Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative
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iwerc.bsky.social
Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative
@iwerc.bsky.social
240 followers 140 following 190 posts
IWERC’s mission is to work with community partners across the state to research and co-construct solutions to the most pressing issues in the cradle-to-career, education-to-workforce ecosystem.

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iwerc.bsky.social
The latest report from the Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership is out now. We asked artists about challenges and opportunities encountered in securing and maintaining jobs outside the arts. Read our report to learn more: ws.engr.illinois.edu/sitemanager/...

Photo by Paul Green for Unsplash
Challenges and opportunities facing artists and arts graduates in non-arts jobs. New Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership Report. Quote: I know that I could do most of the jobs that I’m applying for…Its just about accruing enough trust in a gatekeeper to do that.” Image of a stage with spotlight. Logos of Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership.
January 13, 2026 at 2:56 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Read the latest report from the Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership (ICWP)’s Branching Out Series: ws.engr.illinois.edu/sitemanager/...

Photo by Hulki Okan Tabak on Unsplash
“Getting Your Foot in the Door”: Challenges and opportunities facing artists and arts graduates in non-arts jobs. New Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership Report. Image of a woman on a stage. Logos of Illinois Creative Workforce Partnership
January 12, 2026 at 2:57 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Please join us on 1/20 for a discussion of student attendance!
uchiconsortium.bsky.social UChicago Consortium on School Research @uchiconsortium.bsky.social · 5d
Learn more about why student attendance matters and what schools can do.

Join us January 20 at 12 pm CT for a 60-minute webinar, featuring:
-New research insights
-Perspectives from city and state leaders

Get the details and register here: uchicagogroup.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
January 9, 2026 at 1:28 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
ICYMI: IWERC is excited to be part of this new IES grant.
iwerc.bsky.social Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative @iwerc.bsky.social · Dec 12
Congrats to UIC's Jeremy Riel and IWERC's Ying Chen on a new IES grant!
Announcing a new grant: SkillTree UIC's Jeremy Riel (PI) and IWERC's Ying Chen have received a new Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant! About SkillTree: An AI-based learning system designed to be more transparent and interactive. Unlike a traditional chatbot, SkillTree uses intelligent AI agents to map students’ real-time skills and interests in computer science, helping teachers personalize instruction while ensuring AI feedback is explainable and aligned with educational standards. Stage One Goal: Understand teachers’ and students’ needs and perspectives about formative assessment in computing instruction to guide SkillTree design. Next Steps: Use this needs analysis to design SkillTree, an AI-based system that creates personalized visual maps of students’ knowledge and skills to support learning.
January 8, 2026 at 2:14 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
IWERC is a proud member of NNERPP (@rpp-network.bsky.social). Below is our feature in their annual yearbook, which has stories of impact from RPPs across the country. Thanks, NNERPP!
IWERC's page from the NNERPP yearbook, available here: https://rice.app.box.com/s/sbkf7vayoalpwiq9iwi29pi67mr9x7se
January 7, 2026 at 3:36 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Happy New Year! ICYMI before the break, read more in @chalkbeat.org about our study with @uchiconsortium.bsky.social on upward mobility for Illinois high schoolers.

www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025...
What’s the best path to a good job? A bachelor’s degree, new Illinois report finds.
New report from the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative and the UChicago Consortium on School Research found alternative pathways in certain industries, such as construction and ag...
www.chalkbeat.org
January 6, 2026 at 3:10 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Happy Holidays! We enjoyed working and learning with you in 2025. Here's a look back, and we're excited to continue the work in 2026.

mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_22...
January 5, 2026 at 4:02 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Looking for a new role in 2026? IWERC is extending its search and #hiring a Visiting Senior Research Specialist. Learn more here: tinyurl.com/IWERC-hire

Application deadline is Jan 11, 2026.
December 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Happy Holidays! We enjoyed working and learning with you in 2025. Here's a look back, and we're excited to continue the work in 2026.

mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_22...
December 29, 2025 at 4:02 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Looking for a new role in 2026? IWERC is extending its search and #hiring a Visiting Senior Research Specialist. Learn more here: tinyurl.com/IWERC-hire

Application deadline is Jan 11, 2026.
December 23, 2025 at 4:03 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Happy Holidays! We enjoyed working and learning with you in 2025. Here's a look back, and we're excited to continue the work in 2026.

