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The report is based on no valid data whatsoever. It's methodology is the same as thinking that a restaurant can be reviewed by looking at it's menu online and never setting foot in the place to...

By: Chicago dad

In: Ratings for teacher prep programs draw fire

4 hours 5 min ago

I hope they weren't comparing Chicago Charters to CPS Neighborhood schools. The enrollment restrictions of charters mirror the enrollment restrictions of CPS Magnet schools. Comparing most CPS...

By: JMOChicago

In: New report gives mixed reviews for Illinois charters

5 hours 53 min ago

Excuse the typos!

By: Rosita Chatonda

In: CPS announces school closing layoffs

7 hours 30 min ago

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Current Issue

Adolescent Literacy

A raft of past programs have failed to substantially improve the reading skills of middle grade and high school students. CPS is trying once again, as part of a federal project that aims to help teens learn how to analyze complex non-fiction.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 8:10am

In the News: Teacher pay cut, frozen in last 4 years

By: Cassandra West

Tags: school closings

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality, the vast majority of teachers in the nation’s largest school districts took a pay cut or saw their pay frozen at least one year between 2008 and 2012. (The New York Times)

Independent hearing officers oppose 11 school closings

By: Sarah Karp

Tags: school closings

Reports published Monday night show that independent hearing officers do not think CPS has proved its case for closing 11 schools.

For the Record: Capital savings from closings in question

By: Sarah Karp

Tags: facilities, finance and budgets

On the day CPS announced its list of school closings, students at schools slated to shut down received folders with letters to their parents stating that their school had lost enrollment, was partially empty and needed anywhere from $4 million to $37 million in repairs and maintenance.

In the News: Teacher evaluations: tool or time drain?

By: Cassandra West

Tags: teacher evaluations

The Consortium on Chicago School Research surveyed 700 principals and assistant principals and 900 teachers in December about CPS' new teacher evaluation process and will do so again in May. CPS, however, would not authorize the organization to release preliminary findings. A district spokesman said the data are "too preliminary to be of any value."

Comings & Goings: Chou, Vahey

By: Debra Williams

Tags: Comings and Goings

Victoria Chou, the dean of the College of the Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago is retiring in August. Chou has been dean of the college for the past 17 years. She is also currently an interim executive associate chancellor for external and government relations. Chou has been a co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Consortium on Chicago School Research, chair of the Governing Board of the National Teachers Academy-Professional Development School in Chicago, and co-chair of the Council of Chicago Area Deans of Education.

In the News: Money said to drive virtual schools' growth

Profits, rather than student outcomes, is clearly the main driver behind the rapid growth of virtual schools, says a report from the National Education Policy Center, with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice. And although virtual schools have expanded rapidly in the last decade, there is little data to justify their growth.

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