Many school districts find themselves with pockets of excellence: schools that stand out from the pack because their students are doing better than others in the district. Such uneven results are attributable to a number of factors. A common one is a patchwork of instructional approaches across schools. Brandon White and Ivette Rivera recognized…

The role of the school leader continues to evolve. As the roles of principals and superintendents become more complex and demanding, there is a necessity to explore the perceptions of Illinois public school principals, superintendents, and Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools (IARSS) regional superintendents on the need for…

Through a leadership for learning approach, a school-university partnership in a large, urban district was able to recruit, develop, and retain new and existing school leaders. Two cohorts of new leaders were trained while existing leaders enhanced their skills through professional development. Data indicated that the school-university partnership…

This study demonstrates that the current status of gifted education in Illinois varies greatly among school districts since the initial elimination of state mandates and accompanying funding. Systemic programs serving all grade levels within a district are extremely rare and are dependent on recommendations from school administrators and decisions…

This quantitative analysis of existing data explored the effect of school level autonomy on teacher perceptions of influence, improvement of instruction, shared leadership, and professional development using data from a biannual survey of Chicago elementary level public school teachers to answer the following questions: Is there a difference…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological multi-case study was to explore the leadership practices related to governance issues experienced by executive directors in selected Illinois special education cooperatives. These leadership practices were generally defined as responses to governance issues and challenges. The study examined five…

Building the capacity of education professionals to make effective assistive technology (AT) decisions requires varying supports. One effective approach used in Central Illinois is to develop and maintain user groups comprising skilled practitioners and those interested in developing new AT skill sets. Over the past several years, AT user groups…

This study examined how Illinois and Massachusetts are attempting to establish a more inclusive educational system as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The study looked at factors affecting inclusion in six categories: (1) funding, (2) education delivery systems, (3) political climate, (4) Federal and State regulations…