About

Mission

Our mission at IIRC is twofold:

• To advance the public service mission of Northern Illinois University by delivering professional services and timely information that empowers students, families and educators to improve their academic outcomes and level of college and career readiness.
• To advance the academic mission of Northern Illinois University by creating opportunities for faculty, staff and students to partner in the delivery of those services.

History

The Illinois Interactive Report Cards (IIRC) Office was formed in 2002 as the result of an agreement between Northern Illinois University and the Illinois State Board of Education. At that time, the agreement made it possible for the Illinois Report Card, which had already been developed by NIU faculty members in the late 1990s, to be enhanced and expanded and then delivered as a State-supported informational resource statewide.

Over the next decade and a half, the IIRC Office extended its outreach efforts, collaborating with local, state and federal educational organizations, to provide data analysis services, policy consultation, and development of a variety of additional web-based school improvement software solutions.

Today’s IIRC builds on that history of success with new, expanded relationships with the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) and Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) in addition to ongoing work that continues with the Illinois State Board of Education. While these partnerships in Illinois remain critical and central to the work of the IIRC Office, the IIRC team is also working with new national and international partners as a result of its successful projects. These collaborative partnerships and the resulting products help the Illinois Interactive Report Cards Office make a difference in the lives of students, educators and communities around the world.