The following resource is an impact story of how NCSI built the capacity of Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to design a state system of support to begin addressing the special education teacher shortage. The resource provides context for the intensive technical assistance focusing on improvement science, provides qualitative and…

Learning activities to develop interprofessional collaboration align with goals for professional preparation to improve health outcomes. A problem-based case study approach can offer formal and informal learning interactions that promote information exchange and collaborative practice. The purpose of this instructional article was to describe a…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

An Illinois elementary school principal realized that the district's "yellow tablet" teacher-evaluation system was not working. In lieu of observations by the principal, teachers agreed to visit one another, sometimes in teams, and the principal volunteered to substitute for observing teachers. The new process demolished barriers between…

Since 1990, over 40 Illinois and Massachusetts school districts have built capacity for sustained improvement through vertically structured, district-level Learning Leadership Teams. Originated by Motorola executives, LLT was based on an understanding of organizational change derived from the National Science Foundation's definition of systemic…

The Special Education Parents Alliance created an employment project seeking jobs in the business community for special education graduates and other persons with disabilities. The project serves learning disabled, educable mentally handicapped, trainable mentally handicapped, and physically disabled persons in DuPage County and portions of west…

A learning technologies director explains lessons gleaned from his school's strategic efforts to create a districtwide technology plan. The plan required an upfront vision, creative teamwork, facilitative leadership, instructional support, and patience. A sidebar details plans for incorporating assistive technologies for special-needs learners.…

This interdisciplinary inservice training project at the University of Illinois at Chicago was designed to improve early childhood occupational and physical therapy services by developing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating a comprehensive training model. The competency-based program was designed to address the developmental needs of…

This final report describes the activities and outcomes of a federally funded project designed to develop, implement, and evaluate a systemically oriented process model for improving the coordination of education and human services for young children with identified disabilities and their families at the local level. The project developed and used…