The main goals of this implementation study were to: (1) examine how the grant recipients were implementing the changes set forth in their grant proposals; (2) identify initial barriers to implementation of grant activities; (3) identify catalysts that aided in goal attainment and/or partnership development; and (4) consider the sustainability of…

Consolidations come in all shapes and sizes, including mergers, annexations and dissolutions. They do not all take place under state mandate, however. A handful of districts consolidate every year in some states like Illinois that have large numbers of small districts, many of them dual districts that serve K-8 or 9-12 in the same geographic area.…

Illinois Wesleyan University's Ames Library opened in January 2002. The vision for this library focused on creating a user-centered arrangement of information regardless of format. Much of the library's collection was integrated during the move to the new building; however, several discrete collections remain separate. This article will discuss…

The Illinois Three Phase System should be temporarily retained as an administrative tool to be used in relationships between the Division of Vocational and Technical Education and local education agencies. But it is clear that such a system, with its scope directed toward local school districts, with its lack of outcome assessment, and with its…

A UNIQUE DEVICE ("THE COLLEGE SUGGESTOR") WAS DEVELOPED FOR CLASSIFYING FOR INSTANT RETRIEVAL CHARACTERISTIC INFORMATION ON SOME 1,930 JUNIOR COLLEGES, COLLEGES, AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND ITS TERRITORIES. IN USING IT AN INDIVIDUAL WOULD IDENTIFY THOSE INSTITUTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS, CLOSELY RELATED TO HIS PERSONAL…

"Extending Virtual Access: Promoting Engagement and Retention through Integrated Support Systems" focuses upon expanding the scope of on-line instructional delivery to include academic support systems critical to ensuring that virtual learning environments are inclusive, accessible, instructive, and responsive to changing student needs.…

An outcomes-based model was developed to evaluate vocational education programs in Illinois. The model, which evaluates programs based on six vital signs of program quality, uses a series of computer technology expert systems to give local personnel assistance in exploring program problems and improvement. (SLD)

The need for timely, accurate, and locally relevant career information has been escalating. Within the last 15 years, computer-based systems have been developed that put occupational descriptions, labor market information, plus education, training, and financial aid information into formats usable by students and adults in school and nonschool…

The specifications, planning, and initial development phases of the Random Access Center at the Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois, are described with particular attention to the ways that the five functional specifications and the five-part program rationale were implemented in the system design. Specifications, set out…

This final report focuses on the methodology and results of a feasibility study for the development of a statewide career information delivery system (CIDS) in Illinois. The study was conducted in four phases. Target Group Needs Analysis activities included more than a hundred interviews with representatives from prospective user groups, three…

DEFINING CENTRALIZED PROCESSING AS ORDERING, CATALOGING, CLASSIFICATION, AND MECHANICAL PREPARATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS, THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED (1) TO DETERMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF CENTRALIZED PROCESSING FOR ILLINOIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND LIBRARY SYSTEMS AND (2) TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PLANNING STATE CENTRALIZED ACTIVITY. GENERAL SURVEY…

A project was initiated to disseminate staff development materials which provide a model for systematically planning comprehensive systems of guidance, counseling, placement, and follow-through and to help Illinois educational agencies in efficiently operating comprehensive guidance and counseling programs. In the first of a two-phase project,…

Pursuant to developing an interactive system for planning and managing vocational education programs, the project focused on methods of obtaining student supply and manpower demand information. The goal was to operationalize a student data base that would facilitate planning and regulatory requirements of the Illinois Department of Adult,…