The purpose of this study was to examine educator's perceptions regarding the quality of student learning during the implementation of a one-to-one computing program in a private secondary school in central Illinois. The sample of the study consisted of 26 teachers, administrators, and counselors who worked with 320 students during one-to-one…

Social studies education is designed to provide a foundation for civic society. In this study we consider immigrant optimism theory within the context of U.S. secondary social studies to examine the civic potential of immigrant youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, we complement analyses of teacher and immigrant young adult interviews with…

Despite the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act's (IDEA) mandates for student involvement in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process, several researchers have demonstrated limited student participation. One method for encouraging self-advocacy and active IEP participation is to teach students to communicate their hopes, dreams,…

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan argued in a 2010 address to the College Board, "High schools must shift from being last stop destinations for students on their education journey to being launching pads for further growth and lifelong learning for all students. The mission of high schools can no longer be to simply get students to…

This study aims to give voice to public high school principals in Illinois as to their perceived views on the purpose of high school education and their perceptions of partnerships with businesses. Data from 105 distinct public high schools from 50 Illinois counties were analyzed. Findings reveal that principals view the purpose of high school…

This report provides findings from an evaluation of the newly designed Illinois High School to College Success Report (HS2CSR). The evaluation study examined the dissemination, usefulness, and impact on collaborative efforts of the new HS2CSR. Education stakeholders' suggestions for improving the report are also included. Recommendations to…

The purpose of the study was two-fold: to (a) investigate the influence of explicit nature of science (NOS) and explicit argumentation instruction in the context of a socioscientific issue on the argumentation skills and NOS understandings of students, and (b) explore the transfer of students' NOS understandings and argumentation skills learned in…

This mixed method study combined the paradigms of quantitative and qualitative research to examine how iPads are used from teachers' perspectives. In the first phase, the researcher collected and analyzed the quantitative data from classroom observations. The second phase consisted of collecting and analyzing the qualitative data to help explain,…

This research study examines how Illinois public high school Career and Technical Education educational leaders employ best practices in providing all students rigorous, relevant, and equitable learning experiences within a professional learning community structure. This study utilized a mixed method two-tier case study methodology. Tier one…

The traditional teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic alone will not fully prepare students to lead with integrity, govern fairly, analyze problems, and work collectively with people different from themselves. Social emotional learning (SEL) has been described as one of the missing links in academic education, but a restrictive approach to…

This research study explored the critical nature of the connection between student achievement and superintendent leadership. A great deal of scholarship has addressed either student achievement or leadership and previous evidence has suggested the impact of both parental education and racioethnicity on student achievement, but few studies have…

Collaborative professional development of science and special educators leads to improved access and inclusion of students with disabilities. Yet, despite poor science achievement of students with disabilities, their increasing presence in general education science classrooms, and research that demonstrates effective teaching strategies for…

Within primary and secondary school technology education, engineering has been proposed as an avenue to bring about technological literacy. Different initiatives such as curriculum development projects (i.e., Project ProBase and Project Lead The Way) and National Science Foundation funded projects such as the National Center for Engineering and…