Virtual Reality Job Interview Training (VR-JIT) and Virtual Interview Training for Transition Age Youth (VIT-TAY) demonstrated initial effectiveness at increasing employment among transition-age youth with disabilities engaged in pre-employment transition services. We characterized activities and estimated the labor and non-labor costs required to…

Public school superintendents have a unique dependency on the capacity of their local school boards to function competently and lead their school districts effectively. As credentialed experts in all aspects of school leadership, superintendents serve at the pleasure of a board of individuals who gain their authority through political means…

Due to a wide breadth of training, school psychologists are uniquely qualified to provide indirect and direct services outlined by best practices, such as school-based mental health services, special education evaluations, and trauma-informed practices. Professional standards indicate that school psychologists are equipped to identify trauma…

Technology is continually giving way to new and exciting changes in the field of healthcare, so medical facilities must continue to evolve by streamlining and improving patient care through the integration of technology. The purpose of this study is to examine how technology implementation and training in new systems affect healthcare workers' job…

In today's rapidly evolving educational environment, there is a pressing need to train teachers to respond to the increasingly diverse needs of students. Although physical education teacher education (PETE) programs across the country offer a wide variety of early field experiences for students, very few provide opportunities to work with…

Focus groups and interviews can help to determine teachers' perspectives on classroom management. The problem with special education in the United States is that teachers are not prepared for specific classroom challenges, and their perceptions of classroom management have not been thoroughly documented. Gaps in the literature included teachers'…

Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally…

Youth spend an increasing amount of time at school and are experiencing greater mental health needs in the school setting. School professionals have the responsibility to respond and assist in managing the mental health needs of students. Illinois has implemented the Illinois Mental Health First Aid Training Act to provide psychoeducational…

A pretest-training-posttest design assessed whether training to improve spatial skills also improved mathematics performance in elementary-aged children. First grade students (mean age = 7 years, n = 134) and sixth grade students (mean age = 12 years, n = 124) completed training in 1 of 2 spatial skills--spatial visualization or form…

Social media has been recognized as a powerful tool supporting communication of many topics in the agriculture industry. We explored the use of social media platforms among farmers market managers and specialty crop growers in Illinois through an online survey. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter were platforms used by the majority of respondents. We…

The Whole-Child Task Force was created by Public Act 101-0654. The Whole Child Task Force Report provides recommendations in establishing an equitable, inclusive, safe, and supportive environment in all schools for every student in Illinois pursuant to PA 101-0654. This report includes: (1) Summary of task force; (2) Background information; (3)…

A pretest-training-posttest design assessed whether training to improve spatial skills also improved mathematics performance in elementary-aged children. First grade students (mean age = 7 years, n = 134) and sixth grade students (mean age = 12 years, n = 124) completed training in 1 of 2 spatial skills-spatial visualization or form…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to find out the current status of school safety in regard to how school buildings are secured and how much the staff is trained on how to handle security related issues. The research was based on the differences between rural, suburban, and urban schools in the state of Illinois. My interest in this topic…

This study describes the development of a special education teacher observation protocol detailing the elements of effective decoding instruction. The psychometric properties of the protocol were investigated through many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM). Video observations of classroom decoding instruction from 20 special education teachers across…

Health professions students can increase their understanding of how social determinants impact health equity through experiential learning opportunities. Using key informant interviews with faculty and staff familiar with experiential education programs in medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and social work, we sought to…