When the author and his colleagues last left Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Texas' Plano Independent School District in April 2008, both school districts were immersed in the long and labored advance toward becoming a fully matured data-driven operation, one that uses sophisticated technologies to gather data, sort and interpret it, and…

Reports findings and recommendations from the Tadlock Report, a study designed to gather and analyze information on career education programs and activities supported since 1970 by the Illinois Division of Vocational and Technical Education. Also discusses activities of the Illinois Career Education Steering Committee and the development of a…

A project was conducted in Illinois to determine what basic skills were needed in vocational education and how they should be taught. A multiple methods approach incorporating interviews, observations, surveys, and document analysis was employed to obtain data from the literature, and from practitioners, administrators, and experts in the fields…

A task force was created in November of 1978 to assess the state of foreign language and international studies in Illinois public schools. This report begins with an overview of the current decline in foreign language enrollments and offerings. The need to foster foreign language study is discussed, both for its special place in intellectual…

The Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) study on teacher education is divided into four sections; (1) placing the problem of the ongoing need for teachers in perspective; (2) policy recommendations to the IBHE on relevant aspects of teacher education; (3) the rationale for recommendations made to the IBHE; (4) ideas and programs that could…

This guide, the first in a series of 13 publications, is designed to be used for evaluations of local education agencies (LEA) in Illinois. It introduces the series and provides an overview of the 12 local leader guides that follow. Each of these guides describes a specific evaluation activity and suggests purposes, methods, and events for…

It is possible for a district to develop a system of accountability that defines appropriate roles for lay citizens, pupils, teachers, administrators, and the board of education. It is not necessary for accountability to be imposed from the State level through mandates requiring Statewide assessments, competency-based teacher certification plans,…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers the evaluation of instructional materials, both print and audiovisual. The activity is presented in three parts. The first part is an inventory of instructional materials that are currently owned…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers the analysis of community resources, an activity that has as its primary objective the evaluation of the LEA's use of those resources available in the community, such as businesses, labor unions,…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers six areas: (1) student evaluation of instruction, an activity to collect data for use in making decisions regarding program, course, and lesson planning; (2) provision for individual differences;…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers measuring sutdent achievement. This activity is designed to help local instructors and administrators first to expand the scope of their current efforts to assess student attainment of objectives…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, suggests a two-part analysis for assessing the LEA's identification process and service provision to special needs (handicapped, disadvantaged, and limited-English proficient) students. The first part of…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers student follow-up and employer follow-up surveys--activities designed to collect data for use in decisions regarding nearly every aspect of the program. State guidelines for the locally-developed…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers assessing basic skills through a set of activities for making professional decisions regarding remediation, individualized learning, and program and course improvements and for making status…

This document, one of 12 guides that have been developed to facilitate evaluation by and for local education agency (LEA) personnel in Illinois, covers cost and outcome analysis, a method of relating both monetary and nonmonetary returns to investments for the purpose of improving program planning and decision making. Throughout this activity, the…