Section 1085.25  Roles and Responsibilities 

a)         The Board of Higher Education is responsible for, subject to appropriation, allocating funds to Grow Your Own Illinois for the purpose of administering the program (Section 20 of Act).

b)         GYOI is responsible for administration of the Grow Your Own (GYO) Initiative.  Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, developing and releasing applications, reviewing applications and selecting grantees, fiscal monitoring, maintaining a candidate database system, development and review of contracts to support the initiative, reviewing of consortia annual reports and consultant reports, coordination and communication of expectations to all consortia members, and convening meetings of all consortia members.

c)         The consortium is responsible for pooling all its collective resources and providing a variety of support services to increase the success rate of candidates graduating from an Illinois accredited teacher education program to become and to be placed as teachers in hard-to-staff schools.

d)         The fiscal agent is responsible for providing direction and oversight for the consortium.  Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, submitting grant applications and annual reports, meeting with program evaluators, monitoring grant expenditures and the budget, serving as liaison and primary contact person for the consortium, participating in cohort meetings, locating and hiring tutors, conducting meetings with academic counselors, collecting and reporting assessment and performance data, and attending consortium meetings.

e)         A cohort coordinator is responsible for direct support and counseling to candidates.  Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, assisting students with class schedules, helping candidates register and answer questions about registration, answering questions about teacher education programs and entrance requirements, helping candidates solve individual problems related to their classes, basic skills tests and other college requirements, conducting cohort meetings, conducting meetings with academic counselors, meeting with program evaluators, coordinating tutorial support, monitoring academic progress of candidates, assisting the consortium by providing information regarding the anticipated completion dates of candidates to assist with placement where positions may be available, and attending consortium meetings.

f)         The community based organization has unique responsibilities to support the success of the candidates.  Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, helping improve the life outcomes of disadvantaged children and families, increasing parental involvement in schools, developing parent and candidate leadership and addressing commonly identified issues related to the school, carrying out community-school improvement activities, assisting in developing after school programs, applying for grants to support the consortium, meeting with program evaluators, identifying unique needs of candidates and providing support for those needs, working with higher education partners to locate and hire tutors to help candidates with coursework, and attending consortium meetings.

g)         An independent program evaluator is responsible for reporting the extent of candidate persistence in program enrollment, acceptance as an education major in a 4 year institution of higher education, completion of a bachelor's degree in teaching, obtaining a teaching position in a target school or similar school, subsequent effectiveness as a teacher, and persistence in teaching in a target school or similar school.  The evaluation shall assess the Initiative's overall effectiveness and shall identify particular program strategies that are especially effective (Section 35 of the Act).  The evaluation process will include monitoring site visits, providing technical assistance to consortia, and providing other support services to GYOI and the Board as needed. The evaluator will produce an annual report that includes individual project and overall program data, identification of effective practices, and recommendations for program improvements.

h)         An accredited Illinois teacher preparation program, housed within an Illinois institution of higher education, is responsible for providing high quality undergraduate coursework and clinical experiences that will prepare beginning teachers to work in hard-to-staff schools. The programs offered will align with the areas of need derived from the GYO consortium's needs assessment of the community's K-12 schools.

i)          The hard-to-staff schools are responsible for providing data (needs assessment) to the consortium on those areas that experience a multi-year pattern of substantial teacher shortage or have been identified as a critical need by the local school board, providing sites for clinical experiences for GYO participants/candidates and providing employment opportunities for GYO graduates when possible. 

(Source:  Amended at 44 Ill. Reg. 11419, effective June 24, 2020)