Admin

Officer information

Officer Nomination form

Nomination Form – NEA RA 2018

What makes successful K-12 schools tick? A recent study cited by Education Pioneers, a nationwide school improvement project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, concluded school leadership is a critical factor. Along with excellent teachers, outstanding principals and superintendents have significant impact on how well students learn in school.

That impact is the reason that, in addition to preparing highly-qualified K-12 teachers, UIS offers graduate programs in Educational Leadership that prepare principals, superintendents and other school personnel for leadership roles in schools throughout central Illinois and beyond.

Scott Day, a faculty member at UIS for 20 years (and winner of the 2017 Faculty Excellence Award), leads the Educational Leadership program. “What attracts students to our program,” says Day, “is top-notch faculty with extensive experience working as principals and superintendents.”

“Our graduates always say how well prepared they feel for the job based on the program’s course projects and the extensive internship requirement,” he continues. “The professional preparation is about as realistic as you can get — and that is the key to our (and our graduates’) success.”

Hanfu Mi, Dean of the College of Education and Human Services, agrees: “Faculty who teach in the Educational Leadership program have not only had careers as successful principals and superintendents, they also remain connected to people and issues of importance in K-12 in Illinois — engaging in research, service and other professional activities that keep them informed of exactly what is going on in the schools across the state.”

“Dr. Day is a good example of that connectivity,” Dean Mi continues. “He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Illinois Principals Association and spends significant time each semester in the schools, mentoring current graduate students (most of whom are also full-time teachers) and advising alums who continue to stay connected to the faculty long after they complete the program.”

Jennifer Gill, Superintendent of Springfield Public School District 186, is one of those alums. Gill was born and raised in Springfield, where she graduated from Springfield High School and later taught at Wanless Elementary School, one of 23 elementary schools in the district. “I chose the University of Illinois at Springfield for my Masters Degree in Educational Administration due to strong recommendations from educators in my community,” says Gill. “I quickly realized the opportunity to learn from professors who were practitioners as well as those who were grounded in educational research was the blend of support for which I was looking.”

Dr. Gill later returned to UIS for her Superintendent’s licensure and the Chief School Business Endorsement, working with a cohort of fellow educators with whom she maintains valuable professional relationships today.

Superintendent Gill is not the only UIS Educational Leadership alum in District 186. In fact, more than 60% of the principals employed in the Springfield Public Schools today are proud graduates of the program. Another alum is Lyn Williams, who became principal of Southeast High School this fall after serving 11 years in other roles in the district, most recently as Assistant Principal at Lanphier High School.

“Finding a graduate program that provided me with research-based instruction and real-life relevance was my priority when choosing both a principalship program and a superintendency program,” says Williams. “The expertise of my instructors at UIS allows for class time to be spent problem-solving around real-world case studies and the discussion is filled with dynamic analysis and insight that is second to none.”

Full Story: http://www.sj-r.com/news/20171216/uis-perspectives-educating-leaders-in-education

All area children should have access to Lincoln Library. Libraries are, after all, the great equalizer. They serve everyone regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social status or economic class. Those who can’t afford books, DVDs, an internet connection or a computer can turn to their local library for access. The resources a library offers could truly change someone’s life for the better.

But the recent initiative launched by Lincoln Library – which as a holiday gift is encouraging patrons to pay off fines accrued on children’s accounts – has us wondering if there wasn’t a better way to solve the issue at hand.

Just after Thanksgiving, the library set up a display of wrapped gifts decorated with paper ornaments – 169 were initially put up . Each represents a fine accrued by a juvenile patron. Accounts are blocked after they rack up more than $10 in fines, which means those children can’t check out materials. The highest library fine on the display was $193.

“The gift people are paying for here is library access for kids,” Jessica Paulsen, the library’s access services manager, told an SJ-R reporter last week.

Lincoln Library now only charges fines on overdue adult materials, and for damaged or unreturned items. But before July, a children’s or young adult book would incur a 25-cent fine for every day it was late; 50 cents was charged daily for late DVDs.

The initiative aims to get those accounts paid off (donations can be made through Dec. 30), so the library can let those kids know they are free to resume checking out materials.

It’s a well-intentioned idea, but there are problems with the execution.

For one thing, there are different reasons why a kid might have racked up the fines, and the Angel Tree doesn’t differentiate the circumstances. Is a $15 fine for a kid who just wanted to keep a DVD he checked out, so he didn’t return it? Is a $50 fine from a girl who was visiting a sick parent in the hospital and returned books for a school project a few weeks late? What about a younger child who’s being punished for the irresponsible actions of a mother or father who didn’t make time to take them to the library?

There are older kids and teenagers who could return books on their own, and it’s frustrating that under this good-hearted idea, they would not be held accountable for their actions. They are borrowing resources from a taxpayer-funded facility; by returning them late, or damaged or perhaps not at all, they are depriving other patrons from using those items. How will they learn to be responsible if a stranger wipes out their debt and frees them from the consequences of breaking the rules?

We’d prefer to see older kids with fines invited to volunteer at the library in a trade to erase their fines. They could shelve books or read stories to younger children. One of our readers suggested the kids with excessive late fines write an essay on why libraries are needed in the community. These approaches would help kids learn to be responsible, while being held accountable for the mistreatment of the library’s resources.

Full Story: http://www.sj-r.com/news/20171212/our-view-better-ways-for-lincoln-library-to-address-late-fines