A popular alternative disciplinary framework from zero-tolerance school policies is restorative justice, which refers to a set of ideologies and practices that emphasize healing relationships in lieu of community exclusion. This work investigates the differences between ideological support for restorative approaches compared to program…

Most supervisors lack training in best practices in clinical supervision (Newman et al., 2019). However, supervisees report more positive supervision experiences from supervisors who have received training (Brott et al., 2016). To address this need, a group of university educators and an experienced field supervisor collaborated with the Illinois…

Lead poisoning from ingestion of bullet fragments in gut piles and unretrieved deer carcasses continues to cause mortality in bald eagles. To address this issue, the Midwest region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated an outreach program during 2016-2018 encouraging hunters to voluntarily use nonlead ammunition while deer…

Instructional leaders require timely and predictive data to guide post-pandemic systemic changes. We investigated the predictability of an observational instrument, the Rigor Appraisal, and its association with achievement and other school effectiveness measures in a sample of 53 schools in Illinois. We found that increases in the Rigor Appraisal…

This exploratory study investigated how and to what extent reverse transfer has been implemented in Illinois, a state that did not receive funding as part of the Project Win Win (PWW) or Credit When It's Due (CWID) initiatives and where there are no statewide policies on reverse transfer. This mixed-methods study drew on survey and interview data…

Background: Epidemiological surveys are designed to collect representative trend data. School-based surveys are important to utilize so systems can effectively create prevention and intervention programs to alter youths' perceptions and behaviors related to substance use. However, there are many barriers when implementing a school-based survey.…

Over the past decade, Illinois has emerged as a national exemplar of how state policy can drive systemic change in civics education. The Illinois Civic Mission Coalition, a pan-ideological alliance of educators, policymakers, and civic organizations, has shaped the state's civics education vision. The coalition built a scalable infrastructure of…

Background: The Evidence-Based Practice Attitudes Scale (EBPAS) is widely used in implementation research, but it has not been adapted and validated for use among general education teachers, who are most likely to deliver evidence-based prevention programs in schools, the most common setting where youth access social, emotional, and behavioral…

The Teacher-Child Interaction Training-Universal (TCIT-U) is a professional development program for teachers that promotes positive relational interactions and strengthens classroom management. This study examines the implementation of TCIT-U in a public school district to guide future implementation and sustainability. This study uses qualitative…

In the United States, higher education institutions must be authorized as postsecondary education providers -- through a process known as state authorization -- to be eligible to receive federal student financial aid funds. Through state authorization policies, state governments play a key role in maintaining accountability for higher education.…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been increasingly emphasized in educational research and practice for promoting children's wellbeing. Perhaps the most well-known SEL framework is the model provided by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). This framework has become the dominant framework informing state SEL…

In 2016, Illinois initiated a statewide transitional math program to support students to be academically ready in college-level math before graduating from high school. This qualitative study focuses on the perspective of community college faculty and administrators on the statewide implementation of transitional math programs. We find that a…

Background: Strategic implementation leadership is a critical determinant of successful implementation, hypothesized to create a more supportive implementation climate conducive to the adoption and use of evidence-based practices. Implementation leadership behaviors may vary significantly across contexts, necessitating studies that examine the…

Community college students are an untapped reservoir of talent and including them in social work education aligns with the values of the profession. Yet these students encounter formidable obstacles on the path from a 2-year degree to an affordable social work degree. In this article, we describe the systems thinking underlying a newly instituted…

This conceptual analysis examines the implementation of a state-funded college and career readiness pilot program at a small, rural all-Black school in Illinois. Drawing from ethnographic data that dates from 2010, I offer a retrospective analysis on individual based intervention programming for college and career readiness. Concerned with how…