As the University of Illinois Springfield continues to grow and evolve, one student population stands out for its resilience, drive and increasing presence on campus: first-generation college students. These students are the first in their families to navigate the world of higher education – a journey that often comes with unique challenges. Our enduring mission […]
education
Posted inNews
For-profit school under fire for business practices
A for-profit college with a branch in Springfield is taking criticism for alleged deceptive practices. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is calling for stronger oversight of ITT Technical Institute and other for-profit schools by the federal government, citing the collapse of a school system that left students with no diplomas and a mountain of debt. Durbin […]
Posted inOpinion
The encouragement of competent teachers
Reading Phil Bradley’s fine remembrance of Elizabeth Graham the other day (see “Before the university we had Elizabeth Graham,” April 9, 2015) I was moved to reflect again on teachers and teaching. As Bradley recalls Miss Graham, she was the schoolmarm personified. Though long retired, she treated indifferent or unruly visitors to the Vachel Lindsay […]
Posted inNews
Maintaining the momentum
As Lanphier High School faces the end of a major federal grant, the school’s leadership is working to prolong the improvement there even after the money dries up. Long stereotyped as Springfield’s worst high school, Lanphier has worked to transform itself over the past three years, enabled by a federal School Improvement Grant that expires […]
Posted inNews
Group pushing for school funding vote
A group of parents, teachers and volunteers is pushing the Springfield Public Schools board to place a school funding referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot. The group, Invest in 186, has proposed a plan that would raise between $8 million and $10 million. The money would begin to replace millions of dollars which were cut […]
Posted inOpinion
The educated poor: adjunct professors
There’s a growing army of the working poor in our U.S. of A., and big contingents of it are now on the march. They’re strategizing, organizing and mobilizing against the immoral economics of inequality being hung around America’s neck by the likes of Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and colleges. Wait a minute. Colleges? That can’t be. After […]
Posted inNews
Meet Jennifer Gill
Jennifer Gill, who was voted in as superintendent of Springfield Public Schools this week, was educated in the same schools she’ll be overseeing in her new post. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE For Jennifer Gill, this is a sort of homecoming. Gill was born and raised in Springfield, was educated in Springfield’s public schools and went […]
Posted inNews
School district seeks to rebound from years of cuts
Outgoing interim superintendent Bob Leming received a gift from the Springfield school board at his final meeting on Jan. 7. Dr. Robert Hill has now replaced Leming as interim superintendent while the board negotiates with Jennifer Gill to take over the post full time. Springfield Public Schools could ask taxpayers for a boost soon, but […]
Posted inNews
Officials calming fears over Common Core standards
As schools across Illinois prepare to roll out new educational standards, officials are working to battle negative perceptions by the public. The state’s new Common Core learning standards are benchmarks for what students should be able to do at each grade level. Leaders from business, labor and education spoke to a gathering of parents and […]
Posted inOpinion
More about learning-by-doing
In “Do by learning” (Aug. 15, 2013), I examined the case for providing alternatives to college prep as a path to a high school diploma. Among the pieces I drew upon for that column was Alex Tabarrok’s “Tuning In to Dropping Out “ in a recent issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. I described, […]
Posted inOpinion
Manufacturing mediocrity
In July the National Council on Teacher Quality, a D.C.-based reform group, issued a study that concluded that the nation’s teacher-education colleges have turned into an “industry of mediocrity.” Oh, the Council thought well enough of most the central Illinois’ colleges of education, specifically those at Eastern, U of I’s Champaign campus, Southern’s two campuses […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tonight: Fare thee well, A. D.
A. D. Carson has been a leading member of Springfield’s literary, educational and musical communities for years. He published the novel Cold in 2011, followed by The City, a book of shorter pieces, this past October. Carson has been writer-in-residence at Benedictine University and an English teacher at Springfield High School. He is also a […]
