoman. I will be happy to answer any questions Board members may have.

7. Improve affordability for low-income, middle-income students
Goal 2
SB 325 enacted, ISAC issue bonds to rehabilitate delinquent loans
ISAC agreement with credit unions for $105 million in loan funds
Affordability measures/operating efficiencies
Goal 2
HJR 54 passed House
Develop study/seminar with ISAC, ICCB, Rep. Soto
ISAC lead October PA discussion item regarding affordability