achievement gap | catalyst-chicago.org

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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

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achievement gap

Teaching the art of the essay February 04, 2013 By: Rebecca Harris Selective schools and military high schools (which also have selective admissions criteria) have some of the highest pass rates for students of color on Advanced Placement tests. One of those schools is Rickover Naval Academy, housed in the Senn High campus in Edgewater. In spring 2011, 52 percent of the Latino students at Rickover who took AP classes passed at least one test. In spring 2012, the rate fell to just 35 percent for Latinos, but half the school’s 12 African-American AP students passed an AP exam. Read More \| (0) Comments	Not passing the test February 04, 2013 By: Rebecca Harris In an effort to expose more students to college-level work, CPS has in recent years pushed more students to participate in Advanced Placement classes. The district has included AP enrollment in its school achievement formula, grading principals on the number of students who take AP classes and pass AP tests. In some ways, the policy has worked: Since 2000, CPS has quadrupled the percentage of students taking AP classes citywide, with participation increasing by an average of 13 percent every year. Read More \| (1) Comments
Limited options February 04, 2013 By: Sarah Karp The sign taped on the door says “No Boys Allowed.” Inside the room, donuts and small, white Styrofoam cups of orange juice and water sit on a desk. Several young women slowly walk in with a look of consternation on their faces. “It is critical down there,” says one. “That is crazy,” says another. Teacher Magen Kilcoyne, whose curly, sandy-colored hair is pulled back and who is dressed in black cargo pants and a black “Bowen Class of 2012” T-shirt, shakes her head as she plops down copies of author Nathan McCall’s book “Makes Me Wanna Holler” on everyone’s desk. Read More \| (23) Comments	Getting a chance February 04, 2013 By: Sarah Karp In 2008, a federal judge freed CPS from the dictates of a long-standing desegregation decree that had kept at least some racial balance in the district’s elite selective schools. To try and maintain that balance in four selective high schools—Walter Payton, Jones, Northside College Prep and Whitney Young, bar-none the best high schools in the city—CPS officials started a program that offers seats to promising black students from the district’s worst elementary schools, who otherwise would not have qualified for admission. Read More \| (22) Comments
Closing the opportunity gap February 04, 2013 By: Lorraine Forte Every year, a high-stakes gamble begins. Read More \| (0) Comments	Course offerings February 04, 2013 Read More \| (0) Comments
Parents: Train teachers to better serve English learners January 18, 2013 By: Rebecca Harris STEM Magnet Academy parent Christine Bay-Spiric complains that her children, who are English language learners, have met obstacles in school: Unclear homework instructions that she is expected to explain to them. Missing assignments because they couldn’t make up work from days they missed due to a religious holiday. She and other parents are pinning their hopes for change on a law that State Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (24th District) plans to introduce in the next month. Read More \| (3) Comments	In the News: D46 teachers go on strike January 16, 2013 By: Cassandra West Teachers in Grayslake, Round Lake and other northern suburbs are going on strike this morning after they were unable to reach an agreement with Community Consolidated School District 46, the Tribune reports. Read More \| (1) Comments
Grades for Illinois education up slightly, but still low November 13, 2012 By: Sarah Karp Only one-third of Illinois students are proficient in reading at 3rd grade, begin high school academically on-track to graduate and leave high school ready for college, according to the latest Advance Illinois report on education in Illinois. Read More \| (1) Comments

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