Elementary students from a Chicago housing project rise to the occasion and fight for an equal opportunity after being faced with shamefully, inadequate conditions at their neighborhood school. Challenged with the prospect of co-creating a curriculum based on their priority concerns, the young people developed an integrated effort to solve this…

Findings are presented from our case study evaluating the implementation of the IBHE's federally funded grant, "A Common Vision: Teacher Quality Enhancement in the Middle Grades in Illinois." Four sites were examined in terms of how they organized to attain the grant goals, and what aspects of organizational culture and leadership…