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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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In Focus

New principal hurdles could help LSCs January 27, 2009 By: Debra Williams Officials say 270 current and aspiring principals have applied to go through a new, intensive screening process to qualify for principal vacancies in the Chicago Public Schools. CPS had set a Jan. 31 deadline for candidates to apply to undergo the new screening process, a prerequisite for placement in the district's pool of eligible candidates. The new process went into effect Jan. 1 and applies to all principal applicants, including current CPS principals who want to switch schools. Read More \| (1) Comments	Catalyst analysis of Arne Duncan's initiatives January 12, 2009 On Dec. 16, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as U.S. secretary of education. The night before, Catalyst Chicago, an independent news magazine that has covered school reform in Chicago since 1990, posted the first in a series of analyses. Here are links to those stories. Read More \| (0) Comments
Teaching teen moms to boost early learning January 06, 2009 By: Debra Williams When 18-year-old Maria Alarcon found out she was pregnant, she was scared and nervous about giving birth.&nb Read More \| (0) Comments	Duncan's track record, part 3 December 19, 2008 By: Debra Williams and Lorraine Forte Schools CEO Arne Duncan has had seven years to make his mark on public education in Chicago. In this last installment in a three-part series, Catalyst explores his legacy in tackling teacher quality, elementary education and preschool. Teacher quality Recognizing that teachers are the frontline to student success, Duncan has taken a number of steps to infuse the system with high-quality teachers. Read More \| (0) Comments
Duncan's track record, part 2 December 18, 2008 By: Lorraine Forte and Sarah Karp In his seven years as CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan has taken on a host of urban education policy challenges to varying degrees of success. In this second installment in a three-part series, Catalyst examines the Secretary of Education nominee’s efforts around principal leadership and special education. Principals and leadership Read More \| (0) Comments	Is Great Teaching Enough: The impact of school-community connections on the achievement gap December 18, 2008 By: Catalyst The final segment of the10th anniversary Chicago Schools Policy Luncheon Series began with an up-close view of the Harlem Children’s Zone and its comprehensive effort to educate the children of that disadvantaged community, beginning at birth. Then two of Chicago’s leading community organizers shared their experiences and theory of community building. Read More \| (0) Comments
Duncan's track record December 15, 2008 By: Sarah Karp and John Myers In his seven years as CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan has taken on a host of urban education policy challenges to varying degrees of success. This week, Catalyst revisits some of these signature initiatives, and weighs their significance on the national scene. Today, we look at the efforts of the Secretary of Education designate to transform high schools, offer families more and better school choices and raise the performance bar for teachers, principals and administrators. Reforming high schools Read More \| (4) Comments	Teaching teen moms to boost early learning December 15, 2008 By: Debra Williams Read More \| (0) Comments
In CPS and elsewhere, cash incentives paying off for students December 12, 2008 By: Hope Evans Next week, the district will make its third payout under its pilot pay-for-grades program, a controversial initiative that allows high school students to earn cash toward college for good grades. More students have signed up for the program since its launch in September, CPS says. Among high schools contacted by Catalyst, the percentage of students who received checks for good grades rose over the first two payouts. Here are the percentages of students who received checks in the first and second payouts: Read More \| (0) Comments