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"It's All An Illusion." Right?
"Nothing that Paul Vallas or Arne Duncan did in the last 15 years has had any significant effect on the number of CPS students who can read, write and do basic math acceptably," writes Bret Harte LSC member Bill Sweetland in the Huffington Post (Chicago Public Schools Have Improved? Baloney!). "It's all an illusion."
Hmmm. This seems to me like an oversimplification of the Civic Committee report, but what do you think? Has the whole 1995-2008 period been a waste, and its successes entirely illusory? Is anything better now than it was back then, or should we really try and get ourselves back to the good old days? Were students, schools, working conditions better back then? Seriously -- I want to know what you think.
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Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:41 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Alexander--your constant references to the "good old days" smacks of the bias(es) you have. the good old days were not that good. tough job to educate kids of the urban poor in '74 and in '09. not too hard to educate those kids who bring the resources to the school with them. then...and now. the past 14 years proved only one thing. that a major school system can spend incredible amounts of money on 'restructuring' and destroying community schools and creating new small schools, and have very little effect on achievement of those kids whose achievement was the concern of the "reform" in 88 and in 95. i don't have the answers, but it's clear that the mayor and his CEOs don't either...but they sure spent a fortune convincing folks that minimal gains were "phenomenal" gains. It's a tragedy. Maybe, when you get your head around it all, you can write a book about it.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:49 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
What has Mayor Daley, Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan achieved for the Chicago Public Schools? They have broke the back of the Chicago Teacher's Union! When was the last strike or threat of a strike?
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:59 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Yes it was and still is an illusion. It was all about power and influence and money as City Hall replaced educators with hatchet men whose main job was to break the CTU by shifting students and jobs to privateers who, through political influence, made big bucks. Their other charge was to steer lucrative contracts to the mayor's cronies who also made big bucks. Are the students doing worse than before? Probably not, but they sure aren't doing any better either. Look at all the lies since 1995 about the Vallas, Chico miracle and the too good to be true lies about skyrocketing test scores during the Duncan era. It was all bullbleep masterminded by the same crew that brought you Barack Obama.
Neighborhood schools, many of which were open for almost a century, were closed forcing students into foreign gang territory. Murder and mayhem was and is the result. Does city hall care at all? Obviously not. Just keep swinging the hatchet, Ronnie, and your future will be secure unlike any other Board employee. The rest of you should get out as soon as you can.
Neighborhood schools, many of which were open for almost a century, were closed forcing students into foreign gang territory. Murder and mayhem was and is the result. Does city hall care at all? Obviously not. Just keep swinging the hatchet, Ronnie, and your future will be secure unlike any other Board employee. The rest of you should get out as soon as you can.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 11:43 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
It seems to me that as CPS makes gains in one area, some other area slips. So in the end, the net effect is nil. Vast amounts of money are involved in running the school system, and a lot of the time it seems like that money could be spent in better ways. The fundamentals have been ignored in favor of quick fix academic programs, and investing in the latest fads.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 2:27 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Mr. Sweetland is not correct that over the last 15 years that there has been no real improvement in the basic skills of CPS students. The problem is that over the last 15 years the basic skills of low income minoirty students have increased at the elementary level, but higher level skills have not for the most part increased. What the data shows over and over again is that when higher level thinking skills, analytic skills, are required these students fall short. This is what explains in part the relatively low ACT scores of most CPS graduates.
Fundamentally CPS drills low income minority elementary school students, there are real exceptions to this and there are some amazingly good low income schools but they are relatively rare. CPS has learned how to move up test scores at the cost of higher level learning skills. The problem with this is that low income non-white students from urban areas are now in an educational arms race with middle class white students fighting for slots in four year colleges and later white collar jobs. Every year the average standardized test scores for admission at numerous colleges’ creeps higher, even though the colleges claim they balance test scores with grades and other factors.
Beginning with the high school class of 2002, the ACT exam was required for graduation in Illinois. As a result, the Illinois ACT participation rate jumped from 71% in 2001 to 99% in 2002.
The reality is that ACT scores for black students are significantly lower in Illinois than for white students. In 2008 Illinois white students averaged an ACT composite score of 22 and black students only 16.8. A composite score of 21.25 is the “benchmark” score, according to ACT, and indicates readiness for college-level coursework. If we look at the CPS internal race gap on ACT scores we can see from a 2008 report by the Consortium on Chicago School Research that the average white CPS student had an ACT score of 21.4 and the average black student 16.3.
Research has already well established that students who come from higher income families of college graduates are likely to have higher SAT/ACT scores than students from lower income families. It turns out that merit of the kind objectively measured by the SAT/ACT actually serves as a proxy for the merit purchased by the already the more wealthy who are better prepared. Students’ lifetime earnings increase as their ACT scores increase: for every 10-percent increase in ACT score, earnings increase by as much as 2 percent.
So I disagree with Mr. Sweetland. CPS is doing a really good job of reinforcing the existing social class structure. It is doing this by teaching basic skills and improving some test scores, but this is being done at the cost of teaching higher level thinking skills for the majority of students who do not attend selective, magnet, or various gifted programs. So for most CPS students improvements in test scores is an illusion, but the magician has a particular audience in mind and they are not composed of middle class white families.
In order to not be accused of being a hypocrite I freely admit that I have one daughter who attended a magnet elementary school and a selective high school and who was a direct beneficiary of this sorting system within CPS graduating with excellent ACT scores. I also have another daughter, the one with a disability, who did not benefit from this sorting system.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Fundamentally CPS drills low income minority elementary school students, there are real exceptions to this and there are some amazingly good low income schools but they are relatively rare. CPS has learned how to move up test scores at the cost of higher level learning skills. The problem with this is that low income non-white students from urban areas are now in an educational arms race with middle class white students fighting for slots in four year colleges and later white collar jobs. Every year the average standardized test scores for admission at numerous colleges’ creeps higher, even though the colleges claim they balance test scores with grades and other factors.
Beginning with the high school class of 2002, the ACT exam was required for graduation in Illinois. As a result, the Illinois ACT participation rate jumped from 71% in 2001 to 99% in 2002.
