Purpose/Objectives: School Food Focus (Focus) developed the Focus Midwest project on the premise that school food professionals (SFPs) could work together to minimize effort and maximize potential to find new or improved products to serve. Focus designed this project as an experiment to explore how and to what extent this collaborative approach…

This research study examined Generation Y new teachers, the process of new teacher induction, and the most effective methods for providing professional development in instructional technology for Generation Y teachers. This research study examined Generation Y new teachers, the process of new teacher induction, and the most effective methods for…

Discontinuities are often found between top-down language education policies and local language policy enactments, as de facto language policymaking results from stakeholders' negotiation and interpretation of policy mandates. Teachers occupy a particular role in the execution of language education policies, as they are the "final…

When the author and his colleagues last left Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Texas' Plano Independent School District in April 2008, both school districts were immersed in the long and labored advance toward becoming a fully matured data-driven operation, one that uses sophisticated technologies to gather data, sort and interpret it, and…

Illinois demonstration centers were established as change agents for the improvement of district programs for gifted children. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what factors operate within a demonstration process to influence visiting school personnel to initiate innovations in their schools. Three instruments were administered and…

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…

In its first year of funding, Project MEDIA (Meaningful Educational Directions Through Innovative Approaches) offered school districts in Illinois information concerning the latest emerging developments in the field of education, specialized assistance in developing and implementing new approaches and techniques, and a centralized resource for…

A study was conducted to investigate empirically the nature of program development, testing Everett Rogers' model of collective adoption of an innovation against the data, and distinguishing between the developmental patterns of high and low quality programs. Subjects were 34 school districts representing a 10 percent sample of 340 districts…

A network of quality schools has been suggested as a means of achieving excellence in Illinois public schools. Such a program to be effective, must be specific while at the same time addressing the broad and complex needs for education. Also, the proposed network must be built upon the mistakes of the past and must stimulate renewal at the local…

Describes a cooperative program between small school districts in Grundy County to provide ideas, techniques, and resources to implement career education. Program activities described include teacher in-service sessions, the cooperative resource library, a newsletter, a resource guide, special projects, and a one-and five-year vocational plan. (TA)

The Quality Assistance Plan (QAP) for Vocational Education in Illinois is a state-funded program for locally initiated, developed, implemented, and evaluated projects that was begun in Fiscal Year 1982. Its purpose is to build the capacity, in each educational setting, for the improvement of vocational education programs. That improvement should…

THE PRESENT TYPES AND AMOUNT OF DATA PROCESSING USED IN ILLINOIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE DISCUSSED. ONLY 66 OF 964 SCHOOL DISTRICTS RESPONDING TO A QUESTIONNAIRE REPORTED USE OF DATA PROCESSING. THESE INCLUDED, HOWEVER, 43 PERCENT OF THE TOTAL PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT. DIFFERENT AREAS IN WHICH DATA PROCESSING TECHNIQUES ARE USED INCLUDE (1) SCHOOL…

In 1984, the State Board of Education, Department of Adult, Vocational, and Technical Education (DAVTE), contracted with an outside evaluator to assess the impact of the Illinois Quality Assistance Plan (QAP). (The QAP is a state-funded program for locally initiated, developed, implemented, and evaluated projects that was begun in Fiscal Year…

The document summarizes the fourth annual evaluate findings, based upon on-site evaluation, during 1974-1975, of 88 local educational agencies (LEA) throughout Illinois. Each LEA Evaluation focused on eight areas, and these same areas provide the structure for the report, with conclusions, recommendations rating, and suggested solutions provided.…

This catalogue of student competencies, gleaned from 10,000 competency statements developed by secondary school districts, is designed to allow flexibility at the local level. Districts are free to adopt or modify this set of graduation competencies by following a six-step process: organize, orient a task force, identify priority competency…