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This paper explores Illinois's shift from a general administrative license, called a "Type 75" license, to a "PK-12 Principal Endorsement." It includes both a history of the reform efforts and a look at how implementation has fared nearly a decade after the legislation was signed into law. It also offers lessons and recommendations for other states looking to ensure principals are equipped to lead pre-K and early grade classrooms. [For an overview of this report, see ED599867.]

Eighteen percent of principals leave their posts annually, according to the most recent federal data. Departing principals cite inadequate preparation and professional development as a key reason for leaving. Yet principal preparation programs have been slow to keep up with the changing demands of the profession. This policy update shares how state leadership can help equip and retain more school leaders by taking steps to strengthen these programs.

This guiding document outlines five goals and supporting objectives that help advance National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) mission through education: (1) Science-Informed Society; (2) Conservation and Stewardship; (3) Safety and Preparedness; (4) Future Workforce; (5) Organizational Excellence. In this report, NOAA introduces the reader to students whose restoration project saved their shoreline from a hurricane, a meteorology class that learned the art of high-stakes weather forecasting, and an educator from South Dakota who brought his students to a NOAA lab in Mississippi so they could see the ocean for the first time. The stories shared in this report show how today's youth are emerging as the next generation of problem-solvers. Educators and partners empower students to take action and make changes in their schools and communities, whether convincing school administrators to rethink cafeteria waste or educating their communities about climate change. Across these different projects, the reader can see how students gather data, challenge norms, and take the initiative to address environmental problems that they see around them in the places and spaces they care about.

In 2010, Illinois passed legislation making significant changes to its principal preparation and licensure policies. With the goal of improving student outcomes and closing achievement gaps, the state updated standards for principal preparation programs with a focus on instructional leadership. Illinois's reforms were ambitious, requiring all programs to reapply for approval from the state board of education under the new standards. Included in the legislation was something unique to Illinois-- a call to prepare all principals to lead pre-K students. This overview of the report, "Preparing Principals for Pre-K in Illinois: The Prairie State's Story of Reform and Implementation" includes both a history of the reform efforts and a look at how implementation has fared nearly a decade after the legislation was signed into law. It also offers lessons and recommendations for other states looking to follow Illinois's lead and ensure principals are equipped to lead pre-K and early grade classrooms. [For the full report, see ED599865.]

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 principal endorsement, instead of a general administrative certificate; (2) Formal partnerships with school districts in preparation program design and delivery; (3) More selective admissions criteria and processes; (4) Focus on leading all students, including students with disabilities, English Language Learners, and early childhood education; (5) Collaborative support for candidates from highly qualified faculty supervisors and mentor principals; and (6) A competency-based internship, with an emphasis on demonstrated leadership skills. For many decades prior to the redesign, principal preparation had typically consisted of administrative courses such as school law, finance, and educational theory, followed by an internship consisting of a set number of hours that were mainly spent shadowing a principal. Programs varied greatly in the quality of both course content and mentoring and generally had few, if any, selection criteria beyond what was required by the college or university. Meanwhile, a growing body of research evidence indicated that principals play a critical role in improving student performance and leading effective schools. This research identified the importance of principals as effective instructional leaders rather than simply efficient building managers, and identified key components of effective principal preparation programs, including: targeted recruitment and selection, a rigorous curriculum focused on instruction and school improvement; integration of coursework and fieldwork; and robust, sustained internships that allow candidates to gain leadership experience working with an expert mentor. As a result, traditional principal preparation began to be perceived as providing inadequate training, and principal preparation programs became the target of intense scrutiny. For the past two years, the authors have studied the implementation of Illinois' new principal preparation programs and the changes that have occurred as a result of the new policy. In this policy brief, they highlight key findings and implications from the second phase of the study. The full findings and analysis are presented in the final report. [For the final report, "Navigating the Shift to Intensive Principal Preparation in Illinois: An In-Depth Look at Stakeholder Perspectives. Policy Research: IERC 2016-2," see ED567016.]

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 prepared "to improve teaching and learning and increase academic achievement and the development of all students" (Programs for the Preparation of Principals in Illinois, 2016). The new requirements, which went into effect in 2014, called for the reauthorization of all programs and several radical shifts from the status quo. First, all programs had to establish formal partnerships with school districts so that they would be more aware of and responsive to district needs. Second, principal internships required candidates to illustrate the mastery of critical competencies rather than complete observations and log hours. Third, principal training was required to emphasize creating instructional leaders able to catalyze school change rather than developing managers. Fourth, programs also needed to prepare all principals to work with all students from pre-K to twelfth grade, including students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs). Finally, programs were expected to collect and utilize data for continuous improvement. The current study provides the first statewide, in-depth examination of how Illinois programs and their district partners have interpreted this policy and redesigned their training. Overall, the authors find that Illinois' principal preparation has undergone extensive change. While programs vary, many have made significant alterations to courses, staffing, and district partnerships, and the internship experience has undergone a fundamental change. In this report, the authors will describe these shifts and provide stakeholders' perspectives on their successes and the challenges. The following are appended: (1) Project Advisory Board; (2) Methodology; and (3) Supplementary Data Tables.

