LM Sept. 2018

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• 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.
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.
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 .
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