What's New

Illinois State Museum Seeks K-12 Teacher Input for New Project
The Illinois State Museum (ISM) is seeking teacher input for its Oral History of Illinois Agriculture Project. The project is planning to develop an interactive Web module called the Audio-Video Barn featuring new digital oral-history interviews with people involved in agriculture and rural life in Illinois, associated educational resources, and links to ISM online collections. The site will be launched in fall 2009. Active and retired K-12 teachers can help shape the development of the educational resources by completing the Teacher Survey on the project's website at http://www.museum.state.il.us/avbarn/

Coaching for Transfer is Coming to Chicago July 9-11, 2008
This three-day seminar, to be presented by Robin Fogarty & Brian Pete, authors of From Staff Room to Classroom: Planning and Coaching Professional Learning, is a scheduled pre-conference at ASCD National Convention in Orlando 2009. This Level II Training, Coaching for Transfer is best suited for literacy coaches, math coaches, inclusion coaches, school principals, assistant principals, staff developers, curriculum coordinators, teacher leaders and other members of the staff who provide instructional support. For more program and registration information, go to http://www.robinfogarty.com

FY09 Reading Improvement Block Grant Applications
The FY09 Reading Improvement Block Grant application became available for completion through the eGrants system on Thursday, April 17. All eligible school districts serving grades K-6 may apply. Projected allocations for FY09, which are contingent on legislative approval, can be found near the bottom of the Budget Detail page of the application. Districts also may check their projected allocations by going to http://www.isbe.net/curriculum/reading/html/gran t.htm. Some districts will see changes in funds due to census poverty data. The due date for the Reading Improvement Block Grant application is June 15. The start date for use of grant funds is Tuesday, July 1, or the date a substantially approvable application has been received by ISBE, whichever is later. All FY09 funds must be spent by June 30, 2009.

Recruiting More Men to Teach Elementary School
Stereotypes and low pay keep men away from teaching. But that Y chromosome can make a huge difference in the classroom. Read more at http://www.edutopia.org/male-teacher- shortage

Still Time to Respond to Call for Proposals

We are still accepting proposals for presentations at the 28^th Annual Illinois ASCD Statewide Conference for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Educators to be held on March 5-6, 2009 at the Renaissance Hotel in Schaumburg, IL.  For a copy of the Call for Proposals, CLICK HERE.  We will give priority consideration to those submitted by May 31, 2008, however, we will continue to accept proposals for further consideration afterwards.

High School Leaders: Register Now for the Third Annual Coalition High School Conference
The third annual High School Conference sponsored by the Coalition for Illinois High Schools is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, June 16-17, 2008 at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, Illinois. The theme of the conference is Leadership and Learning: Connecting the Dots, and will feature Doug Reeves and Deborah Pickering as keynote presenters. Program and registration information is now available at http://www.illinoisascd.org/pdfs/pdfs/cih sconference2008.pdf

FY09 Reading Improvement Block Grant Applications The FY09 Reading Improvement Block Grant application became available for completion through the eGrants system on Thursday, April 17. All eligible school districts serving grades K-6 may apply. Projected allocations for FY09, which are contingent on legislative approval, can be found near the bottom of the Budget Detail page of the application. Districts also may check their projected allocations by going to http://www.isbe.net. Some districts will see changes in funds due to census poverty data. The due date for the Reading Improvement Block Grant application is June 15. The start date for use of grant funds is Tuesday, July 1, or the date a substantially approvable application has been received by ISBE, whichever is later. All FY09 funds must be spent by June 30, 2009.

Sustainable, School-wide Social and Emotional Learning Implementation Workshops
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is pleased to announce two workshops designed to equip school administrators and their teams with the tools and skills needed to implement high quality, sustainable, evidence-based social and emotional learning programming that is integrated into all aspects of schooling. Featured will be the CASEL's Implementation Guide and Toolkit. The workshops are July 24-25, 2008 and August 14- 15, 2008, both in Chicago, IL. The Guide, and the Toolkit can help your school create a planning team, develop a shared vision, conduct needs and resources assessments, assess impacts, communicate with families, develop funding, and much more. For registration information, go to CASEL's website at http://www.casel.org/ and download the registration form at http://www.casel.org, or contact Cynthia Coleman (colemanc@uic.edu) today. Deadline is extended to May 15th.

An Early Literacy and Language Initiative That Works
Robin Miller Young, Illinois ASCD member, presenter at the PreK/K Annual Conference, and Student Services Coordinator for Indian Prairie School District #204, was a co-author of an article titled Project ELI: Improving Early Literacy Outcomes, published in the May/June issue of the Principal magazine, a publication of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP). It is an article about the district's early literacy and language RtI model. The article is available to the public, so just go to http://www.naesp.org/

ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award
ASCD, in its ongoing search for what works in schools, has decided to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of young educators who achieve excellence and equity in teaching and learning. The ASCD Outstanding Young Educator Award candidate is an education professional, 40 years of age or younger, who demonstrates exemplary commitment and exceptional contribution to the profession. The deadline for nominations is Aug. 1, 2008. Nominate a colleague today. Go to http://www.ascd.org

Plan Ahead to Attend ASCD 2008 Conference on Teaching and Learning
Plan to attend the ASCD 2008 Conference on Teaching and Learning. The conference will be held October 24-26, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. For more conference information on this conference, Professional Practices That Work: What's Blocking High Student Achievement? , go to http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.4bf962 cfeb89d92abfb3ffdb62108a0c/

Understanding by Design Exchange
Understanding by Design is a framework for designing curriculum, assessments and instruction that explores questions, such as: How do you know that students truly understand and can apply their understanding in a meaningful way? How can you design courses and units to emphasize understanding rather than coverage? What instructional practices are both engaging and effective for developing student understanding? The Understanding by Design Exchange is a Web site dedicated to the design of curriculum, assessment and instruction that leads students to a deep understanding of content. Visit http://www.ubdexchange.org/index.cfm

Literacy Academy to Focus on Understanding the Reading and Writing Connection
To help schools or districts enhance students' ability to use text to master subject area content and to express their thinking by writing about their learning, ASCD is offering The Literacy Academy. The academy will provide both large-group and "job-alike" opportunities for educators to learn how to use reading and writing to increase student learning of the content, while honing students' ability to get meaning from text and to communicate that learning through writing. The academy will be held July 21 to 24, 2008, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Find out more at https://www.ascd.org

A Notice for Your PreK/K Teachers! Illinois ASCD Summer One-Day Workshop
Illinois ASCD is sponsoring a one-day summer Make- and Take workshop for PreK and K teachers. Titled Starting Out Your New School Year, the workshop will be presented by Donna Whyte (http://www.the smartiezone.com/), a regular featured speaker at the annual Illinois ASCD PreK/K Conference. She will focus on ideas for PreK and K teachers to create bulletin boards, welcome back students, plan for parents' night, use board games, and lots of other back to school fun things. Program information and registration form are available at http://www.illinoisascd.org/pdfs/Donna _Whyte_Workshop.pdf. CPDUs will be offered.

Making A Pledge to Our Children Through Our Leadership is the Theme of the 7th Annual Leadership Institute
The Seventh Annual Illinois ASCD/IASA Leadership Institute is scheduled for Sunday- Tuesday, July 27-29, 2008 at Eagle Ridge Inn and Resort in Galena, IL. Co-sponsored by Illinois ASCD and the Illinois Association of School Administrators, this dynamic event will have as its theme, Making a Pledge to Our Children Through Our Leadership. The Leadership Institute program and registration flyer is now available at http://www.illinoisascd.org/ under Calendar/ Conferences.