Full Text of HJR0002 100th General Assembly
HJ0002 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has 122 4-year colleges and universities | 3 | | offering bachelor's degrees; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Illinois is currently the 5th most populous state | 5 | | in the United States with, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, | 6 | | approximately 12,800,000 residents; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Census Bureau has surmised that Illinois | 8 | | is comprised of a diverse demographic population comprised of | 9 | | the following ethnicities: 62% non-Latino White; 17% Latino; | 10 | | 15% Black; and, 6% Asian; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The diversity of Illinois' population promotes | 12 | | the opportunity for students to meet and learn about and from | 13 | | people of all backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Census Bureau reports that 88% of | 15 | | Illinoisans 25 years of age and older have obtained at least a | 16 | | high school diploma or its equivalent and 32% of that same | 17 | | demographic have obtained bachelor's degrees or higher; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The Board of Higher Education (hereinafter "BHE") | 19 | | found in its 2015 Report to the Governor and General Assembly | 20 | | on Underrepresented Groups in Illinois Higher Education |
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| 1 | | (hereinafter the "Report") that "the main findings specific to | 2 | | enrollment among underrepresented groups from 2010 through | 3 | | 2014 center on the drastic decrease in African American | 4 | | undergraduate enrollment (15.8% total decrease) and a | 5 | | corollary increase in Hispanic undergraduate enrollment (16.9% | 6 | | total increase)"; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, In its Report, the BHE further noted that | 8 | | "unfortunately, far too many high school graduates are not | 9 | | prepared for college in essential areas like math, reading and | 10 | | science. According to the 2014-2015 Illinois State Board of | 11 | | Education's Illinois Report Card, just a quarter of high school | 12 | | graduates are college-ready in all four core subjects per ACT | 13 | | benchmarks"; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The BHE is responsible for the development and | 15 | | implementation of the strategic courses of action for | 16 | | sustaining and improving higher education; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The BHE made specific recommendations in its | 18 | | Report to address the issues with the drastic decrease of | 19 | | certain underrepresented groups in Illinois academia and the | 20 | | unreadiness of such students to meaningfully compete in the | 21 | | halls of Illinois institutions of higher learning; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Two of the BHE recommendations in its Report |
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| 1 | | address and are specifically tailored to: (1) increasing the | 2 | | enrollment of underrepresented groups in Illinois institutions | 3 | | of higher learning and (2) improving the preparation and | 4 | | readiness of high school students for their matriculation into | 5 | | institutions of higher learning; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, According to the BHE in its Report, to promote | 7 | | enrollment increases in the underrepresented groups, a task | 8 | | force is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis and study in | 9 | | order to triangulate results from surveys, focus groups, and | 10 | | key stakeholder communities and to develop a plan of | 11 | | remediation addressing the associated decline of such student | 12 | | groups; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, According to the BHE, to improve college | 14 | | readiness, it is essential that Illinois effectively address | 15 | | and accelerate its work in the re-design of the high | 16 | | school-to-college transition; to do so, BHE opines in its | 17 | | Report that the State should incorporate alternative | 18 | | strategies of "speeding up" learning for more advanced high | 19 | | school students and, alternatively, strategies of "catching | 20 | | up" high school students who are less advanced, as necessary; | 21 | | and | 22 | | WHEREAS, The Oxford English Dictionary defines a | 23 | | "laboratory school" as "an institution affiliated to a college |
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| 1 | | or university, combining both a teacher-training college and a | 2 | | school in which innovative or experimental teaching methods are | 3 | | researched and applied"; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, In that same vein, Merriam-Webster's dictionary | 5 | | defines a "laboratory school" as "a school operated by a | 6 | | college or university and used especially for student teaching | 7 | | and the demonstration of classroom practices"; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has 9 public universities on | 9 | | 12 campuses throughout the State; of those 9 public | 10 | | universities, there exists a dearth of laboratory schools to | 11 | | foster the necessary policies and strategies identified by the | 12 | | BHE in its Report; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 14 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE | 15 | | CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created a Underrepresented | 16 | | Groups in Academia Task Force within the Board of Higher | 17 | | Education; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall be composed of the | 19 | | following members, to serve without compensation: | 20 | | (1) a member appointed by the Speaker of the House; | 21 | | (2) a member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 22 | | House; |
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| 1 | | (3) a member appointed by the President of the Senate; | 2 | | (4) a member appointed by the Minority Leader of the | 3 | | Senate; | 4 | | (5) a member appointed by the Governor; | 5 | | (6) a member appointed by the Chairperson of the State | 6 | | Board of Education; | 7 | | (7) a member appointed by a group representing | 8 | | principals in the State; | 9 | | (8) a member appointed by a group representing | 10 | | African-American attorneys in the State; | 11 | | (9) a member appointed by a group representing Latino | 12 | | attorneys in the State; | 13 | | (10) a member appointed by a group representing | 14 | | attorneys concerned with the protection of American civil | 15 | | liberties; | 16 | | (11) a member appointed by a group representing a | 17 | | federation of labor organizations; and | 18 | | (12) 9 members, each appointed by a different board of | 19 | | trustees of a State institution of higher education; and be | 20 | | it further | 21 | | RESOLVED, That a vacancy in the membership of the Task | 22 | | Force shall be filled in the manner in which the original | 23 | | member was appointed; and be it further | 24 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force is charged with the following |
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| 1 | | tasks: | 2 | | (1) perform an in-depth study and analysis to create | 3 | | strategies to sustain and grow Illinois's underrepresented | 4 | | group populations in institutions of higher learning; | 5 | | (2) develop transparent and common placement criteria | 6 | | so that students, teachers, and parents understand what is | 7 | | required in high school to ensure enrollment in | 8 | | credit-bearing college courses;
| 9 | | (3) determine the feasibility of an increase in | 10 | | laboratory schools to support the high school-to-college | 11 | | transition for students; | 12 | | (4) ascertain the viability of the creation and | 13 | | construction of State-owned and operated trade schools in | 14 | | Chicago, Rockford, Springfield, and the Metro-East area | 15 | | for non-college bound high school students, with an | 16 | | emphasis on the enrollment in those trade schools of | 17 | | students from underrepresented groups; | 18 | | (5) ascertain the cause and effect of the drastic | 19 | | decrease of Black students enrolling in institutions of | 20 | | higher learning; and | 21 | | (6) ascertain the cause and effect of the drastic | 22 | | increase of Latino students enrolling in institutions of | 23 | | higher learning; and be it further | 24 | | RESOLVED, That the Board of Higher Education shall provide | 25 | | any necessary administrative support; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall elect a chairperson | 2 | | from its membership and shall have the authority to determine | 3 | | its own meeting schedule, hearing schedule, and agendas; and be | 4 | | it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That the Task Force shall submit a report | 6 | | concerning its assigned tasks to the Governor and General | 7 | | Assembly no later than December 31, 2018.
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