ISBE Update October 2022 

Thomas Lay Burroughs Award Nominations 

The State Board of Education is now accepting nominations for the Thomas Lay Burroughs Award for outstanding school board member. The award was created in 1991 in memory of the late ISBE chairperson, who was at one time school board president for Collinsville CUSD 10. The award is presented annually in November at the Joint Annual Conference. 

The Burroughs Award is intended to recognize extraordinary leadership on behalf of education at the local level. The nominating criteria for the recognition includes:  

• Personal leadership in improving student learning, closing achievement gaps, and supporting educational excellence; and/or  
• Personal leadership in expanding educational opportunities for underserved students; and/or  
• Personal leadership in resolving a crisis or major difficulty with the result of more equitable outcomes for students. 

Any individual that has served as a member of a local school board in 2022 is eligible for consideration. The deadline to submit nominations is October 21.  

Illinois School Report Card 

The 2022 Illinois Report Card will be released at 9 a.m. on Thursday, October 27. The Report Card is intended to create a snapshot of school performance for the 2021-2022 school year and provide community residents with data to understand the student learning environment within a district. 

The Illinois Report Card will include new annual summative designations for all public schools. The last time the federally required designations were issued was in 2019. Since that time, the accountability system has seen changes in response to the impact of the pandemic. Each school will receive one of four designations based on various measures of data and school performance: Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted, or Comprehensive. View this factsheet to learn more about the four designations.  

New to the Report Card this year will be the Equity Journey Continuum. The new tool analyzes district-level data points through the lens of equity to make the data useful for improving outcomes for all students. It is intended to assist districts with tracking their progress toward closing gaps in student achievement, opportunities, and supports.  

ISBE staff will present a 2022 Report Card Overview webinar on October 6 from 10-11:30 a.m. They will review new features of the Report Card, go over the Educator Preview tool, and answer any questions districts may have. The webinar will be recorded for those who are not able to attend.  

New ISBE Chair 

Governor Pritzker has appointed Steven Isoye, Ed.D. as the new chair of the State Board of Education. Isoye is a lifelong educator, having served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in Illinois schools. He most recently was employed as superintendent of Niles Township High School District 219 and was previously honored as 2010 Illinois High School Principal of the Year and 1998 Illinois Teacher of the Year.  

“I look forward to partnering with Dr. Isoye to lead the agency in serving and supporting Illinois’ students as they recover from the pandemic and pursue academic excellence,” said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. 

Commenting on the recent appointment, Isoye said, “I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and State Superintendent Dr. Carmen Ayala to foster an academic environment in which every student in the state can be successful.”