Selected State Reports

State Documents

■ 1985 The Year of Education, annual report of the State Board of Education (December 1985), 35 pp.

In June 1985 the Illinois General Assembly passed a major educational reform package comprising 169 separate elements which school officials are now studying and implementing. The reforms require local school districts to develop learning objectives that are consistent with state goals, to look carefully at programs for "at-risk" children and to design meaningful teacher evaluation systems; it also placed new importance on the educational leadership of principals and called for studies by local citizens of the organizational structure of their schools (this portion of the package has since been radically altered). This report looks at the potential implications of the reform package and provides data on such things as enrollments, dropout rates, school finances and teacher supply and demand.

■ Illinois Agricultural Buyer's Guide, Department of Agriculture (1985), 117 pp.

This guide lists over 700 of the state's agribusinesses and food processors. It is divided into two parts. The first contains a product listing and companies that handle the sale of these products. The second part lists companies in alphabetical order and gives information about each, such as product information, address and contact persons.

■ How to Select A Nursing Home and Alternatives to Nursing Home Care . . . A Guide, Department on Aging (1985), 32 pp.

Persons with chronic health problems or disabilities have a wide variety of options in choosing an appropriate program or service. This guide offers alternatives to nursing home care as well as answers to questions that should be asked if the best choice is a nursing home.

■ Alzheimer's Disease: A Guide to Services for Families, Science Office, Illinois Legislative Research Unit (December 1985), 12 pp.

Alzheimer's disease is an incurable neurological disorder that affects about 111,000 Illinois residents. This guide contains the names and addresses of state agencies, medical institutions and libraries that can provide services and information.

Other Reports

■ Caduceus, a museum quarterly for the health sciences, The Pearson Museum, SIU School of Medicine, P.O. Box 3926, Springfield 62708: $30 per year, $54 for two years, $10 per single copy.

Each issue of this new journal contains a major article prepared by a well-known medical historian selected by a jury of scholars from the humanities, social sciences and health sciences. The editors are to be complimented on the appearance of this exceptionally handsome publication; it is printed in brown tones on cream-colored paper, and the photos and art and design work are beautifully done. Incidentally, a caduceus is the wand of the Roman god Mercury; a symbolic version of it is used today for the medical profession.

Items listed under State Documents have been received by the Documents Unit, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually available from public libraries in the state through interlibrary loan.

Anna J. Merritt

May 1986/Illinois Issues/29