This report describes a program to use various instructional strategies to increase student motivation in the learning process. The targeted population was high school students in a multicultural, middle-class community in a suburb of Chicago (Illinois) with 1,926 students. The problems of low participation, off-task behavior, and inadequate…

This annual compilation offers six articles on the history of higher education. In the first article, "The Historical Matrix of American Higher Education," Roger L. Geiger provides an overview of the history of American higher education. Following it, E. D. Duryea, Jurgen Herbst, and W. Bruce Leslie comment on his hypothesis which…

The Illinois Social and Emotional Health of Infants, Toddlers and Their Families Committee hosted the Early Childhood Mental Health Regional Summit 2000 in November of 2000. Building on the momentum of the U.S. Surgeon General's first report on mental health, which underscores the importance of early preventive mental health services, this summit…

Profiles the Wilmette, Illinois, school district's experience when revising their art curriculum. Maintains that the art staff's commitment to revision is the motivating force, and suggests an outline for a revision plan. Outlines curriculum writing procedures, the contents of an art curriculum, and the advantages of curriculum writing. (KM)

This article describes the Ounce of Prevention Fund's journey to institutionalize doula services in the state of Illinois. The Ounce's doulas help strengthen the new relationship between mother and child by working with the mother to help her better understand and anticipate the progression of the third trimester of pregnancy, the child-birthing…

Chicago Public Schools, in partnership with the greater Chicago community, is implementing the largest-scale community school initiative in the nation. The establishment of Local School Councils (LSCs) and the creation of small schools, charter schools, and other alternative educational settings have propelled Chicago into the national spotlight.…

This paper presents a comparative case study of diverse approaches to deinstitutionalization of developmental disabilities residential services in two Midwestern states. During the 1970s and 1980s, the convergence of leadership by advocates, legislators, and bureaucrats led to Michigan's rapid transformation from an institutional to a…

Since the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, the impact upon America's schools has been signicant in many areas. In a positive sense, NCLB has caused schools and school districts to examine the performance and academic achievement of subgroups, often for the first time. This examination has certainly highlighted…

This paper reports on a project designed to improve student achievement through better communication between parents/guardians and teachers of 9th-grade science students in a large, north-central Illinois urban community. Analysis of probable-cause data revealed that no structured means of communication existed. Attempts to communicate were…

For a community college business communication teacher, a whole new world has opened in her field and in her city, a city which has changed from a major industrial economy to a service economy. The changing environments require adjustments for class size and location (to retrain laid-off mature workers), in types of examples and vocabulary…

A profile is provided of Illinois community college business centers and the activities they conducted under the fiscal year 1986 $3.5 million economic development grant allocation. First, highlights of the year's accomplishments are presented, including: (1) community colleges provided training for 852 companies through 1,400 courses, serving…

This manual, which is provided as a resource for Illinois School Districts and which incorporates some of the materials in the Alaska Department of Education's Assessment Handbook, is designed to meet the requirements of Public Act 84-126 and to help practitioners develop student assessment plans of local usefulness. Areas covered in the…

This report of a study describes in detail attempts to change one kindergarten teacher's procedures for teaching reading. The aim of the study was to learn how practices observed in earlier classroom research could be improved. The more specific goal was to identify factors that facilitate or impede change. Subjects were a kindergarten teacher in…

This paper examines the perceptions of practicing school superintendents, principals, and teachers as to the degree to which the Edmonds Correlates and other indicators of school effectiveness were present in Illinois public elementary and high schools. Two companion studies examined the perceptions of Illinois public elementary and high school…

A profile is provided of Illinois community college business centers and the activities they conducted under fiscal year 1987's $3,730,376 economic development allocation. First, highlights of the year's accomplishments are presented, indicating that: (1) community colleges provided customized job training for 1,395 companies through 1,954…