Archive for July 2012

"Irreplaceable" Teaching Fellows

This week's big report is TNTP's "Irreplaceables" paper, which is getting a lot of mainstream news coverage - and a lot of mixed reactions. States the report:  "Each year, tens of thousands of ["irreplaceable" teachers"] are lost from urban districts due to factors that could be controlled and addressed, including a failure by principals to prioritize teacher retention, toxic school culture, and policies that explicitly undervalue the best teachers...
By Alexander Russo,
July 31, 2012 at 10:09 am • 

Charter Schools & Certification

A couple of days ago we were talking about charter school waiting lists, and INCS sent me this January 2012 ISBE report (PDF) as evidence of the amount of demand. What jumped out at me, however, besides the pretty map, was reading about how the 50 percent/75 percent certified requirement is playing out in the charter... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
July 31, 2012 at 9:37 am • 

Strike - Charter Dynamics

The Tribune compares Richard Daley and Rahm. WBEZ notes that not everyone will be out of school if there’s a strike – and some CPS parents have already begun to take notice. See yesterday’s news for the discussion about the UNO/ St. Scholastica story. If teachers strike, 50,000 [charter school] kids will still be in... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
July 31, 2012 at 6:29 am • 
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Update From Detroit

Update From Detroit
The AFT convention is wrapping up in Detroit. Joe Biden told the gathered that Romney doesn’t care about education like Obama does.  AP story here.  Full speech here.  Karen Lewis — something of a darling nationally and among other union locals for her ferocious and successful resistance to Mayor Emanuel — appeared on a panel... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
July 30, 2012 at 10:34 am • 

Teacher Evals New & Old

And we're back. Hope everyone had a good weekend.  Today's Chicago education news includes updates on the teacher evaluation front from the Sun Times and Catalyst, a new (online) summer backpack donations program, a look back at Rahm Emanuel's long hot summer (it's not over yet, and a few other items.  More to come -- feel free to post additions if you see things I've missed. ...
By Alexander Russo,
July 30, 2012 at 7:56 am • 

Set Big Goals, Says Rhee

Love her or hate her, you might want to know that last Sunday, Michelle Rhee was on NBC’s Meet The Press, talking about the inclination towards silver bullet solutions (though she might be accused of favoring a handful of them) and the lack of ambitious education goal-setting by the Presidential candidates. Rhee’s choice for a... Read more »
By Alexander Russo,
July 27, 2012 at 1:26 pm • 
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Elected School Board?

Today's education news: CPS has hired a new person to run special education, the Defender ponders an elected school board, CTU pushes for a comprehensive recall policy.  It's a hot summer Friday.  What more do you expect...
By Alexander Russo,
July 27, 2012 at 7:28 am • 

July Board Meeting Protests

Today's big news is the Board meeting and related protests from yesterday, including questions about how CPS will pay for the longer day deal they made earlier this week.  A couple of stories about going back to an elected board...
By Alexander Russo,
July 26, 2012 at 8:02 am • 

UEI Unveils "UChicago Impact"

The University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute includes school improvement, teacher preparation, and research arms, as well as charter operations, and its new to me LLC division (dubbed “UChicago Impact”) is according to this new map is already working with schools and districts around the country.  Now you know.
By Alexander Russo,
July 25, 2012 at 12:18 pm • 
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Longer Day Deal

Today's big story is the news that CPS and CTU have reached a partial deal on the longer school day proposal.  It includes nearly 500 teachers getting rehired at a cost of roughly $50M.  Views include pro (Sun Times) and con (Tribune).  But we all know that the most important view on the deal comes from you. So, what do you think?  ...
By Alexander Russo,
July 25, 2012 at 8:36 am •