The nation's changing economy requires workers to attain increasingly higher job skills. Leaders in education, workforce development, and economic development recognize the need to help workers meet this challenge and to help employers find qualified employees. Barriers to educational and career opportunities will need to be removed so that…

Although we may claim our students are developing a sociological imagination, it is quite another to realize this in our teaching and our students' performances. Through a professional move from teaching in Chicago to Maine, I was led to rethink how I teach the sociological imagination. I argue that if we are to teach the sociological imagination,…

Context: Past research has documented rural physician and health care professional shortages. Purpose: Rural hospital chief executive officers' (CEOs') reported shortages of health professionals and perceptions about recruiting and retention are compared in Illinois and Arkansas. Methods: A survey, previously developed and sent to 28 CEOs in…

This article argues that teaching as a situated, civic activity must be a core intellectual activity in the engaged metropolitan university. Situated writing provides the key pedagogy for the Chicago Civic Leadership Certificate Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago, an engaged public research university. The role of writing, or…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

"The Imperfect Union" recounts the experiences of "Killmer," Illinois, from 1975 to 1979 while the village of 900 persons sought to fight the closing of its elementary school by seceeding from the consolidated school district ("Unit 110") to which it belonged. "Unit 110" is represented as an imperfect…

In 1974, residents of East Humboldt Park, one of the oldest working class communities in Chicago, Illinois, gathered together in a common effort to reverse the process of urban decay and deterioration in their community. With the help of a hired consultant, the citizens planned the future of their community, a process that was completed in 1976,…

Noting that educators are charged with the task of promoting lifelong development and self-sufficiency in students through academic excellence, this report discusses how community schools in Illinois provide an innovative route for achieving the vision of enabling all Illinois students to become confident, self-sufficient, and productive citizens.…

In a small Illinois town experiencing immigration of working-poor families, the differing notions about respectability of newcomers and the old guard became symbolized by conflict over the appearance and use of private and public property. Concludes that property issues, more than occupation or family background, shape social relations in…

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge, chaired from 1995 to 1999 by Barack Obama, is being portrayed by John McCain's campaign as an attempt to push radicalism on schools. Founders of the project say it has been distorted in the presidential campaign. The project undertaken in Chicago as part of a high-profile national initiative reflected, however,…

In an effort to understand the role of the arts in small Illinois communities, a broad exploratory study was conducted in nine counties to determine what potential arts audiences want, what local arts resources offer, and what arts programming strategies are suggested by the gaps between the two. Organizational representatives and individuals…

"Torchlights in ESL: Five Community College Profiles" grows out of the Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy's (CAAL's) recent two-year study of adult ESL service in community colleges. The five college programs at the heart of the study offer high quality ESL instruction and are considered exemplary. This publication is a supplement…

The Logan County (Illinois) Community Resource Development Council, assisted by sociologists and graduate students from the University of Illinois, designed an attitudinal survey which was administered to a random sample of 700 Logan County adults to ascertain the support of the residents for Council activities and to learn from the residents what…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

Performance funding in higher education ties state funding directly to institutional performance on specific indicators, such as rates of retention, graduation, and job placement. One of the great puzzles about performance funding is that it has been both popular and unstable. Between 1979 and 2007, 26 states enacted it, but 14 of those states…