The reality is that ACT scores for black students are significantly lower in Illinois than for white students. In 2008 Illinois white students averaged an ACT composite score of 22 and black students only 16.8. A composite score of 21.25 is the “benchmark” score, according to ACT, and indicates readiness for college-level coursework. If we look at the CPS internal race gap on ACT scores we can see from a 2008 report by the Consortium on Chicago School Research that the average white CPS student had an ACT score of 21.4 and the average black student 16.3.
Research has already well established that students who come from higher income families of college graduates are likely to have higher SAT/ACT scores than students from lower income families. It turns out that merit of the kind objectively measured by the SAT/ACT actually serves as a proxy for the merit purchased by the already the more wealthy who are better prepared. Students’ lifetime earnings increase as their ACT scores increase: for every 10-percent increase in ACT score, earnings increase by as much as 2 percent.
So I disagree with Mr. Sweetland. CPS is doing a really good job of reinforcing the existing social class structure. It is doing this by teaching basic skills and improving some test scores, but this is being done at the cost of teaching higher level thinking skills for the majority of students who do not attend selective, magnet, or various gifted programs. So for most CPS students improvements in test scores is an illusion, but the magician has a particular audience in mind and they are not composed of middle class white families.
In order to not be accused of being a hypocrite I freely admit that I have one daughter who attended a magnet elementary school and a selective high school and who was a direct beneficiary of this sorting system within CPS graduating with excellent ACT scores. I also have another daughter, the one with a disability, who did not benefit from this sorting system.
Rod Estvan
Access Living
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
the problem is that the business and politicos all blame the union. as bad as the union is, that is not the primary, secondary, or even tertiary problem with schools. They like to think charters is the simple solution, but as we’ve seen, they do no better.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 5:42 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
One major improvement has been the hiring of teachers from top ranked schools v. third tier schools like Chicago State, which used to dominate CPS. If progress means attracting better educated teachers, I'm all for it.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 6:25 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
I have seen teachers from top ranked schools leave the classroom in tears. Chicago State used to dominate, because for minorities and the children of immigrants especially those from large south side families it was a inexpensive school accessible by public transportation. It was a good bang for the buck and did a great job preparing teachers for urban schools. I do not know what happened to it.
Now the children of immigrants and minorities are going into more lucrative fields than teaching. Yes, we are getting teachers from top tiered schools but what does that mean? Are they better teachers? Are they more intelligent? Will these teachers stay? The group I went to Chicago State with had high ACT scores. They did not have the money to go to Notre Dame. Please do not make baseless assumptions about teachers based upon where they went to school.
Now the children of immigrants and minorities are going into more lucrative fields than teaching. Yes, we are getting teachers from top tiered schools but what does that mean? Are they better teachers? Are they more intelligent? Will these teachers stay? The group I went to Chicago State with had high ACT scores. They did not have the money to go to Notre Dame. Please do not make baseless assumptions about teachers based upon where they went to school.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 7:24 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
the state legs threw their hands up wqhen it came to dist. 299/CPS so they gave it lock, stock and all to the mayor WITHOUT anyone to watch him. There is the mistake. There needed to be someone like the feds. Fitzgerald who would watch the mayor and what he has so wrongly done. They gave him ultimate control and he took it and ultimately corrupted it all.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 7:34 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Agreed: "Please do not make baseless assumptions about teachers based upon where they went to school."
Having had the luck of attending both "top ranked" schools and "third tier" schools, I can tell you can find folks who are dumb as boards and folks who are brilliant at both. The proof is in the pudding.
Having had the luck of attending both "top ranked" schools and "third tier" schools, I can tell you can find folks who are dumb as boards and folks who are brilliant at both. The proof is in the pudding.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 7:41 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
CTC
Dear Libby Booker I could take exception with your classification of
What is now Chicago State as a “Third tier school” but that’s your opinion.
Let me just say that classroom duty in most CPS General High Schools is one of the best democratizing, leveling of the field occupations a person experience.
The education we got at CTC for $ 60.00 a year was worth its weight in gold. Most of us were products of public education ourselves who saw teaching as a way out of the Ghetto or Roseland or Back of the Yards. Our parents never had the opportunity to finish High School but their kids did, we grabbed the brass ring. All of us were going into the Board of Education for the best jobs we ever had, and our parents were proud. . I can honestly say in my over 40 years now I never saw a Boomer Graduate
of CTU crack ,or back down from the challenges of teaching the urban poor, and
many of us just a generation removed ourselves.
But Chicago Teachers College, or the University of 69th Street has morphed into
Chicago State University. The graduates of which now have branched out into
the wide world. If you think today’s kids care where a teacher went to College
you are wrong. The reality of teaching in the CPS now bears little resemblance to
any teaching curriculum anywhere. Personally I like the new kids arriving from
major universities they are full of piss and vinegar, and a lot of bullshit.
But I have noticed the ones with a true calling who stick it out become more like me
than I do of them .After all you got it or you don’t ,CTC or Harvard.
Dear Libby Booker I could take exception with your classification of
What is now Chicago State as a “Third tier school” but that’s your opinion.
Let me just say that classroom duty in most CPS General High Schools is one of the best democratizing, leveling of the field occupations a person experience.
The education we got at CTC for $ 60.00 a year was worth its weight in gold. Most of us were products of public education ourselves who saw teaching as a way out of the Ghetto or Roseland or Back of the Yards. Our parents never had the opportunity to finish High School but their kids did, we grabbed the brass ring. All of us were going into the Board of Education for the best jobs we ever had, and our parents were proud. . I can honestly say in my over 40 years now I never saw a Boomer Graduate
of CTU crack ,or back down from the challenges of teaching the urban poor, and
many of us just a generation removed ourselves.
But Chicago Teachers College, or the University of 69th Street has morphed into
Chicago State University. The graduates of which now have branched out into
the wide world. If you think today’s kids care where a teacher went to College
you are wrong. The reality of teaching in the CPS now bears little resemblance to
any teaching curriculum anywhere. Personally I like the new kids arriving from
major universities they are full of piss and vinegar, and a lot of bullshit.
But I have noticed the ones with a true calling who stick it out become more like me
than I do of them .After all you got it or you don’t ,CTC or Harvard.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:13 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
I don't think the statement you excerpted was Sweetland's conclusion; he was summarizing what he felt the Civic Committee's conclusion was. And he disagreed with it for a number of reasons.
Myself, I think what has been accomplished since '95 is that the system has been looted of it remaining resources and children who are likely to succeed or have parents that can encourage success without the school having to do the heavy lifting.
