Teaching and Learning

Yesterday's PTA Advisory Council meeting was a bit disappointing. Our speakers, Annette Gurley and Claudinette Schwarz, each spent what felt like very short periods of time with us. It gave us just enough time for an overview, but not for the rigorous, deep dive discussion that I've come to expect from the monthly PTA Advisory meeting. 

Annette Gurley introduced herself by saying that the title of her office (Office of Teaching and Learning) is actually quite descriptive and accurate of the work done by the office. What her office does is to enhance teaching to provide better learning for the students within the system, she said. 

All this talk of Common Core and emphasis on college, career, and life success is actually important. The rigor of teaching in the 21st century focuses on teaching students to think critically and solve problems--the kinds of tasks they'll need to perform daily in our post-modern, meta-data, information-obsessed economy.  In other words, the very opposite of what Esmee Greenfeld is apparently doing at the NYC Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies. Rote memorization--the kind of kill-and-drill learning environment that many of us grew up in--is no longer relevant, Gurley said. 

This departure from the teaching methods that brought us through an industrial age is a game changer for everyone--from teachers to students to their parents. There is a renewed emphasis on experiential learning. Gurley quoted Richard Elmore's "task predicts performance" philosophy, saying that the professional development sessions her office are conducting focus on helping teachers to design tasks that help students think critically. (I've since read a bit on Richard Elmore, and it's nice to see a CPS Central Officer quote someone who actually makes sense. )

Gurley also acknowledged that the current academic year is a huge transition year for her office. She suggested that parents take time regularly to learn more about Common Core and its ongoing implications for children and families. 

She spoke about the changes in cut scores for the ISAT, a state decision to mitigate the collective shock we'll all feel when the District switches to the PARCC assessment next year. I prefer to think of the PARCC assessment as a way to make sure our schools are teaching our children what they need to know--not as an opportunity to trip them up and spit them out. I suspect Dr. Gurley has a similar philosophy. She told us that she doesn't want children to get to the PARCC and then not be able to complete it.

She told us that a sample 5th grade question on the PARCC tripped her up, and that her office has found the rigor expected of the PARCC to be "an eye-opener." 

In addition to preparedness for PARCC, Gurley reviewed the emphasis on the NWEA assessments, saying that these tests are diagnostic in nature and the baseline tests from last year are being used to develop Learning Maps that are aligned to each individual's learning growth targets. Only children who didn't take the NWEA in the spring last year had to take it this year, Gurley said. These Learning Maps allow a teacher to customize learning experiences to each child, providing time for acceleration or intervention (remediation) during times built into the school day for such work.

Gurley told us that CPS typically categorize learners into three tiers: ones get the lesson 80 percent of the time; twos need a little extra support to get the lesson 15 percent of the time; and threes still don't get it even with extra support. Gurley estimates that there are 3 "threes" in every classroom in CPS. Oy. The recommended intervention for those threes are 3x45-minute sessions each week. Although Gurley noted that good teachers differentiate anyway, I can't help but to wonder how any teacher with 37 kids in his/her classroom has the physical space or the head space to devote to 8% of the class, 5% of the time.  

With Greenfeld's article fresh in my mind, I asked Dr. Gurley about homework. She told me that the individual learning can take place in the classroom, but that it doesn't have to. Sometimes it takes place in a pull-out class, but sometimes it takes place at home via homework. What she said about homework is fuzzy within my notes, but I was left with the impression that the new Teaching and Learning paradigm is going to drag me into the role of after-school/homework tutor. Homework is an opportunity for students to reinforce and practice what they've learned at school, and for parents to preview and understand the concepts their children are in the process of acquiring. If I look at the bright side, it's possible that I may finally learn higher-level math.

Price versus Value

As anyone reading this blog in the past, oh five years, knows, I am a card-carrying PTA member. But in the Internet age, it's difficult to be a member of a volunteer-based organization that also charges dues. A common thread in PTA membership recruitment is what units get from PTA. Why pay to join PTA when you can join advocacy groups like Raise Your Hand, Parents 4 Teachers, Common Sense Coalition, or More Than a Score for free? 

Indeed, if you don't value membership in the PTA, there is probably little I can say to change your mind about the importance of the nation's oldest dues-based advocacy organization. But if you're on the fence, here are some reasons why PTA is a good value:

PTA has longevity and staying power.

Unlike the other groups that have popped up in Chicago over the past five years, the PTA's history runs longer than a century. I am not questioning the validity and good created by these other organizations in calling attention to the problems of CPS. Nor am I saying that being older and better established means an organization is fail proof, as the recent collapses of Jane Addams Hull House and Catholic Charities have demonstrated. But, being old and well-established can have some advantages, like having a seat at the table in policy discussions, brainstorming sessions, and on advisory boards.

