From the Desk: The Moment is Now to Support and Invest in Illinois’ Youngest Learners

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As school communities across the state continue to address the ongoing challenges created by COVID-19, and amidst significant and ongoing gaps and complexities in district and state data, Advance Illinois applauds ISBE for releasing as much crucial information as possible in its 2021 Illinois Report Card . Unsurprisingly, these data were sobering and echo much of what we have been hearing from educators, parents, and school communities over the last 20 months.  

While a number of areas stood out as needing additional thought, attention and support (e.g., chronic absenteeism and freshmen on-track rates), alarms should be going off for our children in the earliest grades. Traditionally, we do not have a great deal of visibility into student progress from PreK-2nd grade.  There are limited state level data available, and ISBE has yet to finalize its P-2 indicator for school designations. It’s hard to know how we are doing in a normal year, let alone during this pandemic. This year’s report card, coupled with what we have heard from families and early childhood providers and programs, however, is worrisome and worth attention. Specifically:  

• Enrollment declines in the early, formative years - Spring 2021 Prekindergarten attendance was down 17 percentage points from the previous Spring. In SY20-21, 10,800 fewer children attended Kindergarten than SY19-20 – that’s an eight-percentage point drop. In addition to being concerned about whether these unserved children are in safe and stable environments, we should also be worried about the stimulation and learning these students missed. Research has shown time and time again the importance of the foundational social and academic skills developed in these years. We are facing a generation of kids starting their educational journey behind or with significant developmental and academic gaps. 

• Declines in academic proficiency in core subjects - While still preliminary and incomplete (and requiring cautious interpretation and use), preliminary assessment data show that 3rd grade English Language Arts and Math scores for students from low-income households went down 10.5 percentage points and 12.4 percentage points, respectively, between 2019 and 2021.  This decline echos national research that showed loss of academic learning gains in 3rd and 4th grade compared to SY18-19. This matters because these represent foundational years and skills. And while Illinois schools have traditionally done a pretty good job making progress in closing achievement and opportunity gaps, these data should have us concerned.  

• Lack of data/information about Kindergarten readiness - While we don’t have reliable state level data from SY20-21, KIDS is a researched-based and universal tool that can support and inform stakeholders in understanding where our children are developmentally and academically as they enter Kindergarten. This provides a foundation for the state to build upon when addressing the impact of disrupted learning and care in the early years. 

• Growing awareness of acute social and emotional needs and support - And while no state level data exist, reports from the field suggest educators and schools are struggling with behavior challenges and social emotional development, particularly among the youngest students. 

What to do?  

While there is no quick or easy response, there are some immediate and medium-term actions that districts, stakeholders and the state might consider, including: 

• Immediately ensuring that the PreK-3rd grades are getting a proportionate (or truthfully, maybe even an outsized) amount of federal stimulus resources. Resources are available to help school and district leaders plan and invest these funds. District leaders and stakeholders should re-examine their ARP ESSER plans and amend as necessary to drive resources to serve our PreK-3rd grade students.  

• Supporting efforts to align, improve and stabilize the state’s system of early childhood and care by investing at least an additional 10 percent in all programs in FY23. And all of us should be championing the federal Build Back Better package, which is poised to invest billions into childcare and PreK. 

• Learning more about and joining We, The Village, a coalition which advocates to advance equity and quality for early learning and care in Illinois.  

• In the medium term, we need to invest in data collection and tools to better understand the exposure and impact of trauma and the social-emotional needs of all of our students, particularly our youngest students. This will be critical in addressing unprecedented levels of student (and staff) need that will likely cast a shadow for years to come. Further, efforts to build better understanding of mental health in addition to universal and readily available screening tools can inform stronger and more systemic supports and true trauma-responsive practice into the future.  

• Evaluate and learn from the state’s Jump Start grants, designed to support Kindergartners and 1st graders who received little to no in-person instruction in SY20-21. 

  Advocate and invest in our ECE workforce and educator pipeline so that every child has access to well-prepared, equitability compensated, and diverse educators. This will include high-quality implementation of the new EC Consortium and scholarship opportunities, along with planning now for scaling and sustaining these efforts once federal relief dollars are gone.  

• Double down on our commitment to (1) the Governor’s ECE Commission Recommendations, and (2) fully funding EBF. State and federal investments here are key, but we also must have strong aligned systems that advance equitable funding and resource stability to ensure that our children and communities have access to high-quality programs and classrooms into the future.  

Right now, we know we must respond to the significant immediate threats and issues facing our children, but we must not do so at the expense of longer-term planning to develop and strengthen programs and systems that have the potential to positively impact students and families far beyond this immediate crisis. We must not aspire to get back to normal. Instead, we should work now to ensure we come out of this once-in-a-century crisis better equipped to support all students. Intervening and doubling down now on our youngest children and students is both the powerful and the right thing to do. They cannot wait, and we cannot wait.  

Robin Steans

President