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The US Department of Education has released final rules for the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant, a stimulus-funded competitive grant aimed at school districts and nonprofits. (Ed Week)
* While the Supreme Court considers Chicago’s handgun ban, Mayor Richard Daley pushes statewide gun restrictions. (Tribune)
More from WBEZ.
* Students are filing college financial aid requests at a fast clip as state funding lags. Nearly 45 percent of CPS seniors have already done so. (Huffington)
* The Tribune Editorial Board applauds Urban Prep for its 100-percent college acceptance rate.
In state news
* Two Naperville area elementary schools may switch to Schoolwide Title 1 programs.
The shift to the Title I Schoolwide Program at Georgetown and Longwood would mean significant changes to how they would help the schools' many disadvantaged students, including training all staff members at the schools and increasing parent involvement to help students achieve. The schools will not likely see more funding as a result of the change, but they would be able to reach more students with the funds they have.
* In Downers Grove, D58 school officials are seeking a waiver for spiking administrative costs. (DGreport.com)
* Mt. Vernon superintendent recommends curriculum overhaul before high school facilities upgrade. (Register-News)
* Red-ink coverage: District 300 cuts 100 teachers (Daily Herald); West Richland cuts teaching positions (ODM); Springfield D186 may cut classroom teachers (SJR); Geneva schools cut $1.4 million (Daily Herald); Delavan superintendent, facing budget cuts, skips own pay raise (Pantagraph)
* Harvey mayor tapped as schools superintendent in controversial selection process. (Tribune)
* Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan keynotes Illinois PTA meeting in Naperville this weekend. (Naperville Sun)
* National-Louis University appoints Nivine Megahed as the school’s 11th president. (Press release)
In national news
* Ed. Sec. Arne Duncan’s call for beefed up civil rights enforcement comes into focus. (AP)
The federal Department of Education wants to intensify its civil rights enforcement efforts in schools around the country, including a deeper look at issues ranging from programs for immigrant students learning English to equal access to college preparatory courses.
The department is expecting to conduct 38 compliance reviews around 40 different issues this year, said Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights in the Education Department.
* Health issues facing urban students fuel achievement gap, study says. (Ed Week)
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Mailand those that graduate do they find work in the field they studied.
pushing everyone through college has been shown to create issues that will only been seen years from now(de-industrialized post-service economy).
drk
What happened to all the young men who started high school there? Aren't we missing some stories?
The following information comes from the Illinois Interactive Report Card.
Meets or exceeds state standards, juniors:
15% Urban Prep Academy
62% CPS
A few other statistics of note from IIRC, averaged over the last three years.
Low income population:
66% Urban Prep Academy
84% CPS
Mobility rate:
9.3% Urban Prep Academy
21.5% CPS
Limited English Proficiency
0.47% Urban Prep Academy
14.4% CPS
166 students were enrolled at Urban Prep Academy in the spring of 2007. 107 of those students remain in this graduating class, an impressive feat in and of itself. But what happened to the 35% of students that are no longer enrolled? Did they drop out of school? Were they counseled out? Were they removed for poor academic performance? How many of them ended up at local neighborhood schools, and why?
It is interesting that the main lessons learned, according to quotes from the students themselves, involve not book learning so much as citizenship, discipline, and personal responsibility.
Also, as a commenter mentioned above, any school in the city could match this 100% college acceptance rate by mandating application to college for all graduating seniors. These types of stories sure feel good but education reporters should really dig a little deeper and look at such claims with a critical eye.
I can see that you are skilled at cutting and pasting. However, are you good at understanding what you are typing?
"Low income population:
66% Urban Prep Academy
84% CPS"
It's handy that you used the last 3 years when the middle year has a strikingly low percentage of low-income population, yet the other 2 years have incredibly high percentages. Using the average skews the data. If you had common sense, you'd list the 3 years and recognize that the middle year CLEARLY had some sort of glitch. You can't go from 80%+ to below 30% then over 90% without something going wrong.
"Mobility rate:
9.3% Urban Prep Academy
21.5% CPS"
Do you understand what mobility rate is? Mobility rate is when students move out of schools. A low mobility rate is GOOD because it means students ARE NOT LEAVING.
"Limited English Proficiency
0.47% Urban Prep Academy
14.4% CPS"
The school is over 99% African American. What language would you like them to speak if not English? You're a fool.
"166 students were enrolled at Urban Prep Academy in the spring of 2007. 107 of those students remain in this graduating class, an impressive feat in and of itself. But what happened to the 35% of students that are no longer enrolled? Did they drop out of school? Were they counseled out? Were they removed for poor academic performance? How many of them ended up at local neighborhood schools, and why?"
Look at your interactive report card. There are 33 students listed as chronic truants. It is possible those 33 students dropped out or transferred or were retained a school year. In addition, families move (hence the 9% mobility rate) or students give into peer pressure and attend the local high school to stay with friends.
It sucks to see a class size dwindle, but it happens. CPS has nearly a 50% drop out rate. The 59 students could have been retained, dropped out, moved, or transferred. It's not like a Charter school can magically kick kids out for academic performance. I work at a Charter school (not UP) and we CANNOT LEGALLY REMOVE a child for lack of academic performance. We are judged by our expulsion rates, btw. Charter schools can't expel kids for lack of academic achievement. They *can* remove a student for violence, drugs, or gang affiliations after appropriate interventions have been looked into (in some instances).
It'd be nice if you actually paid attention to what is going on, rather than raining on a rare achievement. I bet you were really unpopular in high school for your delightful attitude.
Isn't the CPS graduation rate 50%?
Then how have 45% of them applied for college aid?
I believe Monique Bond was referring to CPS seniors. Many of the district's dropouts leave school in earlier grades.
A blind lottery is a nice catch phrase but the selection process typically takes place before the lottery occurs. Targeted advertising, full family interviews, lengthy applications, information sessions during the work day, mandatory parent volunteerism, applications available only online, applications only available in person, multiple letters of recommendation, grade and discipline checks, essays, etc., etc., etc. all contribute to the selection process and most typically cull students based on strong parental involvement and family investment in education. Again, no judgement here, just a reality that is essential to understanding comparisons between charters and neighborhood schools.
I have spoken with leaders of charters at Noble and KIPP who freely acknowledge that they gear their admissions towards students with parents who are active in their children's education. (Thanks for the honesty, guys.) That's selective. Not necessarily evil or nefarious. Just selective. By the way, according to CPS figures charter schools citywide accept 35% of their students from the neighborhoods in which the schools reside. Also in charters: lower rates of a) students living in poverty, b) English Language Learners, and c) students with special needs. No judgement there, just facts. But important ones.
While I disagree with that vision of public education it doesn't really stick in my craw unless and until those charters are compared to neighborhood schools - most often by charter school cheerleaders. Please, brag until you are blue in the face about the accomplishments at UP, but do not compare those accomplishments to results in the comparatively handicapped neighborhood school system or in the CPS as a whole.
The media, the mayor, and many charter proponents prefer to blur or eliminate the distinction between these types of schools. It is irresponsible and misleading to do so.
Joe Linehan
CORE
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