PTA makes decisions democratically, using due process.

Unlike newer organizations that lack structure for--or worse, deliberately exclude would-be stakeholders from--determining their organizational agendas, PTA follows a formal process to direct its agenda. Progress toward reform is made more by bottom-up movements than it is by top-down mandates.

PTA's strengths come from within.

We are (almost) all volunteers. Why pay $5 to volunteer? Because PTA gives you a structure in which you can channel your volunteer efforts. Since its inception as the National Congress of Mothers in 1897, PTA has sought to improve children's lives in the areas of education, arts, juvenile justice, bullying and conflict resolution, nutrition and wellness, child labor, and parent engagement.

PTA has influence.

Because of the reasons above, PTA has some influence among local, state, and federal decisionmakers. PTA's standards for parent involvement formed the basis for the NCLB standards for parent involvement, and it helped in the adoption and rollout of Common Core.  

PTA has a relationship with CPS.

Since 1996, the PTA Advisory Committee has enjoyed an insiders' view to CPS departments, programs, initiatives, and policies. Departments present and seek feedback at monthly meetings, and members of the advisory committee share their ideas for increasing family engagement at the school, network, and District levels.

PTA advocates for all children and youth.

This is what it all comes down to. Although it does charge nominal per-capita dues, the PTA is not an elitist organization. It works to advocate for all children and youth. I am making a difference in my children's lives, but I also want to make a difference in the lives of their peers and classmates at their school and through the District. 

As with paying it forward and exhibiting kindness and respect toward others, being a part of the PTA is the right thing to do. I fondly remember the Jaycee-sponsored carnivals of my youth. Rotary International sent me to Belgium and then to France on cultural exchanges when I was a high school student. Alternative Spring Break allowed my college self to support forestry service in Virginia. I subscribe to Malcolm Gladwell's hypothesis that successful individuals come from a cultural background that values hard work and seeks to lend a helping hand. The PTA mission seeks to improve the lives of children and youth; my mission in life is to improve the lives of all members of the society in which we live.

"We're listening" and other causes for skepticism

The last PTA Advisory meeting of the 2012-2013 school year was last week...right as parents, teachers, and principals were learning (or in my case, had yet to learn) about how badly their budgets had been slashed for the 2013-2014 academic year. Our primary speaker was Wendy Thomson of the Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE).

She spoke about transition plans for closing schools. She said that iPads and other promised resources will be available at the welcoming schools. They are District resources for use by the affected students, but it's not a one to one distribution of materials to those affected.

She mentioned Jadine Chou's safe passage program, saying that the District put out an RFP that explicitly sought community-based organizations (CBOs) with ties to each community and plans to hire community members to deliver safe passage services.

For overcrowded schools, Ms Thomson said that the district will use its Education Facilities Master Plan (EFMP) to guide its work with overcrowded schools in the utilization process. The EFMP came out in May and the district plans to conduct community outreach and engagement around four areas or "buckets":

- Program placement - how and where to place STEM, IB, and other programs within existing buildings/school communities
- Capital maintenance projects - CPS calls these capital improvement projects - determining how to prioritize its list of capital projects
- Capital improvement projects - CPS calls these capital enhancement projects - determining how to prioritize improvements to buildings
- Overcrowding/ over enrollment - she said, "nothing is off the table" when I asked about re-drawing the boundaries to improve overcrowding in some areas

For the 49-55 buildings in CPS that have been closed, the District is doing pre-RFP research to determine how best to repurpose these buildings. Carl Hurdlik, CPS moderator for PTA advisory, acknowledged that the city cannot likely sell the buildings because there isn't a lot of interest in them. Plans now to develop/formalize process to redevelop these buildings. A common idea is to use them as community centers.

Brenda Bell from the CACs spoke a bit about the process of transforming these buildings, the need for a formalized process, solid operational outlook, budgeting, etc. Get aldermen, small business partners, CBOs, CACs and parents involved in the re-development process. Use CACs to drive the process of conversion and then have communities themselves take over administration and project ownership of each community center or repurposing of buildings.

Social-Emotional Learning

Yesterday, I attended a workshop on the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) in schools. Our speaker, Caryn Curry of Mental Health America of Illinois, told us that that research shows that children who have at least one trusted adult--whether that adult is a parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, or the school janitor--are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. But, she said, children do not always identify that adult to the adult. 

My conclusion? It's important to treat all children with kindness and respect. You never know how they are going to internalize what you say to them.

"Substantial developmental research suggests that opportunities to connect with supportive adults...  can help youth develop and apply new skills and personal talents." It's especially important for teachers and anyone working in schools to do so.