These resources have been corraled into superselective schools that discourage application by or acceptance of children they consider marginal, except since the persons with power to separate what they consider wheat from chaff are white, even though the district hasn't even been 50% white for decades, and they tend to select 'excellence' that resembles themselves; they are in the main (though not all) unable to recognize talent or even potential that has not yet produced a result if the wrapping does not resemble what they are comfortable with.
And what has become of minority children, marginalized and gerrymandered into a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure? They and their families are now being offered almost exclusively the ersatz schooling provided by charter schools. They toss enough bones to church and community groups to silence them (they control the majority of preschool settings in the city now), and they window dress the buildings, like the people who professionally stage model homes to entice you to buy. Parents are pandered and and lied to, and presented with the promise of a Pleasure Island environment for their children; they then provide a substandard education by undereducated amateurs who are overwhelmed and guilted into accepting substandard conditions and resources so the school corporations can flourish and extend their tentacles farther (yes, Juan Rangel, I am speaking to you).
Once the lights are extinguished, the props vanish and parents are left bewildered in the empty rubble, the neighnborhood school can no longer be accessed, since it has been dismantled in the name of the fake 'bigger and better'. What then? Why, it's time for a little urban renewal.
When you scrape together the top 2% and present it as if it were the average neighborhood school, you've got a trophy school you can point to, and pretend you've done right by all the children, when most have been forgotten, their parents swindled, and another area made ready for regentrification.
The model above was not invented by Vallas et al. He very publicly voiced early on his admiration for the parochial school model, but what he copied was the 'farm program' of maintaining large numbers of grammar schools and identifying the cream of the crop. Those chidren, and only those, are targeted for entrance to the few magnet elementary and prep schools.
The archodiocese for years dangled the promise of a Catholic high school education to countless poor families, knowing full well that they only maintained enough high schools to ever educate 5-10 % of the Catholic school kids who wanted to go to parochial high school. So confident was the Catholic school system that they arrogantly assigned only one day citywide for high school entrance exams, a kind of 'early decision' commitment to make sure that they could skim off the 5% top of the class they wanted, and also make sure that they had something to blame when the hundreds of 8th grade kids sat for the test. Many schools fielded complaints from parents by blithely telling them that their children had probably not made it in because they were special ed (a service that most parochial schools did not provide, despite their hefty tuitions). One of the reasons the public schools were drowning in a backlog of special ed evaluations was this rush of disappointed parents, sicced on the school system by the smug Archdiocese, who then washed their hands of the families they had milked for tuition for nearly a decade with little to show for it.
I wait with interest to hear this guy's analysis of how he thinks test results were misused and misinterpreted.
Myself, I think what has been accomplished since '95 is that the system has been looted of it remaining resources and children who are likely to succeed or have parents that can encourage success without the school having to do the heavy lifting.
These resources have been corraled into superselective schools that discourage application by or acceptance of children they consider marginal, except since the persons with power to separate what they consider wheat from chaff are white, even though the district hasn't even been 50% white for decades, and they tend to select 'excellence' that resembles themselves; they are in the main (though not all) unable to recognize talent or even potential that has not yet produced a result if the wrapping does not resemble what they are comfortable with.
And what has become of minority children, marginalized and gerrymandered into a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure? They and their families are now being offered almost exclusively the ersatz schooling provided by charter schools. They toss enough bones to church and community groups to silence them (they control the majority of preschool settings in the city now), and they window dress the buildings, like the people who professionally stage model homes to entice you to buy. Parents are pandered and and lied to, and presented with the promise of a Pleasure Island environment for their children; they then provide a substandard education by undereducated amateurs who are overwhelmed and guilted into accepting substandard conditions and resources so the school corporations can flourish and extend their tentacles farther (yes, Juan Rangel, I am speaking to you).
Once the lights are extinguished, the props vanish and parents are left bewildered in the empty rubble, the neighnborhood school can no longer be accessed, since it has been dismantled in the name of the fake 'bigger and better'. What then? Why, it's time for a little urban renewal.
When you scrape together the top 2% and present it as if it were the average neighborhood school, you've got a trophy school you can point to, and pretend you've done right by all the children, when most have been forgotten, their parents swindled, and another area made ready for regentrification.
The model above was not invented by Vallas et al. He very publicly voiced early on his admiration for the parochial school model, but what he copied was the 'farm program' of maintaining large numbers of grammar schools and identifying the cream of the crop. Those chidren, and only those, are targeted for entrance to the few magnet elementary and prep schools.
The archodiocese for years dangled the promise of a Catholic high school education to countless poor families, knowing full well that they only maintained enough high schools to ever educate 5-10 % of the Catholic school kids who wanted to go to parochial high school. So confident was the Catholic school system that they arrogantly assigned only one day citywide for high school entrance exams, a kind of 'early decision' commitment to make sure that they could skim off the 5% top of the class they wanted, and also make sure that they had something to blame when the hundreds of 8th grade kids sat for the test. Many schools fielded complaints from parents by blithely telling them that their children had probably not made it in because they were special ed (a service that most parochial schools did not provide, despite their hefty tuitions). One of the reasons the public schools were drowning in a backlog of special ed evaluations was this rush of disappointed parents, sicced on the school system by the smug Archdiocese, who then washed their hands of the families they had milked for tuition for nearly a decade with little to show for it.
I wait with interest to hear this guy's analysis of how he thinks test results were misused and misinterpreted.
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:26 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
thanks for the comment, but sweetland doesn't seem to me to be disagreeing much with the civic committee report -- unless he's being sarcastic and i'm just missing it: "The committee's logic is compelling."
he just wanted more details:
"Surely the Civic Committee could have found some way to discuss the changes in test content and procedure so as not to give away critical information or to compromise the next administering of the easier post-2006 version of the ISAT test."
he's echoing and amplifying the committee's report, the way i read it -- going way back to vallas rather than just focusing on the most recent years. question is whether he's right.
-- alexander
he just wanted more details:
"Surely the Civic Committee could have found some way to discuss the changes in test content and procedure so as not to give away critical information or to compromise the next administering of the easier post-2006 version of the ISAT test."
he's echoing and amplifying the committee's report, the way i read it -- going way back to vallas rather than just focusing on the most recent years. question is whether he's right.
