Most Chicago property taxpayers pay $164 a year more than their suburban and downstate counterparts under the state’s uneven teacher pension funding system, according to numbers the Chicago Public Schools provided to the Sun-Times.

Organizations that run community schools—the programs that keep school doors open into the evening with classes for adults and activities for children—reportedly have been told by CPS that they will not receive district funding next year. (Catalyst)

IN THE STATE
Indian Prairie Unit District 204 has asked the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation to expand its role by providing funding for programs traditionally undertaken by the district, including an anti-bullying program and interventions for at-risk students. (Daily Herald)

IN THE NATION
New York lawmakers voted last week to make kindergarten mandatory for all 5-year-olds in New York City, lowering the required age for schooling by one year. (The New York Times)

Twelve Atlanta teachers accused of helping students cheat on standardized tests have been reinstated after being cleared in a review of their cases by the school district. (The Augusta Chronicle)

After six months of searching for a new superintendent, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission revealed Friday the names of two finalists for the school district's top job. One is Pedro Martinez, a 2009 Broad Academy graduate who also served as chief financial officer of Chicago Public Schools under Arne Duncan. (Newsworks)

Bullying of teachers and staff has become more damaging students get access to advanced technology at earlier ages. (AP/Boston Globe)

Sixteen struggling Los Angeles Unified schools will lose nearly $60 million from a state program designed to boost student achievement after they fell short in raising scores on standardized tests, according to officials. (Los Angeles Daily News)

He had announced in March that the city would open 10 new IB programs – five whole-school programs, including one at Back of the Yards and another at Senn High School in Edgewater – and five new programs in existing neighborhood high schools.

It was not immediately clear what the school’s enrollment policy would be. Brizard emphasized students would not have to test in, but said they would be chosen by their “drive and affinity with the program.” He said students in the neighborhood will get priority for enrollment.

After 10^th grade, students will be able to take individual IB classes (similar to Advanced Placement classes), pursue an IB diploma, or participate in a new IB career-education program.

When pressed on whether his get-tough school strategy had backfired, leading to Monday’s Chicago Teachers Union announcement of a landslide vote for strike authorization, Emanuel said that “my goal is to make sure we have an education system that puts our children first.”

He also touted recent agreements over McCormick Place and the police and firefighter wellness plans, as well as CPS’ agreements with SEIU and UNITE-HERE, as evidence that he is trying to build a collaborative relationship with the city’s unions.

Mayra Lopez, an organizer with the Resurrection Project, a Pilsen-based community development agency, says many in the community still have unanswered questions about how the school will serve students with average performance.

“Are all the students going to have to take IB? Is there going to be an alternative track? I don’t think a lot of the students in the neighborhood are prepared to go into an IB curriculum after 8^th grade,” she says.

And, she says, the school – which only has room for 1,200 students – will only be able to serve about half of the 600 8^th-grade students who graduate from Back of the Yards elementary schools each year.

“What happens to the rest of the students – are they still going to have to go to Richards and Tilden, and deal with the problems they had before?” she asks.

 On Friday, Emanuel appeared at Curie High School to announce that CPS would open five wall-to-wall International Baccalaureate high schools in 2013, as well as five additional programs within neighborhood schools.

The University of Chicago study looked at the impact of the IB program in 12 neighborhood high schools. Based on data for students who graduated between 2003 and 2007, the study found that students who graduated from the IB program were 40 percent more likely to attend four-year colleges and 50 percent more likely to attend more selective colleges.

The highly regarded International Baccalaureate program was originally designed for children of diplomats to make sure that, even as they traveled from country to country, they would be exposed to the same rigorous curriculum. 

Up until 1996, Lincoln Park High School had the city’s only IB program, and the school kept selective. But then-CEO Paul Vallas expanded the program, despite concerns that few students in neighborhood schools could make it through the curriculum.

Since the expansion into 12 neighborhood high schools, the growth of the IB program slowed and IB students in CPS are less likely to earn a full IB diploma than in other places, according to the Consortium study released Thursday.

However, in addition to being more likely to go to college and remain enrolled, the IB students were also likely to go to more selective colleges than comparable students. In surveys, the IB students reported that they felt more prepared for college coursework.