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 operations in DC and Baltimore in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 program years, explains the internship program model and its various components; describes the characteristics of youth participants; and presents findings from dozens of interviews and focus groups with program staff, youth, job mentors, and other stakeholders. An appendix contains a detailed description of the data and methods used during the course of the process study.

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, community members, and administrators. The paradigm shift of the 21st century is that teachers need to be team players who are skilled at operating in a variety of collaborative partnerships. Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in Chicago over the years has developed many international program experiences for students. Study abroad for a few weeks, a semester or a year provides an intensive way to experience another culture and see other ways of living life. This article takes a close look at a recent NEIU initiative, a program called Student Teaching and Korean Experience (S.T.a.K.E.). Students are able to complete an overseas student teaching internship in South Korea. We will examine students' reflections on their experience.

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high schools across the country in designing new ways to "do school" while outperforming most high schools in their local districts. ERS found that Leading Edge Schools deliberately create high-performing organizational structures, or Strategic Designs, that deliberately organize people, time, and money to advance their specific instructional models--the set of decisions the schools make about how they organize and deliver instruction. They create these Strategic Designs through four interconnected practices: (1) Clearly defining an instructional model that reflects the schools' vision, learning goals, and student population; (2) Organizing people, time, and money to support this instructional model by (a) investing in teaching quality, (b) using student time strategically, and (c) creating individual attention for students; (3) Making trade-offs to invest in the most important priorities when faced with limits on the amount, type, and use of people, time, and money; and (4) Adapting their strategies in response to lessons learned and changing student needs and conditions. Using these strategies as their framework, ERS assessed case study school practices and quantified their resource use. They did this by creating a set of "diagnostic indicators" that describe how schools best use their resources for improving student performance. They are used throughout the case studies to illustrate resource use. ERS hopes that these case studies will serve multiple purposes: to generate ideas about implementing strategies in schools; to help develop new small schools and reform existing schools; and to engage colleagues, principals, and teachers in conversations about what is possible in their districts. Appendices present: (1) Resource strategies; (2) Perspectives sample student schedule; (3) Perspectives graduation requirements; and (4) Perspectives staff list. (Contains 11 notes and 7 figures.) [For the full report, "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools," see ED544382.]

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 meaningful experience, (2) understanding of their field was enhanced through learning about job attitudes and expectations, and experience with new equipment, (3) personnel at the work sites were willing and able to provide needed assistance, and (4) time to accomplish the internship was difficult to find. Evaluations from employers were positive, indicating that the interns sought out activities and were satisfied by their performance as professionals seeking to attain skills for later use in the classroom. It was concluded that the Illinois Model was acceptable in terms of transportability and diffusion. Suggestions and recommendations are made concerning teacher awareness of opportunities for internships in industry, and the part that schools and universities should play in such efforts. The appendixes contain various examples of forms and correspondence used in the study. (HD)

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 Disadvantaged Youth, Pre-Service Training in Environmental Occupations, Workshop on Career Education for Elementary School Principals, Health Occupations Teacher Education Program, Occupational Education Administration Training, In-Service Work Experience Internship Program for Occupational Education Teachers, Data Processing Institute for Teachers, Writing Measurable Objectives for Vocational Education, Pre-Service Training in Environmental Maintenance, VOTEC X349: A Correspondence Course in Leadership Development in Vocational Education, Teacher Education in Vocational and Technical Education, Vocational Education Institute: Leadership Development, Pre-Service Administration by Competency, and Internship for Leadership in Occupational Education. Interview results with 20 project personnel and 98 participants are presented as generalized responses to interview questions. Data from 301 questionnaires (60 percent return) are reported compositely, as well as individually for 13 projects. Both interview and questionnaire data indicated important positive changes in participants' professional performance and high achievement of intended project objectives. The 36-page appendix contains copies of the questionnaire, interview guides, and additional tabulated data. (EA)

The Computer Assisted Language Learning Outreach Project for Education (CALLIOPE) was established in 1985 to enhance foreign language instruction in Illinois elementary and secondary schools through inservice teacher education in the form of short workshops, intensive summer institutes, and an internship program. The specific approach is to encourage and facilitate the use of computer technology by foreign language teachers. A description of the program outlines its purpose and approach, inservice program elements, a roundtable conference used for information dissemination, and a brief critical analysis of the program and future directions. Appended materials include a list of workshop dates, locations, staff, and number of attendees from January 1986 through February 1988, a list of topics discussed as part of the summer institute curriculum, a list of 1986 and 1987 summer institute participants and their individual project topics, and a summary of the proceedings of the May 1987 roundtable conference. (MSE)