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Guest Column Debate skills help students prepare for Common Core February 24, 2012 By: Les Lynn and Edie Canter The Republican debates—21 so far this presidential primary season—have captured the attention of Americans. As the New York Times reported on October 16, the television audience for these intense verbal clashes has been record-breaking, nearly doubling the ratings for the 2008 primary debates. Read More \| (4) Comments	Guest Column Facilities problems lost amid school closings controversy February 17, 2012 By: Andrew Broy Chicago has a school facilities problem. Among its more than 600 public school buildings, 224 are enrolled at less than 50% capacity, according to the legislative task force established to examine the issue. Many of these schools produce abysmal achievement results, and now CPS is attempting to manage its building inventory by taking certain school actions, including closing two underperforming, and under-enrolled, high schools, Crane and Dyett. Read More \| (2) Comments
Guest Column Reforms won't work without trust February 16, 2012 By: Laurence Stanton State Education Agencies (SEAs), school districts and teacher unions across the country have committed or will soon commit to making ambitious changes to their schools over the next several years in response to the Race to the Top competition and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act waiver process. The commitments include everything from the Common Core standards to new ways of evaluating and compensating teachers. If well-planned and implemented, each of these initiatives could be a powerful lever for school improvement. Read More \| (5) Comments	Letter From the Editor Dual language for all students February 10, 2012 By: Lorraine Forte Back in July, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the creation of a city Office of New Americans intended to, in his words, “make Chicago the most immigrant-friendly city in the world.” Read More \| (0) Comments
Guest Column To stop youth violence, ask students for the answers February 06, 2012 By: Robin Hulshizer In 2010, 70 school-age children from Chicago were killed by gunfire and more than 600 were wounded, according to the Chicago Police Department. Youth violence is widespread, and is the second leading cause of death nationally for people between the ages of 10 and 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Read More \| (0) Comments	Guest Column Teachers can't thrive as 'lone rangers' February 02, 2012 By: Jacob Gourley In my dozen-plus years as a social studies teacher at Thornton Fractional South High School in south suburban Lansing, Ill., I’ve become well practiced in the art of doing more with less. Most of my fellow public school teachers, I’m sure, know what I’m talking about. With budgets tight and resources scarce, teachers learn how to stretch everything from supplies to classroom minutes. Read More \| (16) Comments
Guest Column No time to waste on longer day November 15, 2011 By: Jennifer Davis Chicago’s children deserve better. The majority of the city’s public school students today are not being prepared for success in this increasingly competitive global economy. Without dramatic change, it is unlikely that Chicago students living in poverty today will even have the chance to live a middle-class life. That is unacceptable. Read More \| (13) Comments	Guest Column Common Core: Caution on narrative writing November 07, 2011 By: Steve Zemelman There’s certainly a lot to like in the new Common Core State Standards embraced by the Chicago Public Schools – serious attention to writing, emphasis on reading non-fiction (which college students must study), and a focus on higher-level thinking. At the same time, teachers’ first obligation is to children’s learning, so they must apply these standards judiciously, not unthinkingly. And the standards have some limits. Read More \| (1) Comments
Guest Column Raise the bar to college persistence, not just college-going October 10, 2011 By: Jeff Nelson In the last 20 years, the United States has plummeted from first place to 12th place in college graduation rates. As a result, this generation of college-age Americans is at risk of being the first generation to be less-educated than their parents. Read More \| (1) Comments

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