'Look, I'm in 10th grade' Two roads to sophomore standingJulie Siple with Debra WilliamsLoretta blossomed at Transition C
Loretta Smith, 16, arrived at Transition Center C as "a child who had been in school." Three semesters later, she left as a student.
Initially, "she had no idea how to sit down and do work. She'd walk in the door without a pencil and paper," says Zezella Edwards-Davis, Loretta's math teacher in Transition C.
Like many transition students, Loretta also was a bit hostile, says Davis. "They are angry they are here. They're all asking the same question, 'Why me?'"
It quickly became apparent, though, that Loretta wanted to... > Read More |
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Spotcheck shows few schools tracking studentsJulie SipleCatalyst called a number of schools to see how their transition students were doing. Here are the responses.
Lincoln Park has tracked the five students who arrived in the fall of 1997. Three have grade- point averages below 2.0, which is a C, reports Assistant Principal Michael Tippett. The other two are doing average or slightly above average work.
One student, for example, has a 2.6 grade-point and has passed all his classes since entering high school. Another student failed three subjects first semester.
Although Roosevelt has not tracked its transition... > Read More |
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Two different approachesElizabeth DuffrinTwo school districts in southern California recently set up special schools for 8th-graders who don't meet the criteria to enter high school. Each has different criteria and a different educational program than Chicago does. Here's how they operate.
In the Long Beach Unified School District, 8th-graders are retained for failing more than one subject—even if that subject is industrial arts or algebra. "That's a sign that this student is not capable or disciplined enough to go on to high school," says Dorothy Harper, area superintendent.
Long Beach Preparatory Academy, now in... > Read More |
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'Tests have error,' test author warnsElizabeth DuffrinGetting into high school in Chicago depends on a 40-minute reading test and an 80-minute math test. Most transition center staff say that's a bad way to make such an important decision, and test makers agree. "It's just that one test, that one day, that one score," laments math teacher Darlene Bell of Proctor Transition G in Englewood.
"Retention of a student is much too important a decision to be left up to a teacher saying, 'This work is good enough to pass,'" counters Chief Education Officer Cozette Buckney. In contrast, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills are objective, she says, and... > Read More |
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Classes revolve around test prepElizabeth DuffrinWhen Rosedell Chester III learned last August that he would be going to Transition Center F instead of high school, he was mad and his father was worried his son would be among "bad kids, dysfunctional kids, kids with problems."
Those attitudes didn't last long.
Within a week at Transition F, Rosedell had new friends, and school "started being cool." One friend, the fast-talking Marcus Allen, "could make an Energizer bunny look like a Duracell," says Kevin Jones, a security guard who Marcus sought out as a friend. Jones doesn't know Rosedell as well, only that he's "an angel... > Read More |
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Services praised, instruction questioned, results withheldElizabeth DuffrinDifficulty with reading had always made school a struggle for Kimberly Avant, 16. In 8th grade, as standardized testing approached, she says her teacher even warned her, "'You're going to fail.' When I was taking the reading test, I was still thinking about what she was saying."Kimberly missed the required score for admission to high school and missed it again, but just barely, after summer school. Already over age for 8th grade, she was assigned to a transition center. In her view, she was headed for a "slow" school.
Launched in February 1997, Chicago's transition program is... > Read More |
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