In this article Chancellor Susan Koch considers the value of the honors program at her institute, the University of Illinois at Springfield. She begins by reflecting on her own under graduate experience at her alma mater, Dakota State University and explains how her experience there helped her to create the honors program at the University of…

Traditional campus-based teacher education programs, located on college or university campuses, have been criticized for being removed from the "real world" of community life, and a number of programs have moved directly into urban communities in order for preservice teachers to become immersed in the life of the community. This article…

The use of scuba diving as a recreational activity within traditional university instructional programs has been well established. Departments focusing on kinesiology, physical education, or exercise science have often provided scuba diving lessons as part of their activity-based course offerings. However, few departments have developed an…

Civic learning for all students seems like a reasonable and important aim for all schools to achieve. If we believe that the future of our American democracy depends on a citizenry that is informed, engaged, and responsible, what better place to create future citizens than in schools? The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools…

The idea that one of the Catholic Church's most respected religious orders might run a public school sounded odd, maybe even, as Francis Cardinal George, head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, conjectured, illegal. But a decade ago several trends in American education, and in the Catholic Church, made a Catholic-operated public school seem…

This article describes the process of replacing a modest Master's level school leader preparation program with an innovative Ed.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The new doctoral program is intensive, highly selective, intellectually rigorous, and field-based. The authors provide side-by-side comparisons of the difference…

Although a growing body of research points to the critical need to foster reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills for students in order to ensure their success in college, careers, and life, these efforts have tended to focus more on developing literacy skills in the early years, often ignoring secondary students. The outcome has…

Because children who are deaf or hard of hearing are being identified at birth, fitted with advanced hearing technology, and enrolled in early intervention programs, families increasingly seek professionals who can provide services that support their choice of listening and spoken language. The increased demand for these services and shortages of…

THE COMPOUNDING PROBLEMS OF A SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM IN A SCHOOL DISTRICT OF LESS THAN 15,000 POPULATION ARE OUTLINED BY THE DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN AN INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN ILLINOIS. A VARIETY OF ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES IS CONSIDERED. THE DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1959-60 OF THE SPECIAL EDUCATION DISTRICT WHICH NOW SERVES…

Development of the placement program in Highland Community Schools included obtaining administrative approval, publicity, slide presentations for business and industrial groups, and resulted in a successful placement service that was not a significant cost factor within the school's budget. (TA)

The booklet discusses the concepts of sharing centers and sharing center kits in the Macomb (Illinois) 0-3 Regional Project, a rural home based program to serve rural handicapped and high risk infants and toddlers. It is explained that sharing centers provide opportunities for parents to share experiences and learn new approaches to working with…

Describes the Experience Based Career Education (EBCE) concept and history briefly, and discusses EBCE in Decatur, Joliet, and Sycamore (Illinois) with comments of support from students, the community, parents, and staff. (TA)

This report of the activities of Project MEDIA, the Illinois State-Wide Facilitator for the National Diffusion Network, includes a description of the diffusion and facilitation process in the state, the numbers and types of requests for information and assistance from the project, the impact of Project MEDIA on local education agencies (LEAs) in…