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Pilot Project Illinois State
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Professional Development System The Service Center Network (SCN) led by the State Professional Developer, features three regional centers that focus on professional development, primarily for instructors, but include administrators and support staff for selected state initiatives. Training sessions for Illinois STAR are being delivered to program teams of administrators, teachers, and support staff through the regional professional development centers. They are:
The SCN also has a statewide center that focuses on statewide meetings and professional development for administrators and support staff called, the Center for Adult Learning Leadership (CALL). The statewide center works with the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) to provide two IL administrator conferences per year and an administrators' meeting at each of the fall regional conferences. These events focus on state level administrative functions. STAR Pilot Illinois selected 10 programs to participate in the STAR pilot. Each site was encouraged to have at least two teachers participate to allow for peer collaboration. The teachers had varying backgrounds, with many having no prior experiences in reading instruction. To further support learning and implementation, program administrators (directors/coordinators) attended the three nationally-sponsored STAR workshops along with their teachers. Approximately 20 teachers and 10 administrators along with the State Professional Developer, ICCB regional consultants and SCN reading specialists attended these workshops. Working with the State Professional Developer, the SCN provided a statewide STAR pilot booster training to augment the three nationally-sponsored workshops. In addition, STAR site-based technical assistance was instituted regionally to help the pilot sites implement what they had learned during workshops. THE ILLINOIS STAR INITIATIVE In recognizing the value of STAR and its expansion beyond the pilot's original 10 programs, the ICCB launched a statewide STAR Initiative. The SCN was asked to coordinate this initiative which included marketing and outreach of STAR, STAR workshops for program teams, and site-based technical assistance. In addition, the SCN organized an Illinois STAR Initiative Advisory Committee. IL STAR Initiative Advisory Committee The Committee was established to provide the ICCB with recommendations concerning statewide supports that need to be in place to assist local programs with implementation, input about the program and student data to collect through Illinois' data, research and accountability system, and feedback about local STAR implementation. Advisory Committee members include the State Professional Developer, the four SCN reading specialists, and eight administrators and teachers from programs that participated in the STAR pilot or are a part of the new state initiative. STAR Outreach and Awareness STAR awareness sessions have been presented at the statewide administrators' meetings, regional fall conferences and other regional meetings and orientation presentations. In addition to providing an overview of STAR, the presentation explains the team approach to training and the programmatic structures and policies that are essential to implement the practices outlined in STAR. IL STAR Professional Development The four SCN reading specialists attended the national STAR Training of Trainers and are using the STAR Tool Kit resources and the STAR Institute training materials. Each region in the SCN has designed a delivery process for the extensive STAR training and follow-up. A regional training approach better allows for program needs to be met. IL STAR professional development includes:
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