Academic researchers in the infant and early childhood mental health field seek to understand the factors in early childhood that promote lifelong learning, health, and well-being. The inclusion of diverse and underrepresented populations, however, remains a challenge in rigorous research design. This article explores the challenges in addressing…

In the course of developing and co-­teaching Social Research Methods (SRM), an interdisciplinary, upper-­division undergraduate course at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), the authors discovered that this type of partnership is ripe ground for exploring integration of anthropology and sociology on epistemological and methodological…

The scholarship of teaching has received a considerable amount of attention in recent years, with new recognition that faculty members' research does not necessarily exclude their pedagogy. But research and teaching are not the only parts of their lives as faculty members. Much of what they do on their campuses comes under the heading of service.…

In this set of four supplemental tables, the authors compare the baseline test scores of the treatment and matched control group samples observed in each year after KIPP entry (outcome years 1 to 4). As discussed in Chapter III, the authors used an iterative propensity score estimation procedure to calculate each student's probability of entering…

Valerie Lee and Douglas Ready explore the influences of the high school curriculum on student learning and the equitable distribution of that learning by race and socioeconomic status. They begin by tracing the historical development of the U.S. comprehensive high school and then examine the curricular reforms of the past three decades. During the…

With the rise in the number of types of digital media and the time youth spend on these platforms, researchers theorize that interacting with digital media can provide significant motivation for youth to participate, create, and become active learners. The Consortium on Chicago School Research, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T.…

This performance autoethnography shows the author's struggle in finding his place, scholarship, voice, and body, into the academic setting. Mixing together memories of his lived experience with sugar cane workers, notes, and leftovers of different fieldworks, plus 6 years of life as grad student at the University of Illinois, the author looks for…

Our system of research self-regulation, designed to provide internal checks and balances for those who participate in research involving human subjects, is under considerable stress. Much of this crisis has been caused by what we call mission creep, in which the workload of IRBs has expanded beyond their ability to handle effectively. Mission…

This report draws on demographic data to examine and project trends in the size and composition of the child population in all seventy-seven Chicago communities up to the year 2010. The report highlights the changing age mix of Chicago children and provides some context in which to consider these demographic trends. It describes population changes…

When the faculty of the Educational and Interdisciplinary Studies Department at Western Illinois University were asked to develop an online research methods course several years ago, the author was skeptical. How could anyone possibly teach the complexities of research over the internet? The author's face-to-face course focused on helping students…

Five methods for determining the needs and aspirations of the total library community (library personnel, library affiliates, and general population) in Illinois are presented in this report, and the use of three of them for a 3-phase study is outlined: (1) survey of the literature (documentary research and secondary data collection and analysis);…

This article reports on the increasing attempts to identify what have been dubbed high-flying schools and figure out what makes them tick to bring all students to higher levels of achievement. A free Web site, launched by the New York City-based Standard & Poor's, began providing a tool that enables users to identify schools that do better…

The first U.S. charter school opened in 1992, and the scale of the charter movement has since grown to 4,000 schools and more than a million students in 40 states plus the District of Columbia. With this growth has also come a contentious debate about the effects of the schools on their own students and on students in nearby traditional public…

A study conducted in Illinois to review the state of the art of articulation had the following objectives in five component areas: (1) to review, describe, critique, and evaluate several variables associated with the practical knowledge/current practices relating to articulation efforts in Illinois and in other states; (2) to determine how…

A first draft of a School District-Census Geo-Reference File for Illinois for 1980 has been completed. In this file each census enumeration district or block group is matched with the appropriate school district or districts. Companion files have also been developed for community college districts, area vocational education districts, and for a…