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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Why Is Chicago Our National Model? « Diane Ravitch's blog

Why Is Chicago Our National Model? « Diane Ravitch's blog:


Why Is Chicago Our National Model?

 Great Chicago Fire 
A reader writes about the injustice of closing schools in Chicago instead of helping them.
It s odd to think that Chicago is now our national model of school reform, as Chicago continues to rank in the bottom tier on NAEP in reading and math, in fourth grade and eighth grade.
In Chicago, 10 more schools lost ALL their staff and administration to turnarounds this year . They will be opening in the fall with a much younger, less-diverse staff but the same students (Black and Hispanic).One school, Pablo Casals, posted an 8% gain in its ISAT scores , in a year when the system average gain was only 0.9%. It is at par with all its neighborhood schools, and outscored over 100 elementary schools in Chicago ( even in 2011). Still, it was put on the list and acted upon by CPS , and now its teachers ( the ones who helped achieve that 8% gain) are spread out across the city. Weary from this process, many moved on to much 



How Corporate Talk Prevails

Rita Solnet is a parent activist in Florida who works hard to support public education in Palm Beach County, in Florida, and across the nation. She is a co-founder of Parents Across America.
She writes in response to the article about whether schools are and are not like businesses:
I am a product of corporate America and still involved in organizational consulting for corporate America.I listened to the lobbyists and the FL BOE members recklessly scatter business terms throughout their State BOE meeting this week. At one point I wanted to shout “these business terms are for companies with products; they’re not meant for the process of educating children.” Not to mention the fact that some of the terms were preposterously misused.Frequently interspersed with education jargon were terms like: Rebranding; ROI (return on investment);, ROA (return on assets); Six Sigma (a program emphasizing quality and perfection in