-- alexander
Tue Jul 7, 2009 at 9:27 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Also agreed: "Please do not make baseless assumptions about teachers based upon where they went to school."
I went to Northwestern University and let me tell you, the caliber of undergraduate education students there, for the most part, was an embarrassment. Not only were they incurious, lazy, missing any sense of perspective, they also would have failed miserably in a CPS classroom. I've had student teachers from "elite" colleges and universities that I wished I could send back. I have colleagues who have, in fact, sent student teachers back to their "elite" schools because they were horribly unprepared.
There are excellent, average, and poor teacher training programs. Likewise, at each of those types of institutions, there are excellent, average, and poor teachers-in-training. I'm dismayed at the removal of so many veteran teachers. New, young blood is not part of the answer, especially if young'uns plan on staying fewer than 5 years (as is the case among most newcomers from certain training programs). Improved school leadership and motivated, highly trained, committed, life-long learners who want to make teaching in the classroom a full-fledged long-term career are, however, part of the answer.
We must also recognize that outstanding teaching is not enough. There is no quick, easy, simple solution as the Board seems believes. The obstacles CPS students face are not merely educational ones. Students face a combination of challenges that deal with family, economics, societal priorities, cultural influences, employment, enrichment, neighborhood dynamics, etc., etc., etc. True and real reform would address all of these issues and more. But that wouldn't make for tasty sound bites or high falutin' platitudes.
What the state legislators, Board of Ed, Arne Duncan, and privatizers galore leave out is that they do not believe a high quality education is for everyone. It is only for those who are fortunate enough to be selected for certain blessed schools or for those who do not need the non-educational supports mentioned in the above paragraph.
I went to Northwestern University and let me tell you, the caliber of undergraduate education students there, for the most part, was an embarrassment. Not only were they incurious, lazy, missing any sense of perspective, they also would have failed miserably in a CPS classroom. I've had student teachers from "elite" colleges and universities that I wished I could send back. I have colleagues who have, in fact, sent student teachers back to their "elite" schools because they were horribly unprepared.
There are excellent, average, and poor teacher training programs. Likewise, at each of those types of institutions, there are excellent, average, and poor teachers-in-training. I'm dismayed at the removal of so many veteran teachers. New, young blood is not part of the answer, especially if young'uns plan on staying fewer than 5 years (as is the case among most newcomers from certain training programs). Improved school leadership and motivated, highly trained, committed, life-long learners who want to make teaching in the classroom a full-fledged long-term career are, however, part of the answer.
We must also recognize that outstanding teaching is not enough. There is no quick, easy, simple solution as the Board seems believes. The obstacles CPS students face are not merely educational ones. Students face a combination of challenges that deal with family, economics, societal priorities, cultural influences, employment, enrichment, neighborhood dynamics, etc., etc., etc. True and real reform would address all of these issues and more. But that wouldn't make for tasty sound bites or high falutin' platitudes.
What the state legislators, Board of Ed, Arne Duncan, and privatizers galore leave out is that they do not believe a high quality education is for everyone. It is only for those who are fortunate enough to be selected for certain blessed schools or for those who do not need the non-educational supports mentioned in the above paragraph.
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 8:14 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Well said. There is no particular school that produces great teachers and the problems faced in inter-cities are too vast for schools and teachers to take on alone.
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 10:31 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
so let me get this straight:
it doesn't matter where someone went to school.
the proof is in the pudding.
and yet, folks who came through an alternative program
or who came from outside education or -- god forbid --
haven't been teaching for a hundred years --
are presumed to be useless, know-nothing carpetbaggers.
seems to me you can't have it both ways.
-- alexander
it doesn't matter where someone went to school.
the proof is in the pudding.
and yet, folks who came through an alternative program
or who came from outside education or -- god forbid --
haven't been teaching for a hundred years --
are presumed to be useless, know-nothing carpetbaggers.
seems to me you can't have it both ways.
-- alexander
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 10:43 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
I think you are oversimplifying, or having an argument that doesn't address the current situation.
While individuals are different, teaching is a highly skilled profession that deals with soft-skills. As a result, experience is key. The idea is not that experience is the be-all end-all, it's that teachers--when properly supported and developed--improve over time and therefore experience is worth something.
The reason why I say your argument is not relevant to the current situation is because the discussion is not over exactly how valuable experience is. Instead, we have the main strategy pushed by CPS and its business allies being that teacher experience is a detriment to corporate control of a school and that inexperienced teachers are MORE desirable than experienced teachers.
Ultimately, teachers should be judged on their individual ability to educate children in any environment. That's why it's ridiculous to compare teachers at Bowen unfavorably with teachers at Payton--it's apples and unicorns.
But systemic plans should also be evaluated and judged. The problem is not that inexperienced teachers are being brought in at all--that's a natural process that must occur. It's that against all research of what's best for children the district is breaking the law to bring in whiter, younger teachers with the assumption that they will burn out and move on.
While individuals are different, teaching is a highly skilled profession that deals with soft-skills. As a result, experience is key. The idea is not that experience is the be-all end-all, it's that teachers--when properly supported and developed--improve over time and therefore experience is worth something.
The reason why I say your argument is not relevant to the current situation is because the discussion is not over exactly how valuable experience is. Instead, we have the main strategy pushed by CPS and its business allies being that teacher experience is a detriment to corporate control of a school and that inexperienced teachers are MORE desirable than experienced teachers.
Ultimately, teachers should be judged on their individual ability to educate children in any environment. That's why it's ridiculous to compare teachers at Bowen unfavorably with teachers at Payton--it's apples and unicorns.
But systemic plans should also be evaluated and judged. The problem is not that inexperienced teachers are being brought in at all--that's a natural process that must occur. It's that against all research of what's best for children the district is breaking the law to bring in whiter, younger teachers with the assumption that they will burn out and move on.
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 11:18 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
breaking the law!
lets see how many "I need a job" "look the other way" posters comment here too.
that everything is ok and xian you are overreacting.
Those that perpetrate crimes against children desire the highest form of punishment allowed by society.
drk
lets see how many "I need a job" "look the other way" posters comment here too.
that everything is ok and xian you are overreacting.
Those that perpetrate crimes against children desire the highest form of punishment allowed by society.
drk
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 11:40 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Alexander,
Aren't you conflating the arguments of multiple posters? Or were you addressing GBU? In response to GBU your comments just don't make any sense. So...can you clarify?
