2,000 Grades Boosted at Hyde Park Academy - Sun-Times
CPS is investigating several schools after a new electronic grading system shows many grades at the school were altered. At Hyde Park alone, 870 F's were changed to passing grades. Union leaders say there's increasing pressure to raise grades to avoid the penalties for failure.
Quinn budget proposal: borrow $1.7 billion - Tribune
Governor's budget proposal contains laying of 13,000 teachers and school staff and a $1.3 billion cut in education.
One Chicago Public Schools Success in Wicked Englewood is Malevolently Deceptive
The Examiner
Examiner columnist Edward Hayes says the success at Urban Prep is a false victory for Englewood.
Parent Universities: Teaching Parents to do their job - Tribune
Glenbard High has a program that teaches parents about communication, boundaries and the dangers facing modern teens.
Ohno tells kids to avoid underage drinking - Sun-Times
Olympic athlete and ballroom dancer Apolo Ohno tours CPS schools, telling kids to get involved in sports instead of alcohol.
Your Local School Council Needs You - Sun-Times
Reader letter says only 2,400 people have applied for LSC positions across the city and many more are needed.
Filed under: 125 S. Clark Street, Daily News Roundup
Can we not validate that incendiary article from the Examiner by posting in on 299? The underhanded slams at Robeson are unnecessary if you read that man's other articles he's just constantly vicious for no reason.
Dr. John Kugler, what's the 411 on the grade changing at Hyde Park Academy High School?
Congratulations Dr. Kugler. job well done. Gradebook sucks, but the HPHS principal's letter alone speaks volumes of what CPS and Office of High Schools and High School AIOs/CAOs are all about--CHEATING!
So true--when we had some teachers cheat on the grades, make them higher, our principal, when he found out, got the teachers to change them back to the REAL (lower) grades. The CAO took this out ON THE PRINCIPAL and so did the LSC!
Jagi, I'm also from CORE and we most definitely believe that Urban Prep Charter's graduation rates are misleading. We've said so publicly. When you say all 107 students were accepted into college and don't mention that 58 students who were in their freshman class who were eased out--you're being very dishonest. Urban Prep's numbers are actually very poor considering the way they cherry pick.
With that said, he goes well beyond criticizing the school and its dishonest little data manipulation. I would hope no teacher would call the students of Robeson "semi-literate", "thugs", or "retards". I actually working on an article on Urban Prep's miraculous mirage for www.edumacationarchive.com that should be out within the week, but you can be sure I'll be attacking this unfair system and not the students at either school.
Joe Linehan
CORE
What does a "grade change" mean anyway? Neither CPS nor the media define that phrase. Does it mean grades that are overridden by teachers before report cards are printed? Does it mean grades that are overridden by administrators before report cards are printed? Does it mean teachers request a grade change from administration after report cards are sent out? Does it mean administrators make changes after report cards are completed?
One of the benefits of a digital system like GradeBook is that all of those changes should be traceable to the grade changer's login. There should be no question about who made the changes and when. The only real question should be why.
Am I missing something or is the article noting that it could just be due to foul ups with Gradebook? So is this a story or not? It is hard to say when you carefully read the whole article.
@Danielle from CORE
That man may be vicious, but his take on Urban Prep Charter--and any other charter--is on target. Since when does CORE not support articles that tell the truth about charters?
I use that CORE for identification. I speak as a Robeson teacher in indignation that this man calls all my students thugs and retards and claims that only 31 of them can read. You can get your point about Urban Prep across without attacking neighborhood school students.
True? All Robeson students are thugs and retards? Only 31 can read and write? Seriously? That man is not a professional journalist and should be slapped with a libel suit. I use CORE to identify myself but don't speak for the group. However, Chicago Youth Initiating Change will gladly represent a defense for students.
Our CAO has asked our school to do the same: telling teachers to find ways to pass these F students. CAOs have told teachers that they have access Gradebook and can look up which teachers have high failure rates. They are part of the Huberteam-this is performance management!
It's too bad CPS stopped using the FA grade. FA was given to students in HS who missed 8 weeks of school in a marking period. The FA meant: failure due to absence. This is an honest grade which helped the student and would stop all this grade lying. It would also really show why students were getting Fs, v. the FA for being out of school unexcused.
You can ease your concerns, I teach math. I see the return of anonymity has brought the return of condescending comments. If you'd like to have a serious conversation, let me know and I'll post my email address.