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discipline

Youth advocates putting their stamp on new student conduct code August 30, 2006 By: Maureen Kelleher The district's new Student Code of Conduct (formerly called the Uniform Discipline Code) is a compromise between two positions: that of youth advocates who wanted more innovative methods of discipline, and principals and teachers who wanted more resources and training to use the innovative practices. Read More \| (0) Comments	A different kind of discipline June 02, 2006 By: Elizabeth Duffrin First-period class at Clemente Achievement Academy is barely underway on a recent Monday, and already 15-year-old Ramon Valentin is in trouble. After his social studies teacher assigns him a detention for disrupting the class, he curses at her and storms down the hallway. Appearing suddenly at the doorway of student advocate Jose Diaz's office, Ramon proceeds to pour out his troubles. "She started yelling at me and said I've got detention!" Read More \| (0) Comments
Q&A with Dan Zaragoza May 12, 2006 By: Cassie del Pilar Problems with violence and discipline are nothing new at Kennedy High, says senior Dan Zaragoza, who participated in last month's student-led protest for better security at the Garfield Ridge school. This year's freshmen, including transfer students from the attendance areas of schools that closed, were especially disrespectful and unruly, he says. Zaragoza, vice-president of student government, talked with writer Cassie del Pilar. There was a lot of press coverage of the protest. How was it organized? Read More \| (0) Comments	Q&A with Tio Hardiman April 18, 2006 By: Elizabeth Duffrin The best way to deter violence in schools is to develop relationships with kids, says Tio Hardiman of the Chicago Project on Violence Prevention at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hardiman, who spoke candidly of running away from home as a teenager and eventually moving to another side of town to avoid gangs, advocates using former gang members to work with kids. He talked with Senior Editor Elizabeth Duffrin. How can schools prevent gang violence? Read More \| (0) Comments
Revamping special education September 02, 2005 By: Ed Finkel Skeptics wonder if the reauthorized federal law on special education will improve services in a district that faces a host of obstacles to educating children with learning disabilities. Each year, hundreds of Chicago Public Schools students are placed in special education because of learning disabilities—often in 3rd grade and later, which experts say is too late to make a real improvement in their education. Read More \| (0) Comments	Three students, three stories show cracks in special ed August 17, 2005 By: Elizabeth Duffrin Most learning-disabled students in Chicago Public Schools are diagnosed at a late age—typically, at 8 or 9, while in 3rd grade or later. Experts say children whose disabilities are diagnosed that late have very little chance of catching up to their classmates academically. Through interviews and a review of school records, Catalyst tracked the stories of three learning-disabled 6th-graders at Casals Elementary in Humboldt Park, which has a higher-than-average special education referral rate and a higher-than-average percentage of learning-disabled students. Read More \| (1) Comments