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WebExtra: Two steps forward, one back CPS is the third school district in the country to provide training for school social workers to help children of incarcerated parents. Other services have been hurt by budget cuts, but new federal funds may help.
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Life after high school: Boot camp at Cook County Jail
Last year, Kenny Rainey was saying goodbye to high school. He had too
few credits to graduate and was nervous about his future, but he had a
summer job lined up and plans to enroll in an alternative school to
earn his diploma. But now, Kenny is in Cook County Jail’s boot camp, where he was
sentenced for possessing an illegal firearm. Two days before he was
shipped to the camp, he appeared much thinner than he had been a year
ago, and looked pale in the fluorescent light of a jail visiting room.
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Searching for equity
Mayor Richard M. Daley has vowed to continue with his Renaissance 2010 strategy. Yet six years after it was launched, nearly 3 out of 4 Chicago schoolchildren still attend low-performing schools. Top officials acknowledge that new schools are not the main spark for systemwide improvement.
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Budget landmines A Catalyst analysis finds that many charters operate with deficits and depend heavily on private money to stay afloat.
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A revolving door for charter teachers
Charter schools had to replace an average of more than half of their
teachers between 2008 and 2010, a turnover rate on par with some of the
most troubled district-run schools. Experts say that high teacher turnover is associated with a school in
turmoil and that instability often hampers student performance.
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What communities are planning for Promise Neighborhoods
Chicago communities and social service agencies are making a pitch for part of $10 million in federal planning grants for Promise Neighborhoods, the Obama Administration’s initiative to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone. The 20 planning grant winners will be announced in September. Chicago could conceivably have multiple winners, says department spokeswoman Elizabeth Utrup, since there is no limit on the number of planning grants for each city.
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Merit pay for Chicago teachers: one program ending, another in the works
This month, Chicago Public Schools will find out whether the district has been selected for a federal grant to launch a new initiative on merit pay that would radically restructure teacher compensation at participating schools. The new initiative would replace Chicago TAP, the local version of the national Teacher Advancement Program, which will end in CPS when federal funding runs out in spring 2011.
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Q&A with Michelle Reininger: The student teaching experience A Northwestern University professor discusses her research into student teaching placement in Chicago
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New principal hurdles could help LSCs Almost 300 applicants have signed up to go through a new, intensive screening process to qualify for new principal vacancies in CPS. The new process is the latest CPS effort to upgrade the quality of school leadership.
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Catalyst analysis of Arne Duncan’s initiativesOn Dec. 16, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as U.S. secretary of education. The night before, Catalyst Chicago posted the first in a series of analyses.
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Teaching teen moms to boost early learning Doulas were once the province of middle-class women, who hired them to provide help during pregnancy and birth. Now, doulas are the linchpin of a strategy to get more children into preschool by targeting teen mothers. First of a two-part series.
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Duncan's track record, part 3 This final installment of our series on Duncan's track record examines hits and misses in early childhood education, teacher quality and elementary education.
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Duncan's track record, part 2
This installment of Catalyst's series on the record of Secretary of Education nominee Arne Duncan examines his efforts to raise the bar for principals, and what's still lacking for special education.
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Duncan's track record 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, including high school reform, school choice, accountability and transparency.
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In CPS and elsewhere, cash incentives paying off for students High schools say pay-for-grades program has students more involved in their education. Other states are instituting similar programs
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Dismissed teacher raises questions about special ed at charter school
On Thursday, Nov. 20, officials at Perspectives Charter Schools received a letter alleging that special education students at one of its campuses are not receiving adequate services, and that another letter was on its way to the Illinois State Board of Education. The same day, one of the five teachers who signed off on that letter says she was fired and escorted out of the school.
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Q&A with Ronnie Mosley, honorary student member, Chicago School Board A student talks about the problems CPS faces and what the district can do to solve them.
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CPS preschool nearly full in Englewood A year ago, Chicago Public Schools could not enroll enough children in Englewood to fill the seats in its state-funded universal preschool program. Today, nearly every slot is taken. A community forum co-hosted by Catalyst helped advocates come up with solutions.
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Bonus of contention for CPS principals
In recent years, Chicago Public Schools has rolled out bonus pay for administrators and teachers. Now, the district is considering merit pay for principals; specifically, tying a portion of their salaries to student test scores, attendance and, for high schools, freshman on-track rates. Also on the table is a proposal to scrap principals’ graduated pay scale.
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Arne Duncan for Secretary of Ed? Buzz in the education world cites Chicago's CEO, national policymakers, governors as possible contenders for Secretary of Education under the next president
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'Record high' attendance a figment District officials celebrate, but investment in freshmen is undermined
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Raise state income tax for schools: panelists
More than 90 percent of black children live in high-poverty school districts that rely heavily on state funding and generate less money from local property taxes, according to a new analysis.
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Slowdown on per-pupil budgeting Officials say a switch to student-based budgeting is on the back burner because of the district's budget problems. But principals say the approach allows them more control over their budgets, and a noted advocate says the district's plan needs to move ahead to bring equity to local school funding.
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School funding still wildly disparate The state's share of education funding has declined in four of the last five years, and Illinois has one of the largest spending gaps in the nation.
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More late classes for preschoolers More schools will add third-shift preschool classes this fall. Late classes have surged in recent years, particularly in Latino communities that have a shortage of preschool slots.
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Catalyst Chicago is an editorially independent print and online newsmagazine published by the Community Renewal Society
Our sister publications: The Chicago Reporter, Catalyst Ohio | Our media partners: Chicago Public Radio, CAN-TV
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