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In High Schools
As private support winds down, CPS will continue scaled-back support of its High School Transformation project.
Board members recently approved $12 million over two years for consulting services from seven companies that supplied curriculum packages for the project and an additional one that provides assessments. Those packages—called IDS for Instructional Development Systems—include materials, assessments, professional development and coaching; they were to be the starting point of the district’s comprehensive plan to improve neighborhood and some magnet high schools.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation originally pitched in $21 million for the effort, which Catalyst estimated would end up costing a total of $80 million over three years. The project was to reach 50 schools, but so far, only 43 have signed on and the district has no plans to add more. This last school year was the last year of Gates funding.
With the grant money running out and so much restructuring in the central office, it’s been hard to get a handle on what’s going to happen to this project. An interesting point in the contract: The curriculum companies will be required to also work with 150 elementary schools, but there are no details on what the companies will provide.
Plus, it’s anyone’s guess how this fits into the district’s larger high school strategy. When High School Transformation was first announced, the project had an office unto itself, with its own executive director, Allan Alson, who had been superintendent of Evanston Township High School. Last summer, Alson left and the Office of High School Transformation was subsumed into the general Office of High Schools. Karen Boran, formerly the manager of high school literacy, then became the director of IDS curricula.
Now, Boran says she is transitioning to another job. Mike Lach, head of high school teaching and learning, is left as the contact person on IDS curricula.
Some of the high schools using IDS are also part of the turnaround process. Don Fraynd, the head of the Office of Turnarounds, says those high schools—Fenger, Harper and Orr—will continue to use the curricula, though he adds that he will not be using the ids program’s method for receiving assessment data as he want it to teachers in a more timely fashion.
It is worth noting that the curriculum packages featured assessments designed by the companies and meant to give teachers good, timely data on student performance. This echoes CEO Ron Huberman’s data focus for the district, and I wonder if there could be some lessons here for Huberman on problems that may lie ahead on this front.
Principals report that some of the curriculum companies were better than others at getting the data to the teachers quickly. Also, my observation from visiting schools is that some teachers didn’t know what to do with the data, or felt torn between going back to re-teach skills and moving forward to teach skills that would be tested on the next assessment.
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MailThanks for the tip. We will check out this development at Orr.
We'd also like to know from our teacher-readers: What impact have you seen from the new curricula? Has it made a difference with your students? Let us know.
I liked the prgram and am sad to see it end. Could it be improved? Of course.
As an alternative to IDS, the principal proposed (and faculty approved in waiver votes) a restructured day that gives us about one-and-a-half hours each week to meet in teams. Last year, we developed standards-based learning packets, and this coming year we are working on developing common assessments.
Granted, not everyone has bought into the idea. There has been, I believe, a pervasive belief that no matter how much work we put in to developing our own instructional delivery system, the Board will evenutally come in and mandate we use their IDS (or whatever the fad of the day is). I must say that I am somewhat relieved the combination of dwindling funds and a new administration has stalled efforts to force additional schools to join the IDS program for the coming year.
And actually....Danny to your point...What people should know is that IDS stands for Instructional Development System...it is a framework and strategy. It is Aligned Courses, Materials and Technology, PD, Assessments, developing Teacher Leaders, Release periods for Lead Teachers and Common Planning Time...people get hung up on the curriculum- it's not perfect; it's not scripted; it's managed curriculum... it can be and will be modified.
Contrary to belief...IDS is not ending.. It just will not look the way it has looked because it really was very expensive - with materials, technology, teacher stipends, coaching, and OT indicators taking up a significant portion - it is not sustainable in its inception form. Danny, kudos to your school for taking action to put pieces into place. Really, all schools should have an instructional development framework in place. Many good schools do. Science teacher, there will be continued refinement and adjustments around pacing and assessment alignment.
I'm amazed at how many people explain that CPS did not get into the situation it's in overnight yet, want a magic pill that will radically turn everything around in a year on the fly.
In the new world of high-stakes performance management and data analysis... there are going to be quite a few schools that wish they had Central-Office supported IDS.
This comment is directed at the person who identified themselves as "a little ids insight". Who are you? Huberman? More likely Mike Lach. Trying to appear useful. What the heck are you talking about? Every school HAD TO and ALWAYS HAD TO pay to have IDS program. Ten of thousands of dollars out of their school budgets to pay for this central office program. Poorly written assessments, inexperienced coaches, and everything not aligned to ACT/PSAE. How wonderful. Why don't you talk about the data? How have IDS schools have fared since becoming IDS schools? How about the comaprison of data between IDS & non-IDS schools in the same region? How come that never happens? What a mystery. For anyone reading this, IDS will soon be dead, these excuses about money are bull. It was a bad idea all around, decided upon by the non-educators at Central Office, who then forced it on the schools, and it didn't work. Nobody wants a magic pill, they want real educational leadership at the district level. With Huberman though, it's only going to get worse. Just watch what the next "initiative" is going to be.
Another fact: Many who were involved in IDS' development and who are still involved are former classroom teachers.
That said, IDS, like any school reform effort, is not perfect, and some of your comments are valid and should be addressed, in my humble opinion.
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