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This paper presents an array of structural configurations that invite new consideration of the necessary conditions for developing systemic school reform; first by reviewing the current literature, and then by examining thirty-six existing partnerships as structural configurations, an exploratory typology for the analysis of successful school-university partnerships is developed. The basis for three models is derived from Mintzberg's five-part framework adapted for schools and universities. The paper concludes by noting the strengths and weaknesses of the three models, and suggests areas for inquiry, no matter the model chosen for a school-university partnership. (Contains 4 figures.)

This article describes how Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (SIUC) partnered with twelve rural schools with high percentages of students in poverty. SIUC provided faculty development activities featuring the adoption of Cognitively Guided Instruction, combined with activities to increase math content and to reduce math anxiety for groups of instructors lacking specific training in mathematics. The partnership is a positive example of a complex-brokered partnership, with instructional experts who were not members of the SIUC faculty. The success and sustainability of this partnership are analyzed to discover the factors that contributed to the durability of what may have been, in other circumstances, a fragile and weak partnership. (Contains 4 tables.)

This article reports on 4 distinct Illinois reform initiatives that attempted to connect assessment to curriculum, instruction, and school improvement. Using quantitative and qualitative data obtained from principals and teachers involved in local reform efforts from 1993 through 2002, this study indicates that the lack of development of local educator assessment literacy skills limited policy effectiveness. The 1985-1990 School Improvement Plan and Learner Assessment Plan mandated accountability measures, and the 1991-1995 Quality Review process intensified regulatory mechanisms to ensure local compliance. The 1996-2000 Quality Assurance and Improvement Process (QAIP) attempted to reverse the regulatory pressures of accountability with an alternative development approach, and the 2000-2004 Standards-Aligned Classroom (SAC) initiative continued this developmental approach with the significant difference of specifically focusing on classroom alignment and assessment literacy. In response to No Child Left Behind accountability pressures, QAIP was discontinued and SAC was redefined as a coercive regulatory instrument for "failed schools." These Illinois school reform policies demonstrate that building local capacity for effective local assessment is a complex, long-term, collaborative endeavor, not a quickly engineered external solution.

As anthropogenic changes continue to ecologically stress wildlife, obtaining measures of gene flow and genetic diversity are crucial for evaluating population trends and considering management and conservation strategies for small, imperiled populations. In our study, we conducted a molecular assessment to expand on previous work to elucidate patterns of diversity and connectivity in the remaining disjunct Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) hibernacula in Illinois. We assayed genetic data for 327 samples collected during 1999–2015 from the Carlyle Lake study area across 21 microsatellite loci. We found hibernacula formed distinct genetic clusters corresponding to the three main study areas (Dam Recreation Areas, Eldon Hazlet State Park, and South Shore State Park). Genetic structuring and low estimates of dispersal indicated that connectivity among these study areas is limited and each is demographically independent. Hibernacula exhibited moderate levels of heterozygosity (0.60–0.73), but estimates of effective population size (5.2–41.0) were low and track census sizes generated via long-term mark-recapture data. Hibernacula at Carlyle Lake, which represent the only Eastern Massasauga remaining in Illinois, are vulnerable to future loss of genetic diversity through lack of gene flow as well as demographic and environmental stochastic processes. Our work highlights the need to include population-level genetic data in recovery planning and suggests that recovery efforts should focus on managing the three major study areas as separate conservation units in order to preserve and maintain long-term adaptive potential of these populations. Specific management goals should include improving connectivity among hibernacula, maintaining existing wet grassland habitat, and minimizing anthropogenic sources of mortality caused by habitat management (e.g., mowing, prescribed fire) and recreational activities. Our molecular study provides additional details about demographic parameters and connectivity at Carlyle Lake that can be used to guide recovery of Eastern Massasauga in Illinois and throughout its range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Chicago school reforms by comparing the 1993-1998 performance of Chicago's grammar schools with all other grade-equivalent schools in the State of Illinois. The reforms presently encompass a powerful bottom-up/top-down strategy that provides multiple avenues for initiating building-level changes in teaching and learning. The bottom-up push began with the 1988 legislation that reduced control over schools and principals by Chicago's smothering ossified central office while redirecting much oversight responsibility to democratically elected Local School Councils (LSCs). Composed of eight parents and community members and two teachers, each LSC held real power since it could hire and fire principals, oversee school budgets, and draw up school improvement plans. Schools were also given more money to work with as a bloated central office was downsized and Title 1 money, illegally allocated to central office functions in the past, was turned over to LSCs. The 1995 legislation left the 1988 mandates in place while strengthening the control of principals over their leaching and support staffs. In sum, real local power was matched with real central power, thereby reducing the ability of underperforming schools to conduct business as usual.