Illinois demonstration centers were established as change agents for the improvement of district programs for gifted children. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what factors operate within a demonstration process to influence visiting school personnel to initiate innovations in their schools. Three instruments were administered and…

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…

Father involvement enhances children's well-being. A growing body of research supports this conclusion, showing that children with involved fathers exhibit greater school readiness, increased cognitive development, higher levels of empathy, and other positive characteristics (Administration for Children and Families 2004a). Research also indicates…

A set of program planning guides that include seven areas (1) Agricultural Production, (2) Agricultural Supplies and Services, (3) Agricultural Mechanics, (4) Agricultural Products, (5) Ornamental Horticulture, (6) Agricultural Resources, and (7) Forestry, were developed and introduced to high school applied biological and agricultural occupations…

As a conveyance for local in-service efforts, the Talent Pool endeavors to identify effective practitioners in the field who can share their methods and materials with less experienced practitioners through demonstration and discussion. Developed by the Career Education Service Center (CESC), this document is a compilation of sample forms and…

Career development needs of Illinois secondary school youth, and plans being made in the State to meet those needs, are described. Two Illinois agencies have been awarded planning grants for NIE's Experience-Based Career Education demonstration projects: the Illinois State Board of Education and Champaign Community Unit School District No. 4. (AJ)

Seven model family literacy programs in Illinois were monitored for one year to determine successful program components and characteristics and to assist local programs in developing and implementing practical evaluation systems. Six were networking programs each of which involved several agencies, and one program was designed on a center-based…

A statewide staff mentoring program was developed in Illinois as an option for providing a personalized, intensive approach to training early intervention personnel on a large scale. Evaluation results for the initial period of developing the process and for the first eight trainer-trainee dyads suggest this approach is individualized,…

Project TAPE (Technical Assistance for Postsecondary Education) was a two-year federal demonstration grant to provide technical assistance to personnel serving learning-disabled students in Illinois. The program involved training of support personnel, development and implementation of Specific Intervention Strategy modules, and a system of state…

During a pilot project on the state role in facilitating adult learning, six states were asked (1) to establish and maintain a participatory planning mechanism for gathering information and building consensus among the public and private agencies and institutions within their states and (2) to use that mechanism in formulating policy…

This second volume of the interim report provides detailed case study reports on each of the eight Youth Apprenticeship Projects. (Volume 1, an overview of data from the site visits, is available separately as CE 032 791.) Discussion areas covered in each site visit report are local context/operational environment, administrative information,…

A 4-phase study was conducted to provide an objective third-party assessment of the effectiveness of research and development (R. & D.) projects supported by the Research and Development Unit (RDU) of the Illinois Division of Vocational and Technical Education. Activities during the four phases consisted of: (1) a preliminary review to obtain…

The national problem resulting from the inability of large numbers of youth to meet educational requirements for military enlistment was described in the 1966 report (see VT 005 531). Part I of this report contains an analysis of the efforts of the National Committee for Children and Youth (NCCY) to help this youthful population in Baltimore,…

A project for developing an effective vocationally-oriented educational program to utilize the capabilities of economically and socially handicapped rural youth was divided into five major phases: (1) an in-depth study of the characteristics of a cross section of families in which the model educational program was tried, (2) an in-depth study of…