Aren't you conflating the arguments of multiple posters? Or were you addressing GBU? In response to GBU your comments just don't make any sense. So...can you clarify?
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 12:04 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
"...and yet, folks who came through an alternative program
or who came from outside education or -- god forbid --
haven't been teaching for a hundred years --
are presumed to be useless, know-nothing carpetbaggers.
seems to me you can't have it both ways."
Alex: I guess you'd have had to understand that we're talking about comparing two alma maters with similar degree or educational programs - such as Freshman English at school A v. Freshman English at school B. Really, we're not talking about having a sociology major work as a teacher, or a social work graduate work as a school nurse, or a journeyman carpenter work as an algebra teacher.
Rather, we're talking about accredited college degree programs (or vocational training) that include both "smart" and "not smart" people when it comes to outcomes in their subsequent jobs.
Maybe you just were being snarky? Stay relevant.
or who came from outside education or -- god forbid --
haven't been teaching for a hundred years --
are presumed to be useless, know-nothing carpetbaggers.
seems to me you can't have it both ways."
Alex: I guess you'd have had to understand that we're talking about comparing two alma maters with similar degree or educational programs - such as Freshman English at school A v. Freshman English at school B. Really, we're not talking about having a sociology major work as a teacher, or a social work graduate work as a school nurse, or a journeyman carpenter work as an algebra teacher.
Rather, we're talking about accredited college degree programs (or vocational training) that include both "smart" and "not smart" people when it comes to outcomes in their subsequent jobs.
Maybe you just were being snarky? Stay relevant.
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 2:00 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
What he/she said!
Thank you for stopping that runaway train before it left the station.
If the business community truly wants to support public education they could -
-support, bolster and lobby on behalf of local universities who prepare teachers to work locally in public schools
- provide more and more extensive direct mentoring by young execs to CPS students, and lastly and more importantly -
- lean on the Mayor to provide a better and safer city in which to raise children, and NOT just Edison Park, Beverly and the Gold Coast.
Daley continues to play subliminal blame games such as the ping-pong blame game of who is worse - the police department or the public schools. He deliberately links shooting of school age children with the schools, when often that is the only safe place to play, eat and have activities, not just be educated.
He starves the police (numbers, not their benefits - don't go there, it's divisive) and the schools of resources, then lets the business community beat us up (again, what did you do with that nickel I gave you last year) and acts as if he doesn't know why the children can't learn.
He was elected on the promise of staving off the erosion of the manufacturing base, yet now those corridors have become miles of retail establishments for the rich. He loots city revenues in the name of urban development that never seems to end up of much benefit to its current urban dwellers. He sells the city's soul and lakefront legacy so he can build a monument to himself, and brokers ill-concieved privitization schemes to cover the rising deficits. When the citizens protest that they can no longer afford their homes, gasoline, to get within five miles of the lakefront or body armor for their kids to play in the local weed-filled playlot while Millennium Park is closed for private functions, he turns and blames the assesor, the police, the teachers union, any group and anyone except himself.
Who's running this place?
Thank you for stopping that runaway train before it left the station.
If the business community truly wants to support public education they could -
-support, bolster and lobby on behalf of local universities who prepare teachers to work locally in public schools
- provide more and more extensive direct mentoring by young execs to CPS students, and lastly and more importantly -
- lean on the Mayor to provide a better and safer city in which to raise children, and NOT just Edison Park, Beverly and the Gold Coast.
Daley continues to play subliminal blame games such as the ping-pong blame game of who is worse - the police department or the public schools. He deliberately links shooting of school age children with the schools, when often that is the only safe place to play, eat and have activities, not just be educated.
He starves the police (numbers, not their benefits - don't go there, it's divisive) and the schools of resources, then lets the business community beat us up (again, what did you do with that nickel I gave you last year) and acts as if he doesn't know why the children can't learn.
He was elected on the promise of staving off the erosion of the manufacturing base, yet now those corridors have become miles of retail establishments for the rich. He loots city revenues in the name of urban development that never seems to end up of much benefit to its current urban dwellers. He sells the city's soul and lakefront legacy so he can build a monument to himself, and brokers ill-concieved privitization schemes to cover the rising deficits. When the citizens protest that they can no longer afford their homes, gasoline, to get within five miles of the lakefront or body armor for their kids to play in the local weed-filled playlot while Millennium Park is closed for private functions, he turns and blames the assesor, the police, the teachers union, any group and anyone except himself.
Who's running this place?
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 2:59 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Simple
No matter where you went to school you have it or you don’t
It is as simple as that.
No matter where you went to school you have it or you don’t
It is as simple as that.
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 3:25 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
No, Bob.
We were discussing what had been presented as a case of people wanted to have both ways, when actually it was an apples/oranges issue - value/prestige of the university where you recieved a teaching degree versus people allowed to teach during/after a short boot camp program; many/most of those people being touted as intrinsically superior because their non-educational undergrad degrees came from a prestigious college.
Ask yourself if you would want your child to have surgery from a doctor who graduated from U of I or a lawyer who graduated top of his class from Harvard Law.
Same thing here, except you wouldn't see the damage to your daughter till ten years later.
But hey, isn't that the mantra of the modern business school?
We were discussing what had been presented as a case of people wanted to have both ways, when actually it was an apples/oranges issue - value/prestige of the university where you recieved a teaching degree versus people allowed to teach during/after a short boot camp program; many/most of those people being touted as intrinsically superior because their non-educational undergrad degrees came from a prestigious college.
Ask yourself if you would want your child to have surgery from a doctor who graduated from U of I or a lawyer who graduated top of his class from Harvard Law.
Same thing here, except you wouldn't see the damage to your daughter till ten years later.
But hey, isn't that the mantra of the modern business school?
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 4:00 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
I guess the Mayor decided to ignore the article anyway. This was posted on today's cps website. Would the real test scores please stand up!
Mayor Daley challenges education leaders to take schools to the next level
The mayor says that even with ongoing improvements in state test scores, 'more must be accomplished.'
July 8, 2009
Mayor Richard M. Daley today joined Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman and Chicago Public Schools Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins to announce another year of progress on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Even with additional student improvements Daley challenged school leaders to "take our schools to the next level."
