In 1999, Achieve organized an external review of Illinois' state education policies designed to complement an extensive, in-depth benchmarking analysis of the state's academic standards and assessments completed by Achieve earlier in the year. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the Illinois Business Roundtable sponsored Achieve's benchmarking and policy reviews.

The benchmarking analysis determined the state's new Learning Standards were better written, more specific and more useful than the state's previous set of academic standards. However, the new standards still missed important content and were not as challenging at all grades as they could be. Illinois' tests — in 3rd, 5th and 8th grades — had pockets of excellence but did not measure the full breadth and depth of the standards. A statutory limit on the amount of testing in Illinois schools unnecessarily confined the depth and breadth of Illinois' tests.

Building on this benchmarking analysis, Achieve's policy review looked at:

• Strengthening the quality of the teaching force and helping districts build capacity to implement reforms in teaching and learning. Achieve found Illinois has a promising strategy for ensuring the quality of new entrants into the teaching profession, a weak strategy for supporting the continuous development of its current teaching force, and virtually no strategy in place for strengthening the organizational capacity of districts and schools to implement the state's school improvement agenda.
• Holding districts and schools accountable for results. Illinois had only two strategies in place for school accountability — school report cards and assistance for low-performing schools — although it is beginning to explore other necessary tools. Achieve recommended leaders also consider how students can be encouraged to take the state's new high school exam seriously.
• Sustaining public support for standards-based reform. Looking at the political landscape in Illinois, Achieve could not see a strong, unified public leadership team advocating for reform.