Expectations for and rates of scholarly productivity have increased substantively across academic fields, including physical education and sport pedagogy. Concurrent with higher scholarly output has been an increase in collaborative, team approaches to science and fewer sole authored publications. This has led to the development and propagation of…

Many Virginians aspiring to earn a four-year degree intentionally begin their journey at one of the 23 community colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In concert with those aspirations, the VCCS is committed to providing its residents an affordable and accessible program of study that prepares them to transfer and earn a…

Providing an in-depth look at the processes, pitfalls, and successes that can emerge from major education reform efforts at the state level, this volume covers the full policy change cycle in the development and transformation of the Illinois principal preparation program. Offering perspectives from the major stakeholder groups involved in…

Collaborative learning involves an interdependence between success of the individual and success of the group, requiring both personal preparation and teamwork. Asynchronous work, in combination with group interaction and problem solving, differentiates collaborative learning from other interactive teaching methods. In this study, three professors…

The Civil War ended in 1865. From 2011-2015, Civil War sesquicentennial events took place around the nation. The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium used the opportunity to feature two exhibits on the critical role that the river played during the Civil War. Both exhibits highlighted contributions to the war effort by the surrounding…

How educational leaders initiate and sustain change is often hotly debated by those inside and outside of the system. Given the many reform initiatives of the past 30 years, and the resulting changes public educators have made lurching from initiative to initiative, one must ask if public education has truly improved. The answer to why public…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. Affordability matters a great deal for transfer students, but it has typically not been understood or prioritized. The IHEP…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Promoting Faculty Engagement in Assessment: Relatively Simple Ideas (Elizabeth E. Smith and Sarah R. Gordon); (2) Comparing Trends in Graduate Assessment: Face to Face vs. Online Learning (Lesley Page and Mike Cherry); (3) Assessing Information Literacy on a Regional…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. On average, 43 percent of credits are lost nationwide through the transfer process. Recognizing that today's students…

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. For every 100 students who enroll in community colleges, 31 students transfer to a four-year institution. Of those, only 15…

For many non-traditional candidates, the path into teaching is riddled with bumps and detours. They must pay for increasingly expensive coursework and certification costs, attend classes that conflict with work schedules, and forgo wages to complete unfunded student teaching requirements. These roadblocks can deter valuable local…

Study abroad programs are in vogue today, especially among Christian colleges and universities. It is, therefore, appropriate to ask tough questions of these programs. Do they help our students become more mature followers of Jesus? Are they respectful of people in the target culture? College and university leaders must focus in particular on how…

"Voices from the Field: Collaborative Innovations in Early Childhood Educator Preparation" is jointly published by the Illinois Education Research Council (IERC) and the Illinois Board of Education (IBHE), and highlights the accomplished work of many of the state's two- and four-year faculty to redesign early childhood educator…

The author has given meaning to global citizenship over the past four years through the work and connections she has made with students at her school in Chicago, Francis W. Parker, and a school in the village of Madina, Ghana, West Africa, Tuskegee International. She has motivated other teachers to make connections as they traveled with her to…

Much attention during the past decade has been given to the need to develop a well-trained early childhood education workforce. In order to address this need, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) awarded Early Childhood Educator Preparation Program Innovation (EPPI) grants to institutions of higher learning. The IBHE funded partnerships,…