The Common Planning Time Project of the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG) of the American Educational Research Association provided an avenue through which researchers from throughout the United States could investigate numerous aspects of common planning time in schools. Although several studies have investigated…

At its annual joint board and commission meeting (Washington, DC, November 10-11, 2010), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) focused attention on college completion by presenting two panel discussions on the completion agenda, followed by breakout sessions in which participants were assigned to focus groups tasked with providing…

Relations between colleges/college governing boards and statewide coordinating boards, and alternatives to coordination, are considered. The history of statewide coordinating boards is briefly sketched, and it is suggested that current conditions and trends require both state and institutional responses. Among the issues are declining enrollments…

The kind of data useful to a statewide planning agency is considered, with focus on Illinois, and attention is directed to the use of these data once generated, including resulting problems. Illinois is currently engaged in the conceptual design of a computerized management information system that will contain as a subset the State Level…

Experiences that have been gained in Illinois in efforts to achieve interinstitutional coordination and cooperation among colleges and universities are described. Attention is directed to the role of the Illinois Master Plan Phase III to establish an integrated incentives in cooperative programs, experiences in the operation of an incentive grant…

The principal uses of statistics in library planning may be illustrated by examples from the state of Illinois. State law specifies that the Illinois State Library compile and publish statistics on libraries. State agencies also play an important and expanding role in this effort. The state library now compiles statistics on all types of…

Under a grant from the Illinois State Library, a manual was prepared in 1973 as a reference guide for 18 library systems to use in their five-year planning and evaluation programs. The manual explained the Context, Input, Process, Product (CIPP) model. The 18 libraries used this model in various ways and reached different stages in the…

This study reports on the formulation of educational technology policy in three Illinois K-12 school districts (n=36). Major findings included: (1) educational policy formulation in the districts focused on collecting the objects of technology, such as computers, modems, networks, rather than viewing educational technology as a systematic process…

Discussing an increased emphasis on accountability and assessment of student learning in the Illinois community colleges, this paper reviews efforts by two community colleges to improve student learning on their campuses. Following an overview of the literature addressing the paradigm shift at community colleges from teaching- to learning-centered…

Much energy has been invested into identifying educational goals at the national, state, and local levels. When a plethora of goals exist, the chances of all goals being achieved decreases as economic and human resources are not channeled toward a narrowly defined end. This paper presents findings of a study that explored the alignment of federal…

This speech reviews what Illinois has done in terms of public financial support for the private sector, what the Illinois Board of Higher Education recommends be done in the near future, and the issues that must be resolved. Illinois was one of the pioneer states in extending financial aid to private higher education institutions, beginning with…

This document contains two papers on excellence in business and education leadership. "Corporate Leadership in Improving Student Achievement" (Edward B. Rust, Jr.) explains why business must remain involved in education and discusses the following efforts of the State Farm Insurance Company to assume a leadership role in educational…

This paper describes the current and proposed systems for state and local financing of public education in Illinois and discusses the ramifications for local educational planners of a change from a foundation level program to a resource cost model approach. The paper begins with a brief historical overview of the finance reform effort that began…

Community college planners must be futurists, projecting institutional and program enrollments and funding from tuition and state sources. Yet it is increasingly difficult to make accurate projections even for one year, when factors do not operate as they have in the past. Nevertheless, new trends in people, programs, finances, and facilities can…

An analysis of the consequences of state administrative and legislative decisions on levels of appropriations for bilingual education in Illinois is presented. The report first describes existing legislation for bilingual education funding in the state, including legislation specifically for transitional bilingual education and other transitional…