Milisav Ilic

Biography

Dr. Milisav Ilic is an educator and educational leader with more than 30 years of experience spanning K–12 education, school and district administration, student services, alternative education, and higher education. His professional experience includes service as a music educator and band director, assistant principal, district-level student services administrator, and Interim School Director in juvenile court education.

Dr. Ilic currently teaches graduate-level courses at Alliant University, where his work emphasizes educational leadership, student engagement and belonging, equity-centered assessment, accountability, strategic leadership, and the application of research to educational practice.

His current scholarship and professional work focus particularly on highly mobile students and the recognition and transfer of partial credit, including foster youth, students experiencing homelessness, juvenile justice-involved students, migratory students, military-connected students, and other students whose educational progress may be disrupted by mobility. His work examines how policy, student information systems, transcript practices, and organizational processes can affect credit accumulation and progress toward graduation.

Dr. Ilic is also a member of the California Learning Collaborative on Alternative Education, where he contributes to statewide conversations concerning alternative education and improving educational opportunities for students experiencing disrupted educational pathways.

Professional Interests

Educational leadership and organizational improvement; student services; alternative education; highly mobile students; partial-credit policy and implementation; equity-centered assessment and accountability; student engagement and belonging; continuous improvement; educational policy; juvenile court and community schools; and leadership development.

Education and Certifications

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) Administrator Leadership for Teaching and Learning Walden University Master of Arts (M.A.) Performance Practice and Composition University of California, Santa Cruz Bachelor of Music (B.M.), summa cum laude History and Theory McMaster University California Professional Clear Administrative Services Credential California Professional Clear Single Subject Teaching Credential — Music Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development (CLAD) Certificate

Courses

Graduate-level teaching and mentoring in educational leadership, strategic leadership, student engagement and belonging, assessment and accountability, equity-centered educational practice, organizational improvement, student services, and higher education leadership.

Scholarship & Contributions to the Field

Dr. Ilic’s scholarship and professional work focus on educational leadership, alternative education, educational continuity, and improving outcomes for highly mobile and at-promise students. His work particularly examines the gap between educational policy and implementation and the responsibility of school systems to ensure that student learning is recognized, documented, transferred, and applied toward graduation.

His publications include:

• Educational Guide to Navigating Alternative Systems for At-Promise Youth
• When Learning Doesn’t Travel
• “Why Aren’t California Schools Giving Highly Mobile Youth Partial Credit?” Leadership, Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), May/June 2026.

His current scholarship extends this work through research, presentations, and professional resources addressing partial-credit implementation for highly mobile students, transcript and credit review, continuous improvement, student belonging, equity-centered leadership, and alternative education.