District 88 staff members expand and enhance professional credentials to support our students
Pictured is District 88 Superintendent Dr. Jean Barbanente.
At District 88, we remain committed to making sure each student is college ready, career ready, culturally ready and future ready. We continue to provide rigorous – yet flexible and individualized – programming to meet the needs of our student population. It is our focus to have each student working toward a viable college and career integrated pathway, including access to college coursework and real-life career opportunities in the field of his/her choice.
We also are proud to have a diverse school community – about 50 languages and more than 30 countries are represented, and almost half of the nearly 4,000 students at District 88 speak a language other than English.
To expand our college-level course offerings, and to meet the diverse needs of our students, the District 88 Board of Education, together with the District 88 Administration and the District 88 Teachers Union, worked to establish incentives to encourage teachers to pursue additional credentials. We are so blessed here in District 88 to have highly dedicated staff members, who go above and beyond to support our students and our families each and every day, including the pursuit of additional degrees and licensure to enhance their credentials.
- While some of our District 88 teachers already hold the credentials to teach dual-credit courses, at this time, an additional 18 staff members are pursuing the required graduate coursework to teach dual-credit. This involves earning a qualified master’s degree, or any master’s degree with 18 graduate credit hours of coursework in the desired content area. Dual-credit courses provide students with an opportunity to earn college credit while in high school. In District 88, students save an average of $1 million in college tuition each year by taking AP exams and dual-credit classes.
- Additionally, while many of our staff already hold English Learner (EL) endorsements, at this time, 39 staff members are pursuing EL and/or Bilingual Endorsements. This involves completing 18 semester hours of credit, with coursework in a variety of areas related to bilingual education and English as a Second Language (ESL). The majority of District 88 students speak a second language, and we are so pleased our staff continues to learn new ways to help students tap this incredible asset they bring to their learning in order to foster their academic achievement.
- Along with the generous resources our Board of Education has dedicated to these efforts, we are thrilled to share we have received an Elevating Educators: Bilingual Education Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This initiative provides funding (from federal pandemic relief funds) for school districts that have EL students and have a need to increase the number of qualified staff able to support those learners, or support staff who have an Educator License with Stipulations endorsed for Transitional Bilingual Education with getting their Professional Educator License. We have been awarded $8,247 to assist with the bilingual educator pipeline.
According to the ISBE, “The number of EL students enrolled in Illinois schools has increased steadily during the past 12 years, but the number of teachers qualified to teach these students has not kept pace. The Elevating Educators: Bilingual Education Grants will support up to an estimated 780 teachers in 219 school districts throughout the state in getting trained and licensed to teach the state’s growing number of ELs.”
For more information about the Elevating Educators: Bilingual Education Grants, go to https://dupage88.net/site/public/files/?item=6843.
- Along with the generous resources our Board of Education has dedicated to these efforts, we are thrilled to share we have received an Elevating Educators: Bilingual Education Grant from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This initiative provides funding (from federal pandemic relief funds) for school districts that have EL students and have a need to increase the number of qualified staff able to support those learners, or support staff who have an Educator License with Stipulations endorsed for Transitional Bilingual Education with getting their Professional Educator License. We have been awarded $8,247 to assist with the bilingual educator pipeline.
We continue to seek funding sources to expand these efforts, and during the 2023-24 school year, we will pursue more grants to bring these rich learning opportunities to our staff, which benefits our students. We truly appreciate our staff members continuing to go above and beyond for our students to help build futures for each and every child.
With District 88 Pride,
Jean Barbanente, Ed.D.
District 88 Superintendent