mediaspace.illinois.edu/media/t/1_22...
December 22, 2025 at 4:05 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Even when students from low-income families attained the same level of education, there were racial/ethnic and gender disparities in outcomes. However, these disparities narrowed considerably as degree level increased. Learn more: dpi.illinois.edu/applied-rese...
A figure showing that disparities between gender and racial/ethnic groups in economic outcomes shrink as education level rises. For instance, with just the high school diploma, 33% of Latino men from low-income families have a good job, compared to just 5% of Black women. This is a 28 percentage point gap. In contrast, for students with the bachelor's degree, the gap shrinks to 14%. White men have good jobs at an 86% rate, while Black women have good jobs at a 72% rate.
December 19, 2025 at 3:15 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Students from low-income families had vastly different likelihoods of working in a good job depending on their highest degree, according to our latest report. Learn more here: dpi.illinois.edu/applied-rese...
A figure showing that the proportion of students from low-income backgrounds in "good jobs" rises as their educational attainment rises. Only 19% of students with a high school diploma only were in a good job, while 79% of students with a bachelor's degree were in a good job.
December 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Our latest report with @uchiconsortium.bsky.social and state agency partners finds that students from low-income families were less likely than students from middle- and high-income families to end up in good jobs. Learn more here: dpi.illinois.edu/applied-rese...
A pictogram displaying the number of Illinois students who end up in good jobs as adults, based on their parental earnings as children. Students in the bottom quintile of parental earnings achieved good jobs at a 52% rate, while students in the top quintile achieved good jobs at a 76% rate.
December 17, 2025 at 2:32 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Just out: The second and final report of the Illinois High School to Work Series, Promising Pathways, identifies the most viable pathways to good jobs for Illinois students from low-income families. Read more: dpi.illinois.edu/applied-rese...
Illinois High School to Career Series
Illinois High School to Career Series
dpi.illinois.edu
December 16, 2025 at 3:50 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Last week, IWERC researcher Raisa Blazquez attended the #MultilingualIL25 conference. There is a lot of impressive work being done throughout the state, and at IWERC we are proud to engage in meaningful research to improve the experiences of multilingual students and families in Illinois.
Collage of decorative images of the Illinois early childhood education multilingual learner research-practice partnership at the Multilingual Illinois Conference. Mindsets that Matter for serving multilingual learners by Carla Spina. Languages are not barriers to overcome. They are pieces of who we are. They should be celebrated, elevated, and embraced. 2025 Statewide Conference for educators serving linguistically and culturally diverse students. December 9-11, 2025. Tinley Park Convention Center. Slides titles "Leadership Beyond Titles: Championing Multilingual Learners"
December 15, 2025 at 8:26 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Know an experienced quantitative researcher who is passionate about impact in education and workforce development?

IWERC is extending its search and #hiring a Visiting Senior Research Specialist. Learn more here: tinyurl.com/IWERC-hire

