Education

Education Reform in Action at CICS-Basil

by Ashley Muchow Thanks to the hospitality of Meghan Schmidt, Director of Special Projects at Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS), and Chenita Hardy, Director of CICS-Basil, Amanda Griffin-Johnson, Daniel Anthony, and myself were able to take an eye-opening tour of one of Chicago’s groundbreaking charter schools—CICS-Basil. CICS-Basil is a K-8 charter school located in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood. The...

By Chris Andriesen

Terry Mazany named head of Chicago Public Schools

By Collin Hitt Greg Hinz reports that Mayor Daley has officially named the replacement for the outgoing Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman. The new schools CEO – and probably the last of the Daley administration – is Terry Mazany from the Chicago Community Trust, who will serve in an interim role until the city’s next mayor...

By Chris Andriesen

NYC Loses Its Schools Chief

by Collin Hitt The head of New York City’s schools is leaving after eight largely successful years. Replacing Joel Klein as Chacellor – that’s what they call their superintendent in NYC – will be publishing exec Cathie Black. During Klein’s tenure, the percentage of poor fourth graders scoring as proficient in reading on the Nation’s Report Card...

By Chris Andriesen

Unions’ Preferred Rating for Teachers: NR

by Dan Proft Amid the contentious debate as to how we improve public education in America, there is one reality to which all parties subscribe: there is no substitute for a quality teacher in the classroom. The scholarship on teacher quality is clear. It is the most important school-related factor in student achievement. Some studies...

By Chris Andriesen

Fact Finder: Charter Schools Retain Students Better than Nearby Public Schools

Fact: The percentage of students who transfer out of charter schools is roughly half that of the neighborhood public schools which charter students would likely otherwise attend. Charter schools are a new kind of public school, attended solely by choice. They must take all comers, irrespective of past performance in school or on tests. Through...

By Collin Hitt

League of Extraordinary High Schools

Problem Chicago’s “open enrollment” high schools that have struggled for decades—graduation rates hover in the fifties, test scores rank far below national averages, and less than 6 percent of students earn a college degree. It is these schools that reform efforts have focused upon and often failed. It is in this light that Chicago parents...

By Collin Hitt

Charter Schools in the UK?

by Collin Hitt The UK is considering a new policy modeled after charter schools in America. Called “free schools,” the proposal has been endorsed by Arne Duncan in advance of his visit to the country this week. A story in today’s London Telegraph framed the issue well, and quoted yours truly: For Mr Gove, the...

It’s Report Card Day for Illinois Schools!

by Collin Hitt The Illinois State Board of Education has announced that it will release school report cards today, showing whether schools are doing better or worse at meeting state and federal academic standards. The decision to release information on a Friday afternoon heading into a weekend when everyone is going to be focused on...

Illinois Teachers, the Most Comfortable in America

by Collin Hitt Teacherportal.com, an online resource for teachers and would-be teachers, has created a Salary Comfort Score Index that ranks each state. Illinois public school teachers always rank among the country’s highest-paid, but what standard of living does that provide once other factors are accounted for. A word from Teacherportal on its methods: The...

D+ Math Standards Good Enough for Illinois Schools?

by Collin Hitt Federal education law compels states to create performance standards for their schools. Some state choose high standards – creating a common expectation that students are learning at or above grade level. Other states have low standards – benchmarks that are so easy for schools to meet that no meaningful information is provided...

The Freshman Four Hundred Million

by Collin Hitt You’ve heard of losing the Freshman Fifteen. But can Illinois colleges trim fat, too, by lowering their freshman dropout rates? The American Institutes of Research has published a new report estimating the Illinois taxpayers spent almost $400 million on college costs for students who never made it to sophomore year ($300 of that was...

Rhee Gone

by Collin Hitt Michelle Rhee has stepped down as head of Washington D.C. Public Schools. Her departure was widely expected after her boss, D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, was defeated in the city’s mayoral primary election. The new documentary “Waiting for Superman” is making Rhee a household name. But her bold vision for D.C. schools made...

Trib on Superman and Illinois Schools

by Collin Hitt The Chicago Tribune wrote an editorial review of “Waiting for Superman.” I’m probably quoting at too great a length below, but the editors outlined a reform platform in a remarkably efficient five paragraphs. “Waiting for Superman” has drawn a lot of blowback. Critics say the film unfairly casts teachers unions as the...

Rhee or Vallas to Chicago?

by Collin Hitt Chicago mayoral hopeful Gery Chico says that he’d be interested in bringing Paul Vallas back to run the city’s public school system. Chico mentioned the possibility to Chicago Magazine columnist Carol Thelsenthal, who had floated the idea of bringing Michelle Rhee from Washington, D.C. to Chicago. I asked announced mayoral candidate Gery Chico, a...