• Mission: Advance Illinois is an independent policy and advocacy organization working toward a healthy public education system that enables all students to achieve success in college, career, and civic life.

  • Project: Advance Illinois conducted focus groups with parents and students to better understand their perspectives on MAA and learning recovery in the wake of COVID-19.

  • Outcome: This project helped round out research, data collection and engagement efforts to ensure parents and students inform MAA policy recommendations that center equity by ensuring communities and the state have the right information to support students' social emotional and academic learning recovery and target supports where necessary.

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Advance Illinois - Webinar: Translating Parent, Student, & Practitioner Needs into Policy & Practice
Advance Illinois - Webinar: Translating Parent, Student, & Practitioner Needs into Policy & Practice

Melissa Figueira and Jessica Ramos of Advance Illinois and Keisa Garrett of East St. Louis School District 189 highlighted high-level findings and themes from the Learning Recovery Focus Group Report plus experiences with COVID-19’s impact on their school communities, including the innovative solutions and best practices they rely on to support learning recovery both academically and social-emotionally.

Advance Illinois - Webinar: Education in a Pandemic Report
Advance Illinois - Webinar: Education in a Pandemic Report

A new report from Advance Illinois highlights the various experiences of students and their families during the pandemic and how state leaders can better serve them in the years ahead.

Advance Illinois - Press Release: Education in a Pandemic
Advance Illinois - Press Release: Education in a Pandemic

CHICAGO, IL – Today, Advance Illinois released its report, Education in a Pandemic: Learning from Illinois Students & Caregivers to Plan for the Road Ahead. The report encapsulates what Illinois’ school communities – including students, parents and caregivers – are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic and what they will require in the long term to recover and rebuild.

Advance Illinois - Education in a Pandemic Full Report
Advance Illinois - Education in a Pandemic Full Report

Education in a Pandemic: Learning from Illinois Students & Caregivers to Plan for the Road Ahead highlights the testimonies of more than 120 students, parents and caregivers from across Illinois as they share their experiences of remote, hybrid, and in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings, coupled with specific suggestions from focus group participants, lend themselves to recommendations for state leaders planning for the learning recovery road ahead. Read the report to learn about our participants’ experiences and our policy recommendations.