A high school student looks up while taking notes in class
Status
Current
Location

Statewide

Supported by

The Joyce Foundation

TEAM
Founder and Executive Director
Managing Director of Policy & Programs
Managing Director of Pathways & Operations
Pathways Manager

PWR Act

The Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act, signed into law in 2016, applies a student-centered and competency-based approach to support Illinois students in preparing for postsecondary education and careers. EdSystems staff and their partners led a multi-year process to develop and enact the PWR Act in close collaboration with a broad range of education and workforce stakeholders.

Our Role

The EdSystems team have spearheaded the implementation of the PWR Act’s four key strategies:

EdSystems continues to play a major role in PWR Act implementation, particularly supporting State and local implementation efforts on Transitional Instruction and the College and Career Pathway Endorsements. At a State level, EdSystems continues driving alignment of emerging State policy frameworks to the core components and principles of the PWR Act.

One key vehicle for EdSystems’ support at the local level has been through offering technical assistance and strategic grants to Illinois Education and Career Success Network Leadership Communities and other key districts across the state. As captured in the Impact Report released in summer 2020, the Network’s Leadership Communities are driving State policy implementation, deepening and validating collaboration by using the organizing principles of collective impact, increasing cross-sector collaboration, and enhancing leadership and governance structures within their communities.

The Latest

News

Executive Director Transition Announcement

Education Systems Center at NIU (EdSystems) today announces that Founder and Executive Director Jonathan Furr will be transitioning from his role as of June 2023 after nearly eleven years of building and leading the organization. Jon will be pursuing new professional opportunities, which he will share in the coming weeks.

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Advancing Racial Equity

Placing Our Big Bets Through 2025 and Beyond

EdSystems is coalescing around five new goals, which we call our Big Bets, to ensure that our state’s education and workforce systems truly lessen racial inequities and lead to tangible progress for our Black and Latinx students that have for far too long been underserved by these systems.

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