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Adolescent Literacy

A raft of past programs have failed to substantially improve the reading skills of middle grade and high school students. CPS is trying once again, as part of a federal project that aims to help teens learn how to analyze complex non-fiction.

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discipline

LAMP lights the way for kids April 22, 2008 By: Sarah Karp Patricia* leans against a wall and shrugs defiantly as her teacher and principal bustle around, getting ready for the kick-off of a new mentoring program. Though she was persuaded to return after the school day to Herzl Elementary this Wednesday evening, the 13-year-old wasn’t about to show any enthusiasm. Patricia flatly says she’s bad and likes to fight, and that nothing will change that. “I don’t care about no one because no one cares about me,” she says. Read More \| (0) Comments	Helping students raise their 'EQ' April 22, 2008 By: Sarah Karp On a recent morning, the 2nd-grade students at Spry Elementary in Pilsen take off one shoe and place it in a pile in the middle of a circle, making a motley stack of white sneakers, browning laces and two identical black boots. Each student takes a turn picking up a shoe, finding the classmate who is wearing its match and then greeting him or her. “Buenos días, Jackie,” says a cherub-faced boy to a pony-tailed girl. “Good morning, Eric,” she answers. Read More \| (0) Comments
Getting in touch with the heart April 22, 2008 By: Veronica Anderson Teachers who are best at getting their students to perform better know there’s more to it than delivering content. Just ask Nikki Williams and Barry McRaith of North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School. Read More \| (0) Comments	School violence report needs context November 29, 2007 By: Robin M. Steans I applaud Catalyst Chicago's coverage of school violence in its October 2007 issue. Having spent many years in and around schools on the West Side, however, I think you failed to provide some critical context. Read More \| (0) Comments
Making school a sanctuary October 01, 2007 By: Sarah Karp Clemente High junior Reginald Reese has learned an invaluable lesson that's not part of the curriculum: how to avoid fights and other trouble that he says occur nearly every day at school. For a while, Reese admits, he hung out with gang members and almost became part of the problem at the West Town school, which has one of the highest rates of school violence in the district. But Reese says he got bored, decided to do something constructive with his life and joined a church-based group called Walk By Faith Mission. Read More \| (0) Comments	Teaching alternatives to fighting October 01, 2007 By: Kimberley Driscoll and Sarah Karp "Yeah, yeah, I am a Four, I'm a Mafia." When Edward Ferguson, an 8th-grader at Ella Flagg Young Elementary in Austin, hears talk like this, he knows what to expect next. Kids are "representing" their gangs as they pass in the hallways, and the back-and-forth is often the prelude to a fight, either in the hall or outside after school. "It scares me," says Ferguson, who admits that he has felt pressured to join a gang. "People have gotten beat and seriously hurt." Read More \| (0) Comments
State sets meaningless standard October 01, 2007 By: Sarah Karp Under the Illinois criteria for designating a school as dangerous under No Child Left Behind, not one CPS building has ever received the label, even though numerous campuses have problems with violence year after year. Read More \| (0) Comments	Parents want the real story October 01, 2007 By: Sarah Karp On numerous occasions last school year, Sonya Jacobs' daughter Ashley Charles called from Crane High to tell her mother she'd heard rumors of an impending fight and feared for her safety. Jacobs, whose son was murdered four years ago, was not about to risk having her daughter caught in the middle of a brawl. So every time she got a call, Jacobs dropped everything to pick Ashley up, sign her out of class and hustle her back to the safety of their second-floor apartment. Read More \| (0) Comments
Threats to school staff lead to police reports October 01, 2007 By: Sarah Karp Outside Mather High, a security guard reports that a student handed a knife to a friend during a gang disturbance. At Julian High, some teenagers who were furious at a school policy banning hooded sweatshirts get into an argument with security guards, leading to one student's arrest for assault. At Medill Elementary, a student pulls out a black gun and points it at a classmate. Officials later learn the weapon was a BB gun. Read More \| (0) Comments

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