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Catalyst In Focus

At AUSL, progress but ‘this is not magic’

February 03, 2012

The Academy for Urban School Leadership turnaround model has made true believers out of not just CPS officials, but those at the top of the education ladder. But a Catalyst Chicago analysis shows the district’s portrayal of AUSL’s turnaround performance is incomplete. Though officials like to say that AUSL achieves quick results and that they can’t wait for the targeted schools to improve on their own, closer scrutiny reveals a more complex picture that reveals how difficult it is to make substantial progress at low-achieving schools.

Tags: Academy for Urban School Leadership, test scores, testing and accountability, turnarounds

Opinions

To stop youth violence, ask students for the answers

February 06, 2012

By: Robin Hulshizer

In 2010, 70 school-age children from Chicago were killed by gunfire and more than 600 were wounded, according to the Chicago Police Department. Youth violence is widespread, and is the second leading cause of death nationally for people between the ages of 10 and 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Tags: youth violence

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Community Calendar

February 08 - 9:00 - February 09 - 3:00

The Great Books Foundation 100-Level Course: Getting Started

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February 09 - 8:30 - 10:30

Chapin Hall: Child Welfare, Race and Disparity: New Findings, New Opportunities

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February 11 - 8:30 - 1:00

Teacher Workshop - A Midsummer Night's Dream

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February 13 (All day)

Lincoln's Birthday, School Closed

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Catalyst Notebook

Monday, Feb. 06, 2012 1:56 PM

Chicago lawmakers file bills to rein in school closings, class sizes

By: Jim Broadway

SPRINGFIELD - When Chicago catches a cold, the Illinois General Assembly coughs.

The state legislature has been hacking like a two-pack-a-day smoker over school actions in the Chicago Public Schools—closings, phase-outs, changes in attendance boundaries and other moves that critics say are disruptive for students and the surrounding neighborhoods.

(Find the district’s facilities plan online.)

In the News: AUSL's turnarounds questioned

By: Cassandra West

While the Academy for Urban School Leadership has 'turned around' several failing Chicago Public Schools, some critics say improved test scores don't tell the whole story, the Tribune is reporting.

A longer day at Fiske

By: Lindsay Abbassian

Fiske Elementary in Woodlawn is one of 13 schools that opted to introduce a longer school day beginning in September 2011. As a "pioneer," Fiske Principal Cynthia Miller and her staff were able to design their own schedule without any constraints.

Piccolo, Casals staff: Give current leadership a chance

By: Rebecca Harris

In the first set of hearings on proposed turnarounds, district officials made their case that Casals and Piccolo elementary schools need a whole new set of staff. But they were countered by parents and teachers who asserted the schools had already suffered repeated changes in programs and turnover in leadership.