"My commitment will always be to give a good education to every child in every school," Mayor Daley said during a news conference at John P. Altgeld School, 1340 W. 71st St., where the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards increased 10.2 percent.
"The bottom line is that we have to both give our students credit for the progress they've made, but also accept the reality that more must be done before we have the best school system in the nation," he said.
“Today, we are pleased to report that our students continued their steady upward progress this year as shown by the results of the 2009 ISAT exam which measures grades three through eight," Daley said.
The Mayor and Huberman reported that:
The composite score of students meeting or exceeding state standards is up two points from last year to 69.8 percent;
Reading scores are up 1.1 points to 67.8 percent;
Math is up 3 points to 73.5 percent, and
Science is up 1.7 points to 64.3 percent.
Daley went on to say that the achievement gap among racial groups is decreasing, with the composite scores for African-American students increasing by 2.2 points and for Hispanic students by 1.2 points. More than 60 percent of schools improved their composite score over last year.
At the elementary school level, ISAT scores have increased twice as much as the state's overall scores and attendance has improved. Eighth graders showed the largest gain of any grade level, up a full 3 percentage points to 76.2 percent.
Gains in specific grades were reported as follows:
Grade 3 – up 2.2 points to 66.9 percent
Grade 4 – up 2.3 points to 68.0 percent
Grade 5 – up 2.3 points to 66.8 percent
Grade 6 – up 1.3 points to 70.8 percent
Grade 7 – up 1.6 points to 69.9 percent
Grade 8 – up 3.0 points to 76.2 percent
Daley said that there is a broader context for progress that Chicago's students can be proud of. At the high school level, ACT scores are up, while attendance and graduation are as well. The dropout rate is down.
The numbers of students taking advanced placement tests as well as passing them are both up. In addition, more and more students are going on to college. Still, “even with another year of progress, I’m the first to acknowledge that we have a long way to go,” Daley said. “In order to have the best education system in the nation, we must raise the bar, set higher expectations and demand more from every student.”
Daley said that:
Not enough elementary students graduate into high school ready for more demanding course work.
Too many students still don’t graduate high school and go on to college. The number of high school juniors who are on the right track for higher education needs to increase.
Even though a majority of African-Americans graduate high school, far too many drop out.
Not enough high school graduates who go on to college actually get their diploma.
Daley went on to say that he is "increasingly concerned that the state tests that are required to be taken by every student are easier to pass and less strict in their standards than they used to be."
"I believe there needs to be a full discussion about implementing new state tests to assure that we have confidence in them and that their results better reflect how a student might succeed in the real world," he said.
Daley went on to say that to take CPS schools to the next level he's challenged school leaders to focus on several equally important goals. Among them:
Expand new charter schools and schools of choice, but also make it a priority to improve traditional neighborhood schools.
“We must never forget that the majority of our students attend neighborhood schools and we owe them the same quality education,” Daley said. "That's why we must stay focused on teaching the basics in the classroom. Learning basic subjects -- reading, math and science are more important than ever to success in modern life.”
Boost efforts to turnaround troubled schools, especially high schools. In the modern economy a high school diploma is no longer the bare minimum students need for success.
"We've got to get more minority male students to stay in high school and graduate. We can't write off much of a generation of young people,” said Daley. “Overall, more of our students must graduate high school, go on to college and achieve their higher education diploma.”
Train and recruit better teachers and evaluate their performance thoughtfully, but fairly in order to help them succeed.
“We need more mentoring of our teachers and new efforts to reduce teacher burnout and turnover,” he said.
Increase the number of schools in session year-round. Data shows that year around schools work because students retain more of what they've learned.
Investigate what it would cost to execute a pilot program for longer school days.
Implement new higher standards throughout the system to make schools even more accountable.
Provide even more after school programs year-round, create a more organized and stable learning environment and step up efforts to provide safe passage to and from school in order to help keep students safe.
Offer needed social services to children in school by providing breakfast for every child.
“Our students are yet again demonstrating how much can be accomplished when we believe in them and when we invest our time, energy and resources in them,” Daley said. “Now, it's up to us to take the next steps.”
Mayor Daley challenges education leaders to take schools to the next level
The mayor says that even with ongoing improvements in state test scores, 'more must be accomplished.'
July 8, 2009
Mayor Richard M. Daley today joined Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman and Chicago Public Schools Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins to announce another year of progress on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). Even with additional student improvements Daley challenged school leaders to "take our schools to the next level."
"My commitment will always be to give a good education to every child in every school," Mayor Daley said during a news conference at John P. Altgeld School, 1340 W. 71st St., where the percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards increased 10.2 percent.
"The bottom line is that we have to both give our students credit for the progress they've made, but also accept the reality that more must be done before we have the best school system in the nation," he said.
“Today, we are pleased to report that our students continued their steady upward progress this year as shown by the results of the 2009 ISAT exam which measures grades three through eight," Daley said.
The Mayor and Huberman reported that:
The composite score of students meeting or exceeding state standards is up two points from last year to 69.8 percent;
Reading scores are up 1.1 points to 67.8 percent;
Math is up 3 points to 73.5 percent, and
Science is up 1.7 points to 64.3 percent.
Daley went on to say that the achievement gap among racial groups is decreasing, with the composite scores for African-American students increasing by 2.2 points and for Hispanic students by 1.2 points. More than 60 percent of schools improved their composite score over last year.
At the elementary school level, ISAT scores have increased twice as much as the state's overall scores and attendance has improved. Eighth graders showed the largest gain of any grade level, up a full 3 percentage points to 76.2 percent.
Gains in specific grades were reported as follows:
Grade 3 – up 2.2 points to 66.9 percent
Grade 4 – up 2.3 points to 68.0 percent
Grade 5 – up 2.3 points to 66.8 percent
Grade 6 – up 1.3 points to 70.8 percent
Grade 7 – up 1.6 points to 69.9 percent
Grade 8 – up 3.0 points to 76.2 percent
Daley said that there is a broader context for progress that Chicago's students can be proud of. At the high school level, ACT scores are up, while attendance and graduation are as well. The dropout rate is down.
The numbers of students taking advanced placement tests as well as passing them are both up. In addition, more and more students are going on to college. Still, “even with another year of progress, I’m the first to acknowledge that we have a long way to go,” Daley said. “In order to have the best education system in the nation, we must raise the bar, set higher expectations and demand more from every student.”
