In Focus | catalyst-chicago.org

Departments

Catalyst In Depth
Catalyst Notebook
Opinions
In Focus

Current Issue

Special Education

Even as CPS opens more new schools, children with special needs have a tougher time finding options. Placements in private therapeutic schools are scarce, and some charters are reluctant to enroll them.

Read More

In Focus

Foundation cash boosts education advocacy May 17, 2012 By: Stephen Sawchuk Private foundations are playing a growing role in financing the nonprofit educational wings of several prominent K-12 advocacy groups, according to reviews of the foundations' grant records and annual tax filings. The efforts they underwrite run from the mundane—translating school district materials into Spanish, for instance—to activities deeply intertwined with policy, such as providing information to parents on topics like teacher evaluation and school choice. Read More \| (3) Comments	From security guard to teacher May 09, 2012 By: Rebecca Harris Student teacher Michael Vargas steps confidently to the front of his middle-grades social studies class at Talman Elementary to start a lesson that will require his students to analyze the impact of events leading up to World War I. Why did America initially decide to stay neutral, he asks? “Because they didn’t want to get involved in what wasn’t their business,” one boy says. “Because they were supplying both sides,” says another. Read More \| (0) Comments
Federal program a work-in-progress April 15, 2012 By: Alyson Klein, Education Week After two years, the federal program providing billions of dollars to help states and districts close or remake some of their worst-performing schools remains an ambitious work in progress, with roughly 1,200 turnaround efforts under way but still no verdict on its effectiveness. Read More \| (0) Comments	Will recession hinder long-term gains? April 15, 2012 By: Andrew Bronstein For the casual visitor, it’s easy to miss that Southeast High School in rural Kansas—once among the lowest academic performers in the state—is in the midst of a profound transformation. Like so many other Kansas schools, the building in Cherokee (population: 722) shows the telltale signs of a suffering economy. Bus routes have been cut, as have supplies. Custodians, secretaries and cafeteria workers took an eight-day pay cut. During the harsh winters, students bundle up to make it through classes where the temperature hovers at an uncomfortable, but cost-saving 68 degrees. Read More \| (0) Comments
Federal money jump-starts school 'transformation' April 15, 2012 By: Sarah Karp When Pam Glynn walked into Hancock High School four years ago as the new principal, the school was on the verge of falling into an achievement black hole. Over the past decade, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards on the ISAT fell from a third to about 10 percent. Read More \| (0) Comments	Ed Week: Access to Teacher Evaluations Divides Advocates March 29, 2012 By: Stephen Sawchuk / Education Week As the movement to overhaul teacher evaluation marches onward, an emerging question is splitting the swath of advocates who support the new tools used to gauge teacher performance: Who should get access to the resulting information? Read More \| (0) Comments
For the Record: Selective admissions March 08, 2012 By: Sarah Karp When acceptance letters went out last week to students who had applied to selective enrollment high schools, much of the buzz was about how hard it was for the students in the highest income tier, Tier 4, to win spots. Although CPS received the fewest applications from students in this tier, they mostly sought spots in the most selective schools in the city—Northside and Payton. As a result, students in Tier 4 would need a near-perfect score to get in. Read More \| (4) Comments	At AUSL, progress but ‘this is not magic’ February 03, 2012 By: Sarah Karp If ever there was a superstar principal, it’s Angel Turner. When Turner took over Morton Elementary School as an Academy for Urban School Leadership turnaround principal, it was one of the worst schools in the district. Now, three years later, it is in the middle of the pack: The percentage of students meeting or exceeding state standards has increased by more than 30 points. Read More \| (15) Comments
Youth advocates want more data on school arrests January 25, 2012 By: Sarah Karp A youth advocacy group is calling on Chicago aldermen to pass a student safety act similar to one in New York City that forces the school district to reveal the number of arrests, suspensions and expulsions per school every quarter. Read More \| (10) Comments

go here for more