Senate committee discusses pandemic protocol in Illinois prisons Posted by Editor on December 24, 2020 in Business | Comments Off on Senate committee discusses pandemic protocol in Illinois prisons
Testifying before the Senate State Government Committee Friday, Illinois Dept. of Corrections Director Rob Jeffreys said the state’s prison system is working closely with state public health authorities to respond to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. State Senator Pat McGuire, Vice-Chair of the committee, led the hearing Friday and asked IDOC personnel about the department’s progress in processing prisoners for intake and release more efficiently, COVID-19 protocols, and efforts to adapt the prison system’s education programs to the realities of the pandemic. “We learned at today’s hearing of steps DOC has taken to spend tax dollars more wisely, to ensure educational programs continue in our prisons during the pandemic, and to protect staf
ISBE Implements New Teaching Standards Posted by Editor on December 24, 2020 in Education | Comments Off on ISBE Implements New Teaching Standards
The Illinois State Board of Education adopted new Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards to prepare future educators to teach diverse students. ISBE’s Diverse and Learner Ready Teacher (DLRT) Network developed the standards, which educator preparation programs in colleges and universities will integrate into their course content and field experiences. The standards aim to foster classroom and school environments in which every student feels that they belong. This feeling of belonging is critical to improving academic and behavioral outcomes for Illinois’ increasingly diverse students. More than 52 percent of Illinois students identify as students of color and English Learners make up the fastest growing student population, but Illinois’ teacher workforce remains more than 82 percent white. The
State of Illinois Finishes First Among Populous States and Seventh Nationwide in 2020 Census Count Posted by Editor on December 24, 2020 in Local News | Comments Off on State of Illinois Finishes First Among Populous States and Seventh Nationwide in 2020 Census Count
Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) announced the results of the 2020 Census in Illinois and celebrated the over 400 nonprofits and organizations that helped Illinois exceed its 2010 self-response rate during the pandemic. Illinois finished seventh nationwide and first among states with over 9M in population size in self-response rates. Illinois Census grantees worked with IDHS get a complete count despite unforeseeable challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With their help, Illinois surpassed the 2010 self-response rate of 70.5 percent, finishing at 71.4 percent. A self-response rate is the percentage of homes known by the U.S. Census Bureau tha