In 2010, Illinois became one of the first states to legislatively require a complete redesign of all its principal preparation programs, with the goal of advancing statewide school improvement through strengthening school leadership. This effort was ambitious and sweeping, calling for radical shifts in previous practice, including: (1) A targeted…

The demographic profile of the United States has been rapidly changing; by 2020, minority students will constitute the majority of the public school student population nationwide. This makes cultural competence a necessity for today's school leaders. Educational leadership preparation programs are responsible for preparing culturally competent…

Community-based action research (CBAR) encourages students to view internships and other civic-engagement opportunities as the first steps in collaborative projects that build long-term relationships with community partners and model how democracy works. We marshal longitudinal data, qualitative and quantitative, on both attitudes and behaviors to…

In 2010, Illinois policymakers sought to advance statewide school improvement by strengthening school leadership. Illinois became one of the first states to legislatively require a complete redesign of all its principal preparation programs with the goal of ensuring future principals would be "highly effective in leadership roles" and…

This manuscript reports results from two open-ended questions from a larger descriptive study that sought to gather perceptions from practicing Illinois superintendents on coursework and other program characteristics in superintendent preparation programs. The study surveyed all Illinois superintendents (873 districts) using an online survey. We…

Twenty first century teachers need to be proficient in technology, skilled as reflective practitioners, and able to reflect on diversity in a myriad of ways: learning styles, special needs, cultural differences, racial differences, developmentally appropriate differences, teaching styles, and personality differences of children, teachers, parents,…

This report presents baseline and process study findings of an evaluation of the Urban Alliance high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Northern Virginia, and Chicago. The report, which focuses on the program's…

As the efficacy of educational administration programs has come under increased national scrutiny, one area which has received particular attention is the administrative internship component. In Illinois, various professional, governmental, and state-supported organizations such as the Commission on School Leader Preparation, Illinois Council of…

The purpose of this study was to analyze changes made to the design of a principal preparation internship. The study is based in part upon findings of a previous study on internship practices in Illinois administrator preparation programs (Tripses, Philhower, Halverson, Noe, & Morford, 2005) which found discrepancies in the design of…

The purpose of this collective case study was to understand the nature of planning and the influences on planning among intern and novice teachers in Illinois. Sixteen intern teachers and 15 novice teachers participated in reflections, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. In regard to the nature of planning, both intern and novice…

In discussing the role of practical experience (be it called clinical experience, field experience, an internship, simulation, or role-playing) in the preparation of educational administrators, the authors present survey data and an example of institutional requirements. The survey data include information on state standards concerning the…

After refining the Illinois Model for Occupational Teacher Internship, 20 practicing occupational teachers in public schools field tested the model to determine the nature and value of the concept of business/industry internships. Some major findings from data on intern evaluations revealed that (1) the internship provided an educationally…

Fifteen Illinois Education Professions Development Act (553) funded projects, mainly directed toward professional development in vocational-career education, provided the basis for the followup study. The projects, which varied in scope, activity, and duration were: More Effective Staff Utilization, In-Service Education for Teachers of…

Research on a week-long internship in inner city Chicago schools and community agencies revealed that "border crossing" can assist social studies preservice teachers in learning about the inner city, but critical reflection and long term program commitment to unlearning racism and developing multicultural teaching competencies are…

The following are among the 47 papers included: "Academic Performance and Retention of College of Agriculture Students" (Garton, Dyer, King); "Perceptions of Recent Graduates and Employers about Undergraduate Programs in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University" (Heyboer, Suvedi);…