About the Online Roadmap to School Improvement Plan

Since 1986, Illinois schools have been required to develop school improvement plans. In 1997, the state adopted the Illinois Learning Standards which defined the expected levels of achievement to be obtained by students in seven core subject areas (reading, mathematics, writing, science, social science, physical development and health, and fine arts) as a result of their education. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 made it a requirement that all states measure each public school's and district's academic performance and establish annual achievement targets for the state.

In addition, the No Child Left Behind Act made it a requirement that states set up and implement accountability systems to ensure that all students achieve proficiency in the subject areas of reading/language arts and mathematics by the end of the 2013-2014 school year. To reach the goal of 100% proficiency in 2014, No Child Left Behind required that those state accountability systems ensure continuous improvement towards that objective by making each school and district achieve adequate yearly progress (AYP) in academic performance.

To evaluate and measure how students are performing relative to the Illinois Learning Standards and adequate yearly progress, educational experts along with the Illinois State Board of Education developed the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE).

The Online Roadmap for School Improvement Plan seeks to assist educators in aligning those standards, objectives, goals, and assessment results into a data-based driven process to improve academic performance.