Sarah Karp | catalyst-chicago.org

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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

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Sarah Karp

Daley acknowledges that state test may be too easy July 08, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Today Mayor Richard M. Daley joined with CPS head honchos to boast about another year of modest gains on elementary school standardized tests. But, perhaps humbled by a recent report that called into question the validity of gains and the claims of progress, Daley suggested that the state test needs to be re-evaluated. Read More \| (3) Comments	New research pinpoints factors that affect teacher turnover June 29, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Small high schools, once heralded as a way to build stronger relationships between teachers and students, have some of the highest rates of teacher turnover in the district. This is one of the more interesting findings from the report The Schools Teachers Leave, released today by the Consortium on Chicago School Research. Linking teacher personnel data, survey data and information about schools and communities, researchers found that Chicago’s one-year turnover rate is similar to that of other schools in Illinois and across the nation: about 80 percent of teachers stay at their school from one year to the next. But within five years, most CPS schools lose about half of their teachers. Read More \| (12) Comments
A place of their own June 25, 2009 By: Sarah Karp When Lorenzo Russell walked into West Garfield Park’s Ryerson Elementary School in 2007, the impeccably dressed, soft-spoken man got a sinking feeling. The walls were pale beige and had no bulletin boards. The hallways were noisy and chaotic. Stretched across one wall were old class pictures in wood frames, many showing boys with bowl cuts and girls with blond ponytails. The pictures were an obvious disconnect from the students—most of them black, save for one or two Latinos. Read More \| (0) Comments	Three friends June 25, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Four years ago, Dyett High School’s principal suspended more than two-thirds of the black male students at least once—far more than most schools in the district. Micah Williams, Cassius Rodriguez and Kenny Rainey were freshmen that year, and they were right in the mix. They fought with other students and got sent home for days at a time. They failed nearly every class. They were on the fast track to dropping out. But instead, they beat the odds. Read More \| (1) Comments
Black male conundrum June 22, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Nearly one in four black male students in Chicago Public Schools was suspended at least once last year, a rate that is twice as high as the district average. This finding is also part of an upward trend that has resulted in a near doubling of the number of suspended students over the past five years, according to a Catalyst Chicago analysis. Read More \| (4) Comments	Huberman to principals: Focus will be on data June 16, 2009 By: Sarah Karp If you know data analysis, there’s probably a job for you in CPS administration. If you know only about teaching—well, maybe not quite so much. In his first address to principals Tuesday, CEO Ron Huberman didn’t go into specifics about what positions are going to be axed this week in central office. But he said he plans to streamline central office, get more money into schools (though not this year, given the budget crunch) and get teachers and principals data about student performance in real- time by having diagnostic tests done online so that results are more immediate. Principals seemed excited by the news. They’ve often complained that the results of periodic student assessments are delayed for so long it is hard to react to them and adjust teaching accordingly. Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins talked about the restructuring of area instructional offices. Existing area instructional officers will have to reapply for the new positions, renamed chief area officers, and the number of offices has been cut to 21, down from 25. Read More \| (10) Comments
Researchers need more data to show what works and why June 04, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Teachers are paid more for additional years of service and additional degrees, but neither of those factors leads to better student outcomes, researchers have found. Ditto for teacher certification. Read More \| (0) Comments	College coaches to help students get work credentials, jobs June 01, 2009 By: Sarah Karp Buoyed by the results of a program that put college coaches in some high schools, CPS is expanding the focus to include work-related credentials and jobs. Not all students are destined for college, notes Bernard McCune, the new head of CPS Office of College and Careers, yet many will need a “piece of paper” besides a high school diploma. Now college and career coaches will guide those students as well. The move is in line with the district’s much-needed efforts to revamp career and technical education. Read More \| (1) Comments
More than half of CPS grads go on to college May 26, 2009 By: Sarah Karp CPS appears to be catching up to the rest of the nation in sending Latino and African American graduates on to college. The district announced Tuesday that 43 percent of last year’s Latino graduates enrolled in a college this past fall, a 9 percent increase since 2004. Meanwhile, 53.7 percent of black graduates went to college in 2008, almost the same percentage as the national average. CPS says the increase in college-going among black and Latino students helped drive up the district-wide rate, which is now 52.5 percent, up from 50 percent last year. Press conferences heralding the increase in college-going have become a spring ritual ever since Greg Darnieder, the former director of Department of College and Career Preparation, meshed data on CPS graduates with that from the National Student Clearinghouse, which tracks college students. (Darneider is now a special assistant to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.) Read More \| (5) Comments