In the City of Chicago, a collaboration between the City Colleges, the Chicago Public Schools, the philanthropic community and the mayor's office has berthed a unique program called the Chicago Roadmap for Success (The Roadmap). The Roadmap aligns resources to ensure that more students have more access to college. One of the keystone features of…

The statewide program review process for Illinois community colleges required by the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) is scheduled on a five-year cycle, however, the value of program review is lost without regular opportunities for engagement and reflection on what has been learned through the process (Eggleston, 2020). Furthermore, one of…

This research brief provides community college educators who are facilitating program review with tips, suggestions, and resources to ensure a high-quality review that advances equitable student outcomes.

This brief describes the participatory action research by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL)--built on the findings of an initial evaluation study of the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) program review process--toward the development of an equity-centered rubric to advance learning and support for the state's…

Structural change approaches, also called policy, systems, and environmental change approaches, have been increasingly promoted and adopted by public health agencies in the past decade. These interventions require attention to multilevel, complex and contextual influences on individual and community health outcomes, requiring a sound theoretical…

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) contracted with three child welfare providers that operate transitional living (TLP) or independent living (ILO) programs (or both) to implement LifeSet, an intensive case management program developed by Youth Villages, for youth in care who are 17.5 to 21 years old. LifeSet helps…

Dual credit courses are intended to increase opportunities to advance students' educational attainment, decrease dropout rates, and ease "at-risk" students' transition to college. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between participation in dual credit and program completion at a community college. The study focuses…

Recent iterations of the Program Review manual to guide the five-year program review process for Illinois community colleges asks institutions to disaggregate data toward identifying equity gaps, the process provides Illinois community colleges with an opportunity to utilize the review as a vehicle to implement anti-racist change. Within the…

An innovative system-building initiative known as the STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice (SLECoP) is transforming U.S. STEM education through cross-sector partnerships between schools, afterschool and summer programs, libraries, museums, and businesses, among others. Although logic models exist to describe how SLEs can make positive…

Through its program review process, the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) coordinates a statewide system of review of programs of study provided by community colleges in Illinois. The intent of this review process is to support colleges in making campus-level planning and decision-making related to the quality, cost effectiveness,…

With the majority of "good jobs" that pay a family-sustaining wage requiring at least some college education -- such as a technical certificate, associate degree, bachelor's degree or another credential of value -- ensuring the existence of high-quality postsecondary CTE [Career Technical Education] programs and programs of study is more…

With growing interest among higher education faculty and administration in adopting open educational resources (OER), several nationwide and statewide OER initiatives are attempting to increase the awareness and encourage the implementation of OER. In the exploration of OER resources for career and technical education (CTE) in Illinois community…

In 2018 the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) conducted an evaluation of the Illinois Community College Board's (ICCB) program review process, focusing on the career and technical education (CTE) programs. The purpose of program review is to support community colleges in decisionmaking and planning as related to…

Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) invited 10 districts to participate in a community of practice designed to increase understanding of how to braid and blend federal funds. District teams composed of principals, superintendents, business managers, and other district leaders participated in four 90-minute virtual sessions. The purpose of…

A community school is a place and a set of partnerships connecting a school, the families of students, and the surrounding community. A community school is distinguished by an integrated focus on academics, youth development, family support, health and social services, and community development. The community school strategy is central to efforts…