As a case in point, I offer up Mrs. Rasmussen. Mrs. Rasmussen was a P.E. teacher and gymnastics coach at my high school. While she was not a particularly strong role model for me, she seemed friendly and approachable. So, when I was a sophomore in high school, I asked her to write a recommendation so that I could take Honors gym during my junior and senior years. Honors gym, also known as Gym Leaders, was not based on athletic ability, but was a two-year program that most of the National-Merit crowd used to pump their GPAs.

She declined, and told me, "I just don't see you as a leader," as the reason for her decision.   

For years, I believed that I was not a leader because Mrs. Rasmussen labeled me as such. It is a powerful reminder that a teacher's words can harm a child. Indeed, it's been 23 years since this conversation and I hesitate to define myself as a leader--although I clearly am--because a teacher once told me that I wasn't one. 

Although Ms. Curry told us that such attitudes persist in schools, I am incredibly thankful that this would not happen in my children's school. I think this is in part due to the work of Ms. Curry, who works with educators and parents alike to advocate for the integration of social-emotional learning as a process within the learning environment.

Teacher Appreciation Week was earlier this month. Each year since The Boy began public school, I have been an enthusiastic participant in the week's events that have been planned for our school's teachers. Almost invariably, my favorite teachers are those who have helped me as a parent to see and respond positively to my children's social-emotional needs by doing so themselves in the classroom.

Although SEL is an Illinois state mandate under the Illinois Children's Mental Health Act of 2003, I believe they would incorporate SEL into the classroom anyway because they know that SEL is a process that positively affects academic achievement. Per Ms. Curry, SEL also prepares children for the workforce by teaching them emotional awareness and a set of related social skills, such as collaboration and teamwork, communication, and life-long learning and self-direction skills. And it helps resolve conflict, and contributes positively to violence prevention.

If relationships provide the foundation for learning, it's important that these relationships remain positive and nurturing within the classroom and outside of it. 

Early College STEM at CPS

It's time for a PTA Advisory Council update. Our April meeting was canceled, so we reconvened in May to learn about Office of Teaching and Learning procurement processes and the early college STEM program at CPS, and ignore the elephant in the room that is CPS School Actions and closures.

The procurement process addled my brain a bit, but I think the gist of our speaker's talk was that CPS procurement has revised its vendor process to include better pricing, create a "marketplace" of vendor pricing, revise the RFP/bid process, and expand the scope of work covered by CPS's purchasing agreements. For schools and school-based organizations, talk to your school's business manager to learn more about leveraging the District's purchasing power.

The bulk of our meeting was spent listening to Veenu Verma, director of Early College and Career Education, of the CPS Office of Pathways to College and Career. Ms. Verma was there to go over the CPS's STEM high school program with us. I have to say that it's such a treat to meet CPS leaders in this format. I've yet to meet a visitor to our meetings who is at all hostile to our group. It might be a function of both sides coming to the meeting with generally positive attitudes and open minds.

As we know, CPS tends to have a lot of new initiatives that don't always make the cut from year to year. I'm hopeful that is not the case with the early college STEM schools, with their gradual enrollment strategy. Ms. Verma told us that the STEM schools were based on a model in NY that combines a partnership with CUNY and IBM. She also spoke a bit about the development process for the initiative, which involved speaking with employers and technical companies about the kinds of skills they need, whether technical or soft in nature.

There are five STEM high schools in CPS under this initiative. There is one in each high school network, and each has a neighborhood boundary, corporate partner, and college/university partner. The schools are Lakeview, Sarah Goode, Corliss, Clark, and CVCA. The Lakeview and CVCA programs are tracks within the schools rather than wall-to-wall STEM programs. Lakeview's corporate partner is Microsoft and it's university-level partner is DePaul. Goode's partners are IBM and Daley City College. Corliss's are Verizon and Olive Harvey. Clark's are Cisco and Malcolm X. And CVCA's are Motorola and also Olive Harvey. Clark is currently a magnet school as well, but Ms. Verma expects that to change in the next admission cycle.

She shared that the STEM schools were designed to offer up to a 6-year course of study, potentially bridging high school with the first two years of college. In the ideal case, the most motivated STEM students can earn a high school diploma and an associate's degree within four years. However, some students may end up with only a high school diploma and others may gain some college credit or certifications. Students who achieve City College-ready scores of 21 on the ACT by their junior years will be on track to take college-level courses in one of two ways:

Dual-credit classes via Advanced Placement courses taught within the high school

Dual-enrollment classes via attending classes on the nearby college campus

 
She noted that dual-enrollment classes are eligible for IAI-transferrable credits, which allow them to "count" at any Illinois community college or state university. She also said that each college uses a different approach in evaluating high school transfer credits, such as AP, IB, etc., which has made it difficult to codify the process at the high school level.


