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Media: Solorio High Stories Missing Key Elements

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

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Several news outlets decided to cover the opening of Solorio High yesterday (WBEZ:  CPS Builds New High School, Private Company Manages the Rest., ABC7: CPS high school named after fallen Chicago Police Officer Eric Solorio), making a big deal about the new facilities, the fallen officer the school's named after, etc.  But none of the coverage I've seen deemed it worthy to note what readers of this blog already know -- that the school had been renamed at the last minute, that it's original principal pick had been replaced, or that the school had been given over to AUSL -- a turnaround management company with limited experience with high schools -- under circumstances that weren't entirely clear. A brief Google search, a talk with a community member not picked by City Hall handlers is all it would have taken. 

AM News: Still No Chief Academic Officer

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

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"Principals and teachers at Chicago Public Schools are gearing up for the school year that begins next week, and some say they're doing it without a needed chief education officer."  (CPS Principals Feeling 'Lost at Sea' WBEZ)

The Struggle To Save [Fix?] Smyth Elementary

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

 

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It's a story we've heard a thousand times -- a low performing neighborhood school pressured as new families move in and want more options for their kids. Last year it was Pulaski. The year before it was... I forget. The Chicago Journal has the latest version of the story, involving Smyth Elementary (Parents: Smyth not good enough):  "As families with school-age children continue to move into the redeveloped South Loop, school space is becoming scarce at nearby magnet schools. And, the space allotted at Smyth school is just not good enough to some who criticize Smyth as a non-racially diverse program that performs at the bottom of the charts and is full of poor kids."

Secret Hiring Process & Payroll Cost Question

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

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How do top schools fill openings without listing job availabilities and getting swamped with candidates?  I'm not sure.  But it seems to happen all the time, based on comments and emails like this one from a reader:  "I interviewed yesterday for an English opening at Payton (didn't get it) and also was tipped off about an opening at Lincoln Park HS (which the department chair said they just filled). Neither of these jobs was posted on the district website, yet others are. I was under the impression that schools have to post the openings."  Also, while we're on the topic of hiring, does it really cost a school anything more to hire a veteran teacher?  I was under the impression that the district gave schoosl teacher slots and average salary costs but that the true actual costs weren't absorbed by the schools but rather averaged across the district.  Please fill me in.

AM News: Gerstein Heads Revamped Turnaround Process

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

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Crane High School student killed ABC7:  This shooting comes two days after a 15-year-old CPS student was gunned down in Humboldt Park... Darrell McKinney, 15, Killed In Gang Crossfire: McKinney, "an exemplary student and athlete" at Orr High School, was shot in the chest as a gang member was reportedly chasing and shooting at someone else... Jody Weis' Secret Gang Summit: City Officials Have Mixed Feelings Huffington Post:  In the days since the Chicago Sun-Times made the meeting public knowledge on Saturday, some members of Chicago's City Council have been harshly critical of Weis' approach... Mokena pair makes school year brighter Herald News:  This year, they've collected thousands of notebooks, binders, colored pencils, calculators and teacher supplies from 25 different schools. Any cash donations they get go to the schools to buy new supplies or school uniforms... Four Chicago neighborhoods to give input on school improvement Catalyst:   The communities--Englewood, Grand Boulevard, Humboldt Park and Austin--all have struggling schools that are prime targets for some type of action from the district.

The Return Of The New Teacher Center

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

 

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The Chicago New Teacher Center is back -- sort of -- thanks to a slew of foundations chipping in to pick up where CPS left off.  As you may recall, the program was cut and the coaches were fired.  CNTC has also gotten funding to start a new principal mentoring program.  Catalyst's Rebecca Harris has the details (Funding for New Teacher Center). 

 

Chicago Public Schools, The Tour

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

 

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Want to tour Chicago public schools in mid-November?  Sure you do.  And now you can, thanks to the IASB.  And if all goes well then maybe next there will be a tour bus or musical based on the school system. Click here (PDF)

 

Reading In Motion's NW Side Expansion

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

 

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"Reading In Motion is bringing its innovative arts-based reading programs to 15 schools on Chicago's Northwest Side for the 2010-11 school year as part of a partnership with the Chicago Public Schools. The expansion into kindergarten and first grade classrooms in CPS' Area 1 means RIM will be in about 25 elementary schools throughout Chicago this school year." If RIM is so good, then why only on the NW side?  See full press release below.

Continue reading...

Illinois Mandates Bilingual Preschool

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

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Illinois recently became the first state in the nation to mandate preschool bilingual education screening (EdWeek) -- even as suburban communities propose English only legislation and the nation debates so-called anchor babies.  All that and more will be discussed at the November 16 conference sponsored by the New Journalism on Latino Children (NJLC) project. Join the discussion at DePaul University in Chicago on Nov. 16 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (latinopolicyforum.org) Does CPS already do preschool ELL screening?  Do kids get ELL services along with the screening or does that just take effect when they get to "real" school?

PowerPoint: The World According To Huberman

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Alexander Russo

I grew up on Roscoe Street in the 1970s, and started this blog in 2005.

Thanks thanks thanks to the reader who sent along this fascinating (yes!) PowerPoint presentation from the principals' meeting at UIC last week. So much interesting information in there (like results from the Scantron pilot and school safety data comparisons from year to year).

 

Take it all with a grain of salt -- and please feel free to any parts that seem interesting or obscure (2010-2011 Principal's Conference.pdf).  Thanks again -- a million Internets! --for sending this in.


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