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Last week Chicago Public Schools issued to all principals an elaborate memo outlining how all teachers were being required to "verify" the students they had taught in the previous year — even down to estimating how much of the "learning" these students did should be attributed to the individual teacher, Substance News reports.

To understand more on how this verification process might work, Catalyst contacted CPS. Here are our questions and their answers:
How will the weight given to students' scores in the "shared," "some" and "most" categories compare with students who were taught entirely by that teacher?
Student scores will be weighted in a teacher's growth calculation based on the length of time the student was in a class and the amount of instructional responsibility a teacher has. For example, if a student receives pull-out support half-time in reading, 50 percent of that student's growth will be attributed to the classroom teacher and 50 percent to the pull-out teacher.
How will CPS deal with students who aren't claimed by any teacher, and with other discrepancies and conflicts in what teachers self-report?
Once teachers complete the roster verification on June 4, each school will have a review and approval period where the principal and/or his/her designee will review the verification that's been completed to ensure every student is accounted for. The system we are using flags for review any student who isn't fully accounted for.
How will you prevent teachers from claiming they had no responsibility, or less responsibility, for low-performing students?
See the answer to the question above. Also, teachers will be responsible for student growth, not student absolute performance, so there isn't an incentive to exclude low-performing students.

Not surprisingly, Rahm Emanuel and CPS CEO Jean Claude Brizard have signed on to be part of the national Time to Succeed Coalition. Announced Thursday, the coalition headed by the president of the Ford Foundation and the chairman of the Center for Time and Learning aims to make more time in school the norm among student in the United States, especially those who are growing up in poverty. The coalition agenda does not specify whether the time in school should be extended by adding hours to the school day or days to the school year. It also doesn’t specify the ideal amount of time that students should be in school. Leaders of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have signed onto the coalition. However, on a conference call AFT President Randi Weingarten made it clear that she was most interested in seeing the time in the current school day used effectively. Further, she said that teachers should be “fairly compensated” when schools decide to extend their days. Others on the conference call, including Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker agreed. Chris Gabrieli, chairman of the National Center on Time & Learning, said that extending the school day works best when teachers collaborate with the schools. The Ford Foundation also announced that it is committing $50 million to support school districts moving toward more time. (Catalyst)

Illinois’ average eighth grade science scores were stagnant and stuck below the national average, results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress released Thursday showed. (Sun-Times)

This being National Teacher Appreciation Week, Mayor Rahm Emanuel recalled his favorite teacher, Larry Grote, a retired New Trier West High School history teacher. To see Emanuel discuss his favorite teacher as part of the Teaching Channel’s “My Teacher, My Hero,” go to the video posted here.

The Chicago Teachers Union polled its 25,000 members Thursday on questions involving the school board as part of what one official called a "dry run" for a potential strike vote. The poll asked if members believe the district's contract proposal should be rejected and whether Chicago Public Schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard should resign. Poll results would be out Friday, the union said. (Tribune)

Yet another partner is planning to join with CPS to make the learning experience "more relevant." Citizen Schools, "a hybrid kind of program that works with schools to provide 6-8 extra AmeriCorps fellows in schools during the day —recent college graduates—and then a three-hour after school program four days a week," is coming to town, the District 99 blog reports.

IN THE NATION
Fewer than one-third of American 8th graders are proficient in science, but most students are improving, and achievement gaps are closing between students who are black or Hispanic and their white peers, a special administration of the test known as “the nation’s report card” shows. (Education Week)

American eighth graders have made modest gains in national science testing, with Hispanic and black students narrowing the gap between them and their white and Asian peers, the federal government reported Thursday. (NYT)

District of Columbia officials are moving closer to allowing charters to grant admissions preference to families in surrounding neighborhoods. (Washington Post)