This paper reports the results of a pilot project conducted Spring 2021 in which Milner Library licensed seventy-five assigned texts to fifty-two courses at Illinois State University. The authors used the pilot as a springboard to explore faculty perspectives on textbook selection, textbook affordability, and the role of the academic library in…

State governments have the purview to interpret federal special education policies as they see fit. Interpretations of these policies to music education rarely are addressed within state special education policy. The authors selected four states to analyze and compare state special education policies; Illinois, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia.…

This study explores how faculty across disciplines access and share scholarly serial content and what expectations they have for immediacy. The authors conducted twenty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews with faculty of various ranks representing all Illinois State University (ISU) colleges. The findings, presented in the words of…

This study documents voices of the most experienced active Illinois community college chief academic officers (CAOs). Adaptive leadership theory is used to frame the effort of CAOs to infuse accountability into the core community college open access mission. The analysis of conversations with these CAOs reveals a focus on accountability that…

Postsecondary education is associated with achieving economic self-sufficiency and other positive outcomes. Young people in foster care face challenges pursuing postsecondary education, which can lead to them being less likely than their peers to enroll in college and less likely to earn a degree when enrolled. One federal initiative meant to…

Similar to national trends, in Illinois, fatal opioid overdoses have risen. Black men (35+) outrank all other racial subgroups for the highest rate of fatal opioid overdoses in the state. To address this, Prevention First and the Illinois Department of Human Services developed a public health education campaign to support increasing enrollment in…

These administrative rules of the Illinois Community College Board are divided into eight sections. Under Title 23: Education and Cultural Resources, Subtitle A: Education, Chapter VII: Illinois Community College Board, the following parts are included: (1) Part 1501 Administration of the Illinois Public Community College Act; (2) Part 1502 Joint…

State and school report cards provide a powerful avenue for states to reach families and the broader public as essential partners in improving student outcomes. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and many state legislatures require states to publish an array of education data including measures at the state, district, and school levels.…

Background: Due to the increasing availability of medical-grade cannabis for treatment of chronic conditions, we examined how prospective users navigate the process of researching, procuring, and using cannabis. Given the barriers prospective users experience, self-efficacy may be a factor for those who incorporate cannabis into treatment. Aims:…

This critical qualitative study of testimonios with undocumented Latina/o students in the Midwest explored how institutional agents impacted the level of difficulty students experienced in navigating their collegiate environments. We used social capital theory and Latino critical race theory as our analytic frameworks and employed a critical race…

States can--and must--create report cards that meet the needs of parents, communities, and taxpayers. Getting people the data they need is essential because when families and communities have the right information to make decisions, students excel. Every state is required by federal law, and sometimes state law, to produce report cards detailing…

The work of the National Forum on Education Statistics (Forum) is a key aspect of the National Cooperative Education Statistics System (Cooperative System). The Cooperative System was established to produce and maintain, with the cooperation of the states, comparable and uniform education information and data that are useful for policymaking at…

With growing interest among higher education faculty and administration in adopting open educational resources (OER), several nationwide and statewide OER initiatives are attempting to increase the awareness and encourage the implementation of OER. In the exploration of OER resources for career and technical education (CTE) in Illinois community…

Introduction: Knowing how to gather information from graphics and to use that information to solve mathematics problems is an important skill. Prior research indicates that many students with visual impairments face considerable challenges when attempting to locate information in math graphics. Little is known about how teachers of students with…

For most students with intellectual disability (ID), education in the least restrictive environment has been determined to be separate special education classrooms. One means to promote greater participation in general education classrooms is for educators to identify and arrange individualized supports that students need to be successful. We…