Application deadline is Jan 11, 2026.
We're hiring! Visiting Senior Research Specialist. https://tinyurl.com/IWERC-hire
December 15, 2025 at 2:30 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Congrats to UIC's Jeremy Riel and IWERC's Ying Chen on a new IES grant!
Announcing a new grant: SkillTree UIC's Jeremy Riel (PI) and IWERC's Ying Chen have received a new Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant! About SkillTree: An AI-based learning system designed to be more transparent and interactive. Unlike a traditional chatbot, SkillTree uses intelligent AI agents to map students’ real-time skills and interests in computer science, helping teachers personalize instruction while ensuring AI feedback is explainable and aligned with educational standards. Stage One Goal: Understand teachers’ and students’ needs and perspectives about formative assessment in computing instruction to guide SkillTree design. Next Steps: Use this needs analysis to design SkillTree, an AI-based system that creates personalized visual maps of students’ knowledge and skills to support learning.
December 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
As #CSEdWeek 2025 comes to an end, we thank the many people who support CS students every day! At IWERC, we’re fortunate to be just one small part of the Illinois CS Ed community. Learn more about our research in this area: dpi.uillinois.edu/applied-rese...
10 report covers for each of the computer science education research reports IWERC has released in in 2024-2025. 
December 12, 2025 at 4:03 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Join us this afternoon as we wrap up our series on CS education in Illinois high schools. Register here: illinois.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
IWERC and DPI present The State of Computer Science in Illinois High Schools, Parts 1-5. Thursday, December 11th, 12pm-1pm webinar. Register now!
December 11, 2025 at 3:00 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
IWERC’s latest report on CS ed found that rural and town districts were the least likely to offer any CS programming or employ a CS-endorsed teacher. As Illinois continues to expand CS education, these districts may need additional supports. Read more here: dpi.uillinois.edu/applied-rese...
Rural and town districts need more support for CS programming. Rural and town districts were the least likely to offer various types of CS coursework and least likely to employ a CS-endorsed teacher. A bar chart shows an increasing relationship between the percentage of high school districts in Illinois that offered at least on CS course in 2022 and the more populous a district (e.g., from rural to city). 38% of rural districts and 67% of town districts offer CS courses compared to 85% of suburban and 100% of city districts.
December 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
IWERC’s new report on computer science education found that as of 2022, 59% of districts offered at least one CS course, signaling a gap in offerings ahead of the then forthcoming mandates from Public Act 101-0654. Read what else we found here: dpi.uillinois.edu/applied-rese...
59% is the percentage of high school districts in Illinois that offered at least one CS course. 42% is the percentage of high school districts in Illinois that employed at least one CS-endorsed teacher. Visit go.dpi.uillinois.edu/cser to read the full report.
December 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Happy #CSEdWeek! In honor of this, IWERC is releasing the last two reports of our State of Computer Science in Illinois High School Series. Join us later this week at a webinar where we recap the full Series!
Reports: dpi.uillinois.edu/applied-rese...
Webinar: illinois.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
New reports! Parts 4 and 5 of The State of Computer Science in Illinois High School Series are available now! Accompanied by two images of the report covers. Find the full reports at go.dpi.uillinois.edu/cser
December 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
ICYMI: IWERC recently released a second-year evaluation of the Teacher Vacancy Grant. Read the full report here: go.illinois.edu/teachervacan...
District Progress and Variance in Reducing Teaching Vacancies in Illinois. A Second-Year Evaluation of the Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program. Study Objectives. IWERC explored the following questions: 1.How did districts allocate the first installment of Teacher Vacancy Grant Pilot Program (TVGPP) funds to recruitment and retention programs? 2.How do unfilled teaching positions change from one year prior to grant launch, in SY23, to one year after, in SY25? 3.How do reported causes of teaching vacancies and enacted solution strategies separately predict changes in unfilled teaching positions among participating districts? Key Findings 1.Popular solutions emerged across participants. TVGPP districts prioritized strategies that developed staff credentials for vacant positions, provided professional learning to new and veteran teachers, and distributed direct compensation to new and returning teachers. 2.Overall, vacancies are dropping in TVGPP districts. Comparing SY23 to SY25, unfilled teaching positions have decreased in TVGPP districts (in both rural and urban areas) while increasing in non-TVGPP districts. Controlling for observable district characteristics, TVGPP districts have lowered vacancies more than non-TVGPP districts, on average. This does not mean that the grant caused these changes: An attempt to examine causal effects was inconclusive at this time. 3.Some TVGPP districts reduced teaching vacancies more than other TVGPP districts. TVGPP districts with early success lowering vacancies spent more on developing staff credentials, recruitment, teacher support, and hiring support staff. They also tended to be urban, larger in size, had higher average teacher salaries, and were in Evidence-Based Funding Tier 1, the tier of schools furthest from funding adequacy.
December 5, 2025 at 5:32 PM
iwerc.bsky.social
Findings from IWERC’s second-year evaluation of the Teacher Vacancy Grant suggest that some participating districts reduced unfilled teaching positions more than others. To read on, visit go.illinois.edu/teachervacan...
Characteristics of Districts with Early Success. Reducing unfilled teaching positions in participating districts is a central aim of the Teacher Vacancy Grant. After one year of program implementation, participating districts with greater success tended to have the following characteristics. Below is a list of four icons with text. Icon one is of buildings with text that reads, urban (i.e., city or suburban) locale. Icon two is of a teacher in front of students pointing to a blackboard with text that reads, higher average teacher salaries. Icon three is of three people with text that reads, larger student enrollment numbers. Icon four is of a magnifying glass focusing on a bar chart. The text below reads, further from funding adequacy (Evidence-Based Funding Tier 1). Visit https://go.illinois.edu/teachervacancypilot.
December 4, 2025 at 5:48 PM