(WTTW News)

CPS confirmed Friday that Stephanie Jones, the district’s chief of the Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services (ODLSS), is stepping down from that role after four years effective immediately.

Students at Chicago Public Schools walk along a hallway in this file photo. (WTTW News)

“Dr. Tony Sanders is an extraordinary choice for State Superintendent of Education,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.

State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala (WTTW News)

Carmen Ayala is retiring after a career in education spanning nearly 40 years. She's both the first woman and person of color to hold the position as the state's top education official.

Students at Chicago Public Schools walk along a hallway in this file photo. (WTTW News)

State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala, appointed in 2019, announced that she’ll retire at the end of January.

(PBS)

Starting this school year, every public elementary school and high school in Illinois must include a unit of instruction on Asian American history. Illinois became the first state to implement the requirement when Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act into law last summer. 

The state recently announced a $17 million grant to build the first state-funded network of Freedom Schools in the country. (Courtesy Springfield Urban League)

The state recently announced a $17 million grant to build the first state-funded network of Freedom Schools in the country. The schools date back to the 1960s when volunteers traveled to Mississippi to teach Black students how to read and write, along with lessons on constitutional rights and African American history.

Students at Chicago Public Schools walk along a hallway in this file photo. (WTTW News)

The Illinois State Board of Education on Friday released enrollment and other data for the 2021-22 school year in its annual report card, which shows statewide enrollment fell from 1,957,018 students last year down to 1,887,316 students.

(WTTW News)

The Illinois State Board of Education on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution in support of an upcoming declaration that will make it a requirement that schools reopen their doors in the fall, with only limited options for remote learning.

(WTTW News)

The Illinois State Board of Education is working on a new set of teaching standards for what it calls “culturally sensitive and responsive teaching.” We hear about the possible pros and cons of the new rule.

(FeeLoona / Pixabay)

The number of Illinois kindergarteners hitting readiness requirements has increased statewide, but more than two-thirds of students are still not meeting those goals. Education advocates say there’s more work that must be done to eliminate systemic inequalities.

(Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash)

Flowers are sprouting and migrating birds are overhead, but even as nature is doing its thing, the coronavirus pandemic has put a dent in a traditional spring rite of passage: graduation.

Illinois state legislators, including Rep. Jonathan Carroll, heard from parents, advocates and education leaders Tuesday during a public hearing about the use of isolation and seclusion rooms across the state. (WTTW News)
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Advocates and educators spoke in Chicago on Tuesday, hoping to give state leaders a better sense of what must be done to address student isolation and seclusion in Illinois schools.

(NeiFo / Pixabay)

State education officials are in the process of rewriting rules for timeouts and physical restraints for students across the state. But some parents and educators say those new rules are bringing new challenges to light.

(Don Harder / Flickr)

An emergency action from the state board of education comes a day after a Tribune-ProPublica investigation revealed thousands of cases in which schools put students into seclusion. We speak with two of the reporters behind that story.

(sweetlouise / Pixabay)

It’s the beginning of another school year, but an age-old debate rages on. We talk about having “the talk” in Illinois schools.

State law enforcement and education officials want to spread the word about Illinois’ “move over” law after 16 state troopers were struck on roads in the first four months of 2019.