It can be hard for leaders to find inspiration and joy when times are as stressful as they have been in the last two years. Coaching can help principals step back and rediscover their motivation or find new sources of inspiration. Coaching is a powerful approach to assist principals in being leaders of high-performing schools where students and…

Child care and early education (CCEE) educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of…

Legislative advocacy is an important and long-standing skill in social work. However, this role cannot be left solely to social workers who specialize in macro and policy practice. Rather, clinical social workers who assist clients as they face "private" troubles (Mills, 1959) also need to face the structural barriers that contribute to…

"While community college enrollment has generally declined by about 2 or 3 percent annually in recent years--due to some extent to the improving economy--some colleges have bucked the trend" (Ashford 2015). What made the difference? Like many community colleges, College of DuPage has been concerned with access and affordability. The…

Landing a tenure-track position is no easy task. Achieving tenure is even more difficult. Under what policies and practices do faculty find greater clarity about tenure and experience higher levels of job satisfaction? And what makes an institution a great place to work? In 2005-2006, the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education…

Three teacher educators worked at a US community college with two adult education staff on a grant-supported project bridging high school dropouts from adult education to employment. The teacher educators' apparently simple task of facilitating grant participants' engagement with action research became confusingly challenging. The consultants…

Describes results of a research project conducted in Illinois to obtain detailed information about preferences of public library customers and about how much value they place on various types of library services. Discusses rural perceptions of public library contributions, willingness to pay more for service, and implications for library…

Describes a career incentive program for teachers, designed to improve their performance and develop their leadership, curriculum development, and research talents. The program offers extended contracts for participating in curriculum development in addition to a four-level career ladder "Teacher Academy" designed to upgrade the status…

Using survey data collected through the Illinois Teacher Study, this report provides results about teachers' satisfaction with their preparation courses and their participation in induction activities. It describes the relationship between participation in specific induction activities, the number of activities in which respondents participated,…

Discussion of resource sharing and interlibrary loans in Illinois libraries focuses on patron-initiated interlibrary loans. The implementation of a patron-initiated service in the Lincoln Trail Libraries System Automation Consortium is described; results are discussed; and a shift in lending and borrowing patterns is examined. (LRW)

Describes the Braille/Large Print Reference Project developed in Illinois to provide visually impaired patrons with information transcribed into either Braille or large print. Topics discussed include equipment needs; staff training; user response; and problems. Examples of publicity and guidelines are included. (LRW)