This study examines a Wallace Foundation-sponsored initiative aimed at improving the financial management skills and practices of 25 Chicago afterschool providers through training and coaching. Two models for this professional development were provided and each produced long-lasting improvements. Moreover, organizations receiving the…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) employees create formal and informal groups within workplaces to provide social support and to seek organizational change at their places of employment. I present a case study of a coalition of these groups working together to attain domestic partner benefits within a large three-campus…

This report presents baseline and process study findings of an evaluation of the Urban Alliance high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, and Chicago. The report, which focuses on the program's…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

Chapin Hall partnered with the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation to host a convening for the Stone Foundation Education Grantees in October of 2008. The purpose of the convening was to gather key leaders in the education field for a discussion of the lessons learned in their work and how these lessons inform future practice and policy…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to document the leadership journey of one female superintendent who transformed the interface of a school district to create organizational change. The case study focused specifically on the leadership of Dr. Phyllis Wilson and the alignment of her leadership to the Educational Leadership Constituent…

American Indian organizations in Chicago grew both in size and number during the 1970s. The lasting impact of War on Poverty programs and the passing of the Indian Education Act of 1972 and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 served as significant factors for the development of these organizations. Alternative American Indian…

This report of the activities of Project MEDIA, the Illinois State-Wide Facilitator for the National Diffusion Network, includes a description of the diffusion and facilitation process in the state, the numbers and types of requests for information and assistance from the project, the impact of Project MEDIA on local education agencies (LEAs) in…

In its first year of funding, Project MEDIA (Meaningful Educational Directions Through Innovative Approaches) offered school districts in Illinois information concerning the latest emerging developments in the field of education, specialized assistance in developing and implementing new approaches and techniques, and a centralized resource for…

In an organizationally competent school, everyone has a role that defines his or her obligations and everyone is part of a reciprocal relationship that spells out mutual obligations. Reciprocal role relationships enable informal communities of practice to bubble up and institutionalized collaborative cultures to trickle down. When such informal…

This report contains the findings and recommendations of a special time-limited commission that examined the status of education in Illinois. Conclusions are presented on the Commission's two basic theme questions: "How adequate are the state's expectations for instructional standards and pupil performance across all ages?" and "How…

This report profiles the state departments of education (SEAs) in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, and North Dakota. These SEAs reported in 1996 that they had changed from a departmental structure (e.g., separate units for special education), into cross-cutting teams in the previous five years. Findings indicate that since…

This is the report of a commission of 20 Illinois citizens charged with identifying the principal problems in the State's elementary and secondary schools and recommending actions for improving the State's educational program. Three principal areas are addressed: (1) instructional standards and pupil performance; (2) personnel (especially teachers…

The purpose of this paper is the presentation of a proposal for a year-round operation and an annual assignment system (YRO/AAS) to the administrative officers of the College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The proposal is comprised of four chapters. The first chapter deals with the significance of the study in terms of the College of DuPage's…

Since 1972-73, the dean of student services at Harrisburg Area Community College has been subordinate to the vice-president for educational services and equal in rank to academic division chairmen, who bypassed him and reported directly to the vice-president on matters concerning counseling services in their divisions. In an effort to contribute…