Based on perceived student resistance to peer review, we conducted a study to lessen this resistance and demystify the writing process for STEM students. While many composition theorists advocate for peer review in the classroom, its application at a STEM institution remains underexamined. To foster student engagement with peer review, we…

Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving competition for school-aged children that encourages creative growth and long-term problem solving skills. These skills are important for young children as they can be directly related to future success in school, home, and the workplace. This extracurricular activity has impacted 1.5 million…

The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative in four states finds that: (1) colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; (2) students were satisfied with AO; (3) AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; (4) colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; (5) states and…

The Schools to Watch: School Transformation Network Project is a whole school reform model designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of low-performing middle-grades schools. Developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded in 2010 by a U.S. Department of Education…

This study focuses on an evaluation project that served as a powerful professional development experience for teachers and leaders in a network of Chicago small schools. The network of small schools led by the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative is based on the Authentic Intellectual Achievement (AIA) framework originally conceived by Fred…

This report provides initial results of Illinois' Shifting Gears Initiative that operated between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009. This mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation sought to accomplish three goals: (1) to assess program and student outcomes for two models (adult education and developmental education) for two target groups…

This report summarizes findings from a two-year study of Chicago's Excellence in Teaching Pilot, which was designed to drive instructional improvement by providing teachers with evidence-based feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. The pilot consisted of training and support for principals and teachers, principal observations of teaching…

Definitions are central to both the practice and the power of leadership. This deceptively simple supposition was the basis for an elective doctoral leadership seminar at Illinois State University designed and taught by Lyman in Fall 2005, and replicated by Gardner in Spring 2007. The authors featured the same texts and stimulated students'…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO MEASURE THE EFFECTS ON THE INTELLECTUAL, MATHEMATICAL, AND READING DEVELOPMENT OF RETARDED READERS RESULTING FROM TWO PROGRAMS--(1) A PROGRAM BASED ON DELACATO'S NEUROLOGICAL THEORY THAT AN INDIVIDUAL'S PERFORMANCE ABILITIES (SUCH AS READING) ARE FUNCTIONALLY RELATED TO HIS ANATOMICAL PROGRESS, AND (2) A…

A 5-year case study was implemented to evaluate the two-way Carroll Instructional Television Consortium, which utilizes a cable television network serving four school districts in Illinois. This network permits simultaneous video and audio interactive communication among four high schools. The naturalistic inquiry method employed included…

This guide begins with background information useful to understanding Illinois' framework for implementation and evaluation of Programs of Study. It starts with a visual depiction of the relationships between activity at the federal, state and local levels that evolved to the creation of Illinois' Career Cluster Model. This Model, which is based…

THE TRUMP PLAN AT RIDGEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL IN NORRIDGE, ILLINOIS INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING INNOVATIONS--INSTEAD OF CLASSES OF 25-30 STUDENTS, STUDENTS MET IN GROUPS OF 4-7, 10-15, AND 65-130. INSTEAD OF STANDARD CLASSROOMS, THERE WERE MANY ASSORTED WORKING SPACES, FROM INDIVIDUAL CARRELS TO LARGE LECTURE HALLS. TEACHERS WERE GROUPED IN COOPERATIVE TEAMS…

The article cites data collection instruments and summarizes findings reported by IBEX, Inc., a firm under contract with Illinois' Office of Education, vocational division, to evaluate secondary consumer and homemaking education programs in Illinois in 1975. Found to be generally successful, each program's strengths, weaknesses, and most effective…

One educational innovation that is receiving national attention is computer assisted instruction (CAI). The PLATO system developed at the University of Illinois (Urbana) is perhaps the most sophisticated CAI system. As with other CAI systems, it permits each student to learn at his own pace; it can provide precise feedback and remedial or advanced…

Four articles are included: (1) a study that identified barriers to effective extension programing for at-risk youth; (2) Project LEAD, which is designed to prevent delinquency by positively affecting attitudes of youth at risk; (3) Illinois extension's approach to drug education; and (4) Ohio's Tobacco Risk Awareness Program. (JOW)