Many Illinois school superintendents said that meeting the yearly progress requirements and analyzing the data for the federal No Child Left Behind Act is their foremost struggle, according to a just-released Illinois State University Center for the Study of Education Policy survey.

The survey, partially funded by The Wallace Foundation as part of Illinois State’s Action for Education Leadership Project (SAELP) and completed by 435 Illinois superintendents last spring, addressed superintendent’s perceptions on education issues for legislative debate such as school finance, school consolidation/annexation, barriers to student achievement, governance and professional development and certification. Superintendents also gave strong support for services provided by regional superintendents and the State Board of Education and expressed the belief that socio-economic conditions are the biggest obstacle in improving student learning. Survey respondents were 82 percent male and 18 percent female, and 99 percent were white.

“The survey provided Illinois superintendents an opportunity to give input on important state issues impacting schools,” said Dianne Ashby, dean of the College of Education. “The responses to the questions reveal the real viewpoints from the education field.”

Superintendents responses indicated the following:
• The top two requirements of NCLB that most impact superintendents’ time and resources were meeting annual yearly progress requirements (58.6 percent) and analyzing disaggregated data (24.9 percent).
• The percentage of education fund deficit spending over the last four years increased 18.6 percent (from 44.6 percent in FY01 to 63.2 percent in
FY04).
• Only 30 percent of superintendents are evaluated by their local school board using the Illinois Professional School Leader Standards (IPSLS) for superintendents, while 81 percent of superintendents use the IPSLS standards to evaluate principals.
• Socio-economic conditions, rules and regulations, and state laws presented the three greatest obstacles to student learning.

Results of the survey can be viewed on the Center’s web site at:
http://www.coe.ilstu.edu/eafdept/centerforedpolicy/

Read full story:

http://www.mediarelations.ilstu.edu/news_releases/
0405/jan/superintendent.asp