The U.S. Department of Education made recent technical changes reducing eligibility for the Rural and Low-Income School Program. Given smaller budgets and lower economies of scale, rural districts may be less able to absorb short-term funding cuts and experience stronger negative achievement effects. Kansas implemented a state-level finance change…

Public Act 100-0465 or the Evidence-Based Funding for Student Success Act was signed by Illinois Governor, Bruce Rauner, on August 31, 2017. According to the Illinois State Board of Education's Evidence-Based Funding webpage, "This law enacts evidence-based funding (EBF) and comprehensively changes the way that school districts receive the…

This paper examines rural public school student population change in Illinois and explores the implications of these changes on educational leadership. Secondary analysis of 16 years of data from NCES Common Core of Data Universe Surveys illuminates population change in terms of student enrollment and demographic characteristics. Findings suggest…

In the era of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, school districts are under increasing pressure from policymakers to hold all students to high performance standards. In response, a growing number of schools are embracing the principles of student-centered learning (SCL). SCL is a contemporary approach that combines progressive and…

Using data collected from a state sample of principals in Illinois this study examines the role of online and blended instruction in addressing concerns and issues facing the American high school. In comparing the results in this study with those of a national sample of principals, most of the findings are comparable even though the present study…

Describes a successful instructional television consortium developed by four small Illinois high schools. The system eliminated the need to transport students long distances for a quality education. (MD)

School finance is basic to understanding and improving the condition of rural education. Information necessary for financial planning and policy development at the state and local levels is stored in large computer readable data bases and needs to be accessed. Pertinent data elements need to be extracted from the data base and relationships among…

Reports results of a parent survey in a rural K-12 district and an urban K-12 district regarding 2 school choice plans. Data analysis indicated that school choice, whether in-district or in-region, was not perceived as beneficial to local districts' educational systems. Most parents preferred children to attend local schools. (SM)

School finance is basic to understanding and improving the condition of rural education. The purpose of this study was to: (1) determine the relationship between educational spending and component property wealth in the rural schools of Illinois; (2) examine potential trends in component property wealth in Illinois; and (3) identify and facilitate…

The most remarkable feature in the progress of education in the United States within the past decade and a half has been the unprecedented increase of interest in secondary education, the multiplication of high schools and the large increase in the number of high-school students. Until about the beginning of this century interest in the public…

Prospects for Illinois public school revenues and school district reorganization in the 1980's, considered in the context of prospects for the Great Lakes region as a whole, are affected by fundamental demographic and economic changes. The region has had a lower population growth rate since 1970 than the rest of the country, and a slower growth in…

A report compares 30 small/rural K-12 school districts (900 students or fewer) in Illinois to 642 similar districts nationwide, using data from 1982-83. Qualifying districts were identified as 4,125 nationwide (26.4% of all public school districts) and 221 in Illinois (22.4%, enrolling 121,570 students). A questionnaire was mailed to…

Although in the United States there are many thousands of crippled children, probably as many as there are of deaf and blind, little attention has been given them as a class. While special provision for the deaf and blind children is made in all States and for feeble-minded and incorrigible children in most of the States, few States make any…

This paper discusses recent demographic and economic trends in Illinois and nationwide and resulting implications for rural schools and communities. Economic and social trends and their impacts on rural schools over the next decade include: (1) a more diverse school population due to growing numbers of Asian and Hispanic immigrants; (2) a greater…