Public Agenda surveyed Illinois residents to learn about how they view public higher education and what would help it serve them and the state better. Three research briefs highlight key findings from the broader survey findings. This brief finds that a large majority of Illinoisans believe higher education should be accessible, and many believe…

Public Agenda surveyed Illinois residents to learn about how they view public higher education and what would help it serve them and the state better. Three research briefs highlight key findings from the broader survey findings. This brief finds that nearly three in four residents--including majorities of Democrats, independents and…

Public Agenda surveyed Illinois residents to learn about how they view public higher education and what would help it serve them and the state better. Three research briefs highlight key findings from the broader survey findings. This brief finds that 46% of Illinois residents do not have a post-secondary credential and are not currently enrolled…

State laws governing recreational and medicinal cannabis use are trending toward legalization, which has implications for school social workers and the students, families, and communities they serve. The patchwork of policies and conflicting public opinion sends mixed messages to youth and families who may lack sufficient information regarding…

At state and institutional levels, leaders are discussing and enacting policy changes that could shape the future of higher education for decades-especially public higher education. But when citizens talk about the mission of higher education today, their conversations are different from those of policymakers. How do their values and concerns…

In this paper we tell a story about how we partnered with a Chicago high school in order to turn the school inside out by displaying larger-than-life teacher portraits and statements at street level throughout the community. This paper explores how public art and activism can help teachers and students develop notions of civic literacy and…

Unsupported fears of youth violence in schools has led to an expansion of school-based policing and zero tolerance discipline. The historical reality is that America's public schools are very safe, even when located in high crime neighborhoods. Yet, school discipline is becoming increasingly punitive, moving from the schoolhouse to the courthouse.…

Superintendent James Redmond created a desegregation plan for Chicago Public Schools in 1967, which affected a limited amount of students, but caused great uproar. This article examines the numerous White responses in opposition to busing including those that appear legitimate, such as a desire to maintain neighborhood schools. However, given the…

The rationale for taking bold action on the nation's persistently failing schools can be summed up in one dramatic and disturbing statistic: half of the young Americans who drop out of high school attend just 12 percent of the nation's schools. Ending the cycle of failure at schools is a daunting challenge and a surprisingly controversial one.…

In this study I explored the existing perceptions of community college in the western suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Three different groups of people were interviewed in the research process including high school students, college students and citizens who lived in towns supported by a community college. Common themes of perception found within the…

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign decided last spring to increase its enrollment of non-Illinois students, noting that the Urbana-Champaign campus has the lowest proportion of out-of-state students among the Big Ten universities, with 11 percent. Out-of-state applicants have ACT scores up to a point and a half higher than in-state…

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the events which developed in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Evanston, Illinois during the transitional period in which the public schools in each community moved from segregated to desegregated systems. One of the school districts resisted desegregation and was forced with a court order to desegregate its…

As part of a broader national effort, 501 Illinois residents statewide responded to a survey of attitudes toward higher education in 2000. In addition, a focus group was held with African American parents in Chicago. In many ways, the attitudes of residents of Illinois are strikingly similar to those of respondents to a national survey. The four…

Explores the public's misconception about lotteries' intended purpose and actual use. To avoid attacks on its legitimacy (and bloated bureaucratic structure), government is relying on lotteries as policy tools. Generating public funds through lotteries appears to meet education's needs while masking the relative drop in tax-based public finance.…

Copies of the computer data are available on request at actual cost. (Author/CB)