Daley said that:
Not enough elementary students graduate into high school ready for more demanding course work.
Too many students still don’t graduate high school and go on to college. The number of high school juniors who are on the right track for higher education needs to increase.
Even though a majority of African-Americans graduate high school, far too many drop out.
Not enough high school graduates who go on to college actually get their diploma.
Daley went on to say that he is "increasingly concerned that the state tests that are required to be taken by every student are easier to pass and less strict in their standards than they used to be."
"I believe there needs to be a full discussion about implementing new state tests to assure that we have confidence in them and that their results better reflect how a student might succeed in the real world," he said.
Daley went on to say that to take CPS schools to the next level he's challenged school leaders to focus on several equally important goals. Among them:
Expand new charter schools and schools of choice, but also make it a priority to improve traditional neighborhood schools.
“We must never forget that the majority of our students attend neighborhood schools and we owe them the same quality education,” Daley said. "That's why we must stay focused on teaching the basics in the classroom. Learning basic subjects -- reading, math and science are more important than ever to success in modern life.”
Boost efforts to turnaround troubled schools, especially high schools. In the modern economy a high school diploma is no longer the bare minimum students need for success.
"We've got to get more minority male students to stay in high school and graduate. We can't write off much of a generation of young people,” said Daley. “Overall, more of our students must graduate high school, go on to college and achieve their higher education diploma.”
Train and recruit better teachers and evaluate their performance thoughtfully, but fairly in order to help them succeed.
“We need more mentoring of our teachers and new efforts to reduce teacher burnout and turnover,” he said.
Increase the number of schools in session year-round. Data shows that year around schools work because students retain more of what they've learned.
Investigate what it would cost to execute a pilot program for longer school days.
Implement new higher standards throughout the system to make schools even more accountable.
Provide even more after school programs year-round, create a more organized and stable learning environment and step up efforts to provide safe passage to and from school in order to help keep students safe.
Offer needed social services to children in school by providing breakfast for every child.
“Our students are yet again demonstrating how much can be accomplished when we believe in them and when we invest our time, energy and resources in them,” Daley said. “Now, it's up to us to take the next steps.”
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 4:34 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
this in no way mnimizes the skills of teachers, but I don't think you can compare surgery to teaching (in reference to your "would you want your child to have surgery from a doctor who graduated from U of I or a lawyer who graduated top of his class from Harvard Law").
Also, those teachers who go to - how was it put " "boot camp" for a few weeks of training - they are learning something. perhaps as much as someone who goes to "medical boot camp" and can give some diagnosis and other medical treatment - not surgery though
and really, I have seen a really awful teachers who got a teaching degree. so the answer isn't simple, it's certainly not as straightforward as you "To put it Simply" suggest
Also, those teachers who go to - how was it put " "boot camp" for a few weeks of training - they are learning something. perhaps as much as someone who goes to "medical boot camp" and can give some diagnosis and other medical treatment - not surgery though
and really, I have seen a really awful teachers who got a teaching degree. so the answer isn't simple, it's certainly not as straightforward as you "To put it Simply" suggest
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 5:09 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
There are some really awful doctors all with medical degrees-we need to weed out incompetent teachers...principals need to do their jobs-keeping incompetent teachers makes all of us look bad...
Wed Jul 8, 2009 at 11:58 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
this in no way mnimizes the skills of teachers, but I don't think you can compare surgery to teaching (in reference to your "would you want your child to have surgery from a doctor who graduated from U of I or a lawyer who graduated top of his class from Harvard Law").
True. After all, you only need operate on one patient at a time, and you get the proper equipment for each patient. You are rarely asked to operate without a table or scalpel. Also, there's much more at stake.
True. After all, you only need operate on one patient at a time, and you get the proper equipment for each patient. You are rarely asked to operate without a table or scalpel. Also, there's much more at stake.
Thu Jul 9, 2009 at 1:23 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
"...One major improvement has been the hiring of teachers from top ranked schools v. third tier schools like Chicago State, which used to dominate CPS. If progress means attracting better educated teachers, I'm all for it..." (earlier, reflecting a lengthy list of comments in this thread).
CHICAGO IS RIGHT NOW A KIND OF TYPHOID MARY FOR EDUCATION ACROSS THE USA. This is just one small example of how, but the good news is that most of the USA is skeptical of the "Chicago Model" and more and more people (states, etc) are realizing its Horse Emissions -- and saying so.
But let's just focus on how the USA is going to provide decent teachers for the most challenging schools.
I came into CPS teaching in 1969 with a BA from the University of Chicago, which was probably then at "top tier" university and is probably still one. Like everyone else who was assigned to teach at schools like DuSable Upper Grade Center and Forrestville Upper Grade Center, I had to go through a learning curve of several years to be comfortable and effective in the classroom. The best help I received was from my fellow teachers, who knew that every FNG who wasn't an arrogant ____ needed lots of help.
That hasn't changed.
And despite all the prattle from Arne Duncan and Teach for American, another thing that hasn't changed is the demographic that leads some into teaching and others elsewhere. My former professors at U of C and many of my fellow students figured that if you wanted to slum around for a few years, fine, but eventually you were supposed to move into LEADERSHIP. It that sounds like a 1960s version of TFA it was. The elitism was always there.
The difference then to now is that back then, nobody praised or pampered the "elite" graduates who made it through the gauntlet to the level of effective teaching (which as we all know, we rarely reach before the third or fourth full year). Fact was (and is), the people who came into teaching (then and now) from Chicago State and the other schools that were unabashedly training "teachers" were more ready for the classrooms of DuSable or Farren (both on the same block, remember) than someone who had six months earlier been fighting the seminar battles in a course like
"Iconography of Romanticism" or some such thing.
Teaching requires both the subject area knowledge and the praxis training. The current craziness about "elite" trainees (who are leaving in tears as quickly as they always did from the roughest schools) is aimed at bashing the majority of teachers. Only in that way has it been a success.
Hearing Arne Duncan take that bucket of turds on the road and get applause from some audiences when he talks about "increasing the number of teachers from the better schools" (or some elitist variation on that theme) is just a reflection of all the other Social Darwinism that Arne's rulers are trying to inculcate across the USA.
