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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.

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Catalyst Notebook

Monday, June 10, 2013 - 4:31pm

Education plan: Big on ideas, short on money

By: Sarah Karp
Tags: Barbara Byrd-Bennett, finance and budgets, teachers

For the first time since Mayor Rahm Emanuel took over CPS, his CEO laid out an education plan, calling for high academic standards, more focus on parental engagement and greater accountability for the district, including an annual scorecard.

Among specifics called for in the plan announced by Barbara Byrd-Bennett are more arts education—the district and the city announced a $1 million investment in arts education in May—and mental health services. 

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Monday, June 10, 2013 - 8:45am

In the News: CPS finds solution to $1 billion deficit

By: Cassandra West
Tags: CPS budget

Crain's Chicago Business is reporting that despite the lack of pension relief in Springfield, Chicago Public Schools has developed the outline of a plan to completely eliminate a projected $1 billion deficit for the school year that begins July 1.

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Friday, June 7, 2013 - 2:39pm

Report sheds light on out-of-school science learning

By: Sarah Karp
Tags: expanded learning time

As leaders push Chicago schools to focus more on STEM programs--science, technology, engineering and math--a new study finds that more than 88,000 students are exposed to these disciplines outside of school and more than half of them are girls.

But Latino children, in particular, are left out of these programs. And few programs are offered during the summer.

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Friday, June 7, 2013 - 8:41am

In the News: Displaced students get less than promised

By: Cassandra West
Tags: Barbara Bryd-Bennett, school closings

CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett promised that each child whose school disappeared would be guaranteed new science or arts programs in 19 of the schools taking in those displaced children and investments in all the receiving schools: air conditioning, libraries and iPads. But after the dust settles, and many school boundaries are redrawn, not all children living in the shadow of a closing school will reap these benefits, according to the Sun-Times.

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Thursday, June 6, 2013 - 4:18pm

Proposed school ratings: Scrap ISAT, close achievement gap

By: Sarah Karp
Tags: ISAT, performance

Chicago Public Schools is floating a new performance policy that would abandon the ISAT, grade schools on their progress in closing the achievement gap and create a five-tier rating system rather than the three-level system currently in place.

It also would make schools accountable for having 95 percent of students tested as a way to make sure the data is accurate.

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Thursday, June 6, 2013 - 9:07am

In the News: CPS eyes tax hike, bigger classes

By: Cassandra West
Tags: CPS budget

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday defended his failed attempt to ease pension payments bearing down on the Chicago Public Schools and did not rule out increases in property taxes or class sizes, according to the Sun-Times.

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