Introduction

If you don't already know what ISBE is, you soon will! Take a journey through the ISBE website to get just a small sample of the information that's available there.

Navigate your way through the ISBE website to find the answers to the following questions:

1. What is ISBE?
2. What group of children does the 1982 Plyler vs. Doe decision protect?
3. Who takes the ACCESS test and what does it measure?
4. What is the McKinney-Vento Act and why is it important?
5. What annual income would qualify a household of five for free meals at school?
6. What is a home language survey and how is it used? Who takes the survey?
7. How many charter schools were there in 2005-2006 in Illinois? How many children in Illinois attended charter schools? How many charter schools were in Chicago?
8. In 2006-2007 what percentage of the instructional staff at a charter school must be certified?
9. When is the next Elementary/Middle Grades Content Test being administered?
10. Name five subject areas for which you can get a middle school endorsement that you didn't know about.
11. What subject areas are tested with the ISAT and what grades are tested in these subjects? What does ISAT stand for? What time of year do children take ISAT tests?
12. Who is the current state superintendent of schools and where did he obtain his graduate degrees?
13. How long can one teach on an Initial Certificate and what requirements are there for obtaining a Standard Certificate?

If your last name begins with A-L, do the odd # questions, M-Z the evens.

1. Navigate your way through the ISBE website (http://www.isbe.net) to find the answers...
2. Be prepared to share your answers next week!

We will discuss your findings in class next week!

This activity we designed not only to help you become familiar with ISBE and all the resources it has to offer, but also to give you a slightly modified peek at a WebQuest. We'll go over this more in class.

Thanks to Dr. Karen Sakash for developing the questions used in this exercise.

http://www.isbe.net