KEEP Illinois – Defining Educator Compensation Survey

In April 2025, from April 7 to May 14, the Illinois P-20 Network will be conducting a statewide study of early childhood through high school educators to explore their thoughts on compensation. This study builds off the recommendations included in The Road to Retention, which offered four recommendations to better engage educators throughout their careers and to improve retention. Those recommendations included: compensation; teacher leadership; professional development, coaching, and co-teaching; and culture, working conditions, and wellness.

This study seeks to gather more information directly from educators of all types, including both licensed teachers, clinicians, and administrators as well as paraprofessionals, across all levels (early childhood through high school) from throughout Illinois to both identify high-quality practices that are working in school districts and to seek the creation of additional novel solutions to these challenges, specifically in the area of educator compensation.

This survey is anonymous and completely voluntary, is likely only to take as little as 5 to 7 minutes to complete, and can inform conversations both locally and statewide about educator compensation. Thank you for taking the survey and sharing with colleagues! The results of this survey will be made publicly available at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.

Complete & share SkillsUSA Illinois Apprenticeship Study surveys

This fall, a research team from the Illinois P-20 Network and the Northern Illinois University Center for Governmental Studies Workforce Policy Lab will be working together with the support of SkillsUSA Illinois to conduct a comprehensive statewide landscape analysis of apprenticeships in Illinois.  

We have just released two surveys – one focused on educational organizations and one for business and community partners.  

Here’s what we’re asking for assistance with from our Illinois P-20 Network partners: 

• Please complete the educational organization survey. 

• Please share the business and community partners survey with any partners who engage in any type of work-based learning and ask them to complete this survey. (Link: https://niu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bdBpTXJT1gGlsGi) 

This study has strong potential to identify significant gaps in work-based learning opportunities that exist either across Career Pathways or geographically. The only way that this study can fulfill its potential is for organizations across Illinois, large and small, to complete it! Thank you for your help in completing it and sharing it with others! 

Important Dual Credit Think Tank Survey Seeking Responses

This summer, the Dual Credit Think Tank consistently engaged in work following the legislative session based on the goings-on with HB5020, including June and July meetings that identified topics and questions for legislators, and the Legislative Webinar on August 1. 

Now, a survey regarding dual credit has been developed based on not only the August 1 webinar but also the conversations that took place during the June and July Think Tank meetings. This survey has two key purposes: 

• The results of this survey will inform communications from the Dual Credit Think Tank to policymakers about what is important to the field, both school districts and postsecondary institutions, for continued efforts around HB5020 or around new legislative proposals. 

• The results of this survey will also inform the Illinois P-20 Network for developing time-sensitive and needed professional learning opportunities to support school districts, postsecondary institutions, and regions with their efforts to develop dual credit programming for students. 

While the survey is anonymous, we optionally request that participants complete the final section with your organization’s information. In that event, survey responses will still be kept confidential, but this additional data will allow us to engage in more detailed and complex analyses that include demographic and funding data from other sources. 

Please complete this survey by Friday, September 6, 2024, and please share the link to the survey widely with other school districts and postsecondary institutions. We hope to have responses from organizations in communities throughout the state. 

State of Illinois Survey for HS Seniors – What’s next and why?

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), in cooperation with the State of Illinois, wants high school seniors to fill out a survey to tell us about their decisions after high school. The survey focuses on the following questions:

• What are the factors influencing your decisions to pursue education after high school?
• What options are you weighing?
• Will you be attending college or a trade school?
• Will you stay in-state or go out of state?
• How are you making your decision?

Students can complete the survey here. It will take about 15 minutes.

Students’ survey results will be collected and analyzed by IWERC, a research unit at University of Illinois. The survey will not ask students for their name, and their responses will not be connected to themselves. Survey responses will be used to inform how we improve postsecondary options, access, equity, and enrollment in Illinois. Findings from the survey will be shared in research publications and with the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Governor’s office.

Please share this survey with your current high school seniors!

Dual Credit Think Tank Survey – Graduate coursework needs for dual credit teacher credentialing

The Illinois P-20 Network and ILACEP, the Illinois chapter of NACEP, know that there continue to be significant needs for secondary teachers to complete graduate coursework in order to be credentialed to teach dual credit classes in the high school setting. Both organizations also understand that it is critical that such graduate coursework is offered at times and in formats that work with teachers’ busy daily and annual schedules. This survey seeks to understand those areas which present the most pressing needs for additional graduate coursework in Illinois at this time. With a pair of redundant questions, we are asking for your five most critical areas for graduate coursework followed by a few quick, final questions about your school district.

Currently, graduate coursework in the content area is the key element necessary for most teachers to be credentialed to teach dual credit classes in line with the requirements on postsecondary institutions from the Higher Learning Commission.

This survey is designed to be completed at the school-district level by a district leader. Please share this survey widely with colleagues as data from across a wide range of school districts throughout Illinois will be critical to taking action to support teachers and school districts with the necessary coursework. This survey may be repeatedly regularly in the future.

Middle School and High School Social and Emotional Learning Programs Landscape Analysis Survey

Along with our partners at RTI and IWERC, the NIU P-20 Research & Data Collaborative is pursuing a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to do a rigorous study of SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) programs in middle schools and high schools in Illinois.

As the research team begins its work, having a strong understanding of the types of programs Illinois school districts are currently using will help guide our research. Voluntary responses from as many school districts as possible across Illinois will help the team gather this data. A summary of the results of this survey will be shared state-wide via the Illinois P-20 Network and other partner organizations.

This survey will remain open through February 10, 2022. Thank you for your participation.

Early Childhood Staff Simulation Health & Safety Trainings Needs Survey

Please pass this information along to Early Childhood program leaders in your communities, community colleges, and school districts!

An inter-disciplinary team at Northern Illinois University, including the Illinois P-20 Network, is working in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago Rockford Medical School on a project to design and implement community-based simulation trainings on health, safety, and well-being for early childhood education teachers and staff. The goal is to support early childhood education professional development in maintaining healthy and safe environments for children.

The Gateways competencies model and ECE HSW (Health, Safety, and Well-Being) were used as a guide for this work.