It has been my privilege to have served on the Board of Directors of the Chicagoland Lutheran Educational Foundation (CLEF) for the past 18 years. When CLEF was first founded in 1993 by individuals concerned about the declining state of Lutheran education in Chicago, the organization solicited whatever money it could, and then simply distributed […]

Introduction With the institution of the Common Core Standards in classrooms, educators are challenged to explore ways to meet the learning needs of their students. This is having a huge effect on teaching practices and what is happening in schools in the United States. It was and is the intention that with the development and […]

Editor’s Note: This essay focuses on Luther’s influence on Christianity in Houston and, more broadly, on all of Texas. Almost all of what the author presents is also true across the United States and across all of North America. As a doctoral candidate at Concordia University Chicago, Douglas Krengel has made this essay he submitted […]

Editor’s Note: Throughout October 2017, Concordia hosted on campus a historic display of Reformation-era rare books. Over 2,500 visitors viewed in person 40 original items which told the Reformation story beginning with a leaf from the Gutenberg Bible (c. 1454) and culminating in J. S. Bach’s personal, annotated “Calov” Bible (1681). The exhibit was a […]

Abstract Educational leaders must make wise choices of professional development (PD) that alters teachers’ instructional practice and increases student achievement. At present, PD practices in schools are often inapplicable, limited, and appear to have little effect on student outcomes. Learning communities, however, have emerged in recent research as a more effective PD format. This explanatory, […]