The best teachers have always been those who could slog, year after year, from September through June, and get the majority of the kids to something like more by year's end. Those teachers were usually trained and educated at places like Chicago State, Northeastern, or Illinois State. The public policy that denigrates those colleges and universities is a bad policy, and Chicago is now trying to export every bit of all those bad policies across the entire USA, thanks to the Duncan appointment.
From what I'm seeing of the rest of the USA, Chicago will eventually be identified and quarantined. Sadly, we will still have to fight the infection in Chicago, since it's roots are much deeper.
CHICAGO IS RIGHT NOW A KIND OF TYPHOID MARY FOR EDUCATION ACROSS THE USA. This is just one small example of how, but the good news is that most of the USA is skeptical of the "Chicago Model" and more and more people (states, etc) are realizing its Horse Emissions -- and saying so.
But let's just focus on how the USA is going to provide decent teachers for the most challenging schools.
I came into CPS teaching in 1969 with a BA from the University of Chicago, which was probably then at "top tier" university and is probably still one. Like everyone else who was assigned to teach at schools like DuSable Upper Grade Center and Forrestville Upper Grade Center, I had to go through a learning curve of several years to be comfortable and effective in the classroom. The best help I received was from my fellow teachers, who knew that every FNG who wasn't an arrogant ____ needed lots of help.
That hasn't changed.
And despite all the prattle from Arne Duncan and Teach for American, another thing that hasn't changed is the demographic that leads some into teaching and others elsewhere. My former professors at U of C and many of my fellow students figured that if you wanted to slum around for a few years, fine, but eventually you were supposed to move into LEADERSHIP. It that sounds like a 1960s version of TFA it was. The elitism was always there.
The difference then to now is that back then, nobody praised or pampered the "elite" graduates who made it through the gauntlet to the level of effective teaching (which as we all know, we rarely reach before the third or fourth full year). Fact was (and is), the people who came into teaching (then and now) from Chicago State and the other schools that were unabashedly training "teachers" were more ready for the classrooms of DuSable or Farren (both on the same block, remember) than someone who had six months earlier been fighting the seminar battles in a course like
"Iconography of Romanticism" or some such thing.
Teaching requires both the subject area knowledge and the praxis training. The current craziness about "elite" trainees (who are leaving in tears as quickly as they always did from the roughest schools) is aimed at bashing the majority of teachers. Only in that way has it been a success.
Hearing Arne Duncan take that bucket of turds on the road and get applause from some audiences when he talks about "increasing the number of teachers from the better schools" (or some elitist variation on that theme) is just a reflection of all the other Social Darwinism that Arne's rulers are trying to inculcate across the USA.
The best teachers have always been those who could slog, year after year, from September through June, and get the majority of the kids to something like more by year's end. Those teachers were usually trained and educated at places like Chicago State, Northeastern, or Illinois State. The public policy that denigrates those colleges and universities is a bad policy, and Chicago is now trying to export every bit of all those bad policies across the entire USA, thanks to the Duncan appointment.
From what I'm seeing of the rest of the USA, Chicago will eventually be identified and quarantined. Sadly, we will still have to fight the infection in Chicago, since it's roots are much deeper.
Thu Jul 9, 2009 at 7:42 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
Radical Proposal.
Lost in this string are the teachers who never went to college.
Think I am kidding ? Well some of the most effective people I ever had the
Pleasure of teaching with were the vocational teachers at Simeon who
had no degree.
These teachers, men and women, were the trade instructors hired under the old Smith Hughes Act of 1919. They taught, auto shop, carpentry welding, cosmetology,
And even the retired Petty officers of the ROTC unit. The life experiences they brought to the school made it a unique place to teach. Have you ever eaten lunch with
A person present at the first Atomic reaction ? How about a sheet metal designer for the Tucker Motor Company.? Then there was a guy who walked into the offices
Of The War on Poverty and told R. Sergeant Shriver give me all your bums
And I will teach them auto body, OB kept his promise.
I believe teaching is as much an art as a science. Some people are born teachers
Others will never be effective no matter how many degrees or endorsements they
Earn. Why can’t a way be found to put these Natural Teachers into classrooms?
I know not every teacher, including, the amazing Dominican Sisters who
Taught me in grammar school had degrees. If they could pound knowledge I have used all my life into my head they could teach anyone.
This would upset lots of people, not to mention colleges. But it might be real
good for the kids. And that should be what education is all about.
Lost in this string are the teachers who never went to college.
Think I am kidding ? Well some of the most effective people I ever had the
Pleasure of teaching with were the vocational teachers at Simeon who
had no degree.
These teachers, men and women, were the trade instructors hired under the old Smith Hughes Act of 1919. They taught, auto shop, carpentry welding, cosmetology,
And even the retired Petty officers of the ROTC unit. The life experiences they brought to the school made it a unique place to teach. Have you ever eaten lunch with
A person present at the first Atomic reaction ? How about a sheet metal designer for the Tucker Motor Company.? Then there was a guy who walked into the offices
Of The War on Poverty and told R. Sergeant Shriver give me all your bums
And I will teach them auto body, OB kept his promise.
I believe teaching is as much an art as a science. Some people are born teachers
Others will never be effective no matter how many degrees or endorsements they
Earn. Why can’t a way be found to put these Natural Teachers into classrooms?
I know not every teacher, including, the amazing Dominican Sisters who
Taught me in grammar school had degrees. If they could pound knowledge I have used all my life into my head they could teach anyone.
This would upset lots of people, not to mention colleges. But it might be real
good for the kids. And that should be what education is all about.
Thu Jul 9, 2009 at 10:36 AM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
I hate to say it, but this whole discussion about teachers' provenance/impact ("third-tier v. first-tier", "trained in ed v. boot-camped in ed", "effective v. ineffective") can also be applied to Chicago's education reporters.
Thu Jul 9, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Does even one member of the Civic Committee live in the city or have kids in CPS
I suspect none of the folks who produced the report even live here or have or had kids in the system. Nothing makes me madder than folks commenting on things they aren't part of. Who wants to start a Commercial Club of Naperville with me and write a report on all the things wrong with the school there?
Thu Jul 9, 2009 at 6:48 PM
"It's All An Illusion." Right?
If there was a committee like this in the northern or far west suburbs, , they would be chased out of town! Same for charters--how many exist OUTSIDE of Chicago in IL?