Melissa Roderick, a Consortium researcher and one of the authors of the study, says she was wowed by the results. Roderick has researched college access and persistence for a number of years, and wrote in the study’s summary that no other program has had such an effect on college persistence.

“These students are amazingly successful,” Emanuel said Friday. He was flanked at Curie by a group of former students from Curie’s IB program, who reported that they are finding college easier than high school.

CEO Jean-Claude Brizard said the details of the plan to develop IB high schools and more IB programs have not been worked out yet. District officials will work with community action councils and the chiefs of high school networks to figure where the new programs should be located and how they will be set up.

Though the existing programs have some level of selectivity, Brizard said he does not envision that there will be many barriers preventing students from enrolling. “They will be [in] neighborhood schools where students choose to go,” he said.

The primary added cost of IB programs covers a coordinator and training for teachers in how to use the IB curriculum. The current programs each cost the district from $150,000 to $175,000 per year.

 IB programs do not require an entrance exam. But Emanuel said he envisions that they will provide new options for students who now clamor to get into the district’s nine selective enrollment schools.

As he campaigned for office, Emanuel said he shook hands of parents as they waited in line to go to Lane’s open house.

“Parents are nervous about the opportunity for their children to go to a good high school,” he said. The additional IB high schools and programs will add to the city’s “educational toolbox.”

Curie’s IB coordinator, Sharyl Barnes, listened to the mayor’s press conference with a bit of skepticism in mind.  She said that choosing the right students and nurturing them is the key to a successful program, and that not every student will want to do four to five hours a night of homework--including numerous long essays.

A significant number of students who start out in the IB program during freshman year withdraw--almost 40 percent, according to the Consortium study.

Curie’s program interviews every student it accepts, but others consider ISAT scores and other factors.

Finding the right students is not always easy. Curie is one of the more attractive programs, with a lot of applications. The school has typically brought in 60 freshmen for IB, but plans next year to have a class of 136.

Other neighborhood IB programs that want to expand can struggle as they compete with selective enrollment schools. Hyde Park High School IB coordinator Deshonda Wright said she wants to increase the freshman IB cohort from 25 students to about 90.

Hyde Park sent out IB acceptance letters to about 200 students. So far, 56 are expected to enroll. Wright acknowledges that many are waiting to see if they can get into a selective enrollment school on the second round.

Wright points out that expanding the program might be challenging. IB students must be ready for hard work, deep conversations and the idea that it is a global curriculum.

“Sometimes the students say, ‘Why do we have to do this?’ ”she says. “I tell them, they are doing the same project at Lincoln Park, the same project at Curie, the same project in Vietnam.”

The students in Hyde Park’s IB program think that bringing more students in would be a good thing. Many of them say that they were disappointed when they didn’t win spots in a selective enrollment school. One girl notes that Hyde Park was her backup program and she really didn’t know much about it when she received an acceptance letter.

When they got to the school, the students say they quickly learned they would be together as a cohort and would be pushed to do hard work. The same group of students stays together in every class, usually staying late and helping each other out.

They say that few withdraw from the program. Moesha Wade said she likes the challenge. “This is getting me ready for college.”

IB Diploma coordinator Denise Everhart says that every one of her graduates goes to college, and last year their average ACT score was 20. Among Hyde Park’s general program, about half of graduates go to college and the average ACT score is 14.

Yet the Hyde Park IB students say that there are other students in the school who would benefit from the rigor. At the moment, those students might think they can’t, or don’t want to, do the work. But they can be convinced otherwise.

“I think everyone should be part of the IB program,” says Briana Hayes. “We would have doubted our abilities too, if we hadn’t been pushed to do it.

The University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research conducted the study, "Working to My Potential: The Postsecondary Experiences of CPS Students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme." The study also found that IBDP students in four-year colleges are significantly more likely to persist in four-year colleges for two years. Study authors say the findings have important implications for other urban districts that are interested in implementing IB programs. (Catalyst)

An International Baccalaureate program created in Switzerland for the children of diplomats has produced “dramatic’’ results in Chicago’s gritty neighborhood high schools by sizably boosting the chances its graduates will make it into selective colleges — and stay there, a new study from the University