STEM students are also eligible to take certifications in three main areas: database and cloud management; network engineering and security; and web development and programming. Of interest is that "pre-engineering" high schools are managed out of the Career and Technical Education office. 

Ms. Verma's office designed the program to "scaffold," so that each year's experiences can be built upon the previous ones, culminating with apprenticeships and internships at junior and senior years. Freshmen community experiences include increasing awareness, mentoring, site visits, and guest speakers. Next year, sophomores at all the schools will start project-based lessons and service learning. Both the corporate and the university partnerships are important components of the programs, with the hope of creating long-term mentoring relationships between students and corporate employee-volunteers. Cisco employees, for example, are building electronic sailboats with Clark students, while IBM employees offer weekly mentoring to Goode freshmen.

At the end of the meeting, after both speakers had completed their presentations, we spoke briefly as a group about school actions. Our moderator shared that members of the CACs in Humboldt Park and Bronzeville are meeting with individual Board of Education members to lobby their causes as part of the BoE's due-diligence process before the May meeting.

Mind in Motion

CPS has so many new initiatives, I'm not sure how central office keeps track of them all. But the good news is that the powers that be often present them to the PTA Advisory Council, of which I am a member.

For our March meeting, we met with two departments within CPS. First up was Abby Rose, who presented and sought feedback with a focus group (us) for the Office of Student Health & Wellness's Minds in Motion program. The idea, she said, was to develop a strategic plan for physical education in the District. The focus group is the first step in the process of developing the plan. The other steps are (2) researching best practices from foundation work and analyzing other large districts' PE practices; (3) drafting the plan; (4) reconvening focus groups with stakeholders to ensure that the draft plan meets their objectives; and developing a steering committee for the draft plan; and (5) bringing the plan to the Board of Education to adopt as a policy.

Ms. Rose began by asking each of us what our favorite childhood memory of PE is/was. Many of us talked about the presidential challenges of so many sit-ups, lap times, etc. (Mine was square dancing.) She then introduced herself as a former teacher and 8-year veteran teacher of PE in CPS. Finally, she led is through some brainstorming exercises for PE in CPS. She asked us what the ideal PE class or curriculum looks like, what makes good PE teaching, what resources PE teachers need to do their jobs effectively, and how PE should be graded. Finally, we created a snapshot of what our group's policy ideal would look like:

- dedicated PE teacher
- funding for position and program
- training and professional development resources for program
- PE class of 30-45 minutes every day for every child
- PE teacher is enthusiastic and motivated

Ms. Rose is running another parent focus group through the Parents United for Healthy Schools Campaign. If you'd like more information on the focus group, have questions, or would like to add your input to the development of the plan, please email the Mind in Motion group at studentwellness@cps.edu

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Next, we heard from Alex Soble and Mary Naset, who represent what they called "Team Digital" at CPS. They manage the social media aspects of CPS online presence, primarily through Facebook and Twitter. Mr. Soble, who seemed very young, described CPS social media as a three-layer cake, with layers for central office, individual schools, and within classrooms. (The Girl's 2nd grade class just started a blog, so this is a timely topic!)

First up, he said that his group uses social media to communicate to parents, citing the young age and accompanying tech-savviness of many CPS parents. His methodology for posting to Twitter or Facebook is to post things that (1) are informational for parents; (2) spark positive conversations; or (3) are relevant to LSC matters. He and Ms. Naset addressed my criticism of the slowness of Facebook posts with news by saying that Facebook isn't really the medium for fast-breaking news. However, if you want to receive Twitter alerts via text, you can send 40404#Chipubschools from your phone. He also said that his group uses analytics to track and improve info-spread of link shares, etc.

Next, he shared that his group did a few presentations to principal groups about the group's new guide for social media for schools. It's available at http://cps.edu/socialmediatoolkit if you want to check it out for yourself or your school. We briefly discussed how CPS school sites don't allow access to Facebook from them, although they do allow access to cps.edu and Twitter, where all information is also posted. There was a Twitter feed on the socialmediatoolkit page when I checked it from my iPhone during the meeting.

We spent the rest of the meeting talking about how to improve CPS.edu and general internet issues at schools. Our PTA moderator asked Mr. Soble to address the general cruddiness of Internet connections at some schools, which make checking anything or using any applications in the classroom near impossible for many schools, like her daughter's school (Lenart).

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Whenever I attend CPS meetings, I always ponder the wisdom of sharing what I've learned or keeping it to myself. Part of me thinks that it's important for CPS (and by extension: me) to be as transparent as possible. But the other part of me winces when I envision an angry mob with pitchforks heading in my direction as I read the comments. I now realize that my CPS experience as a parent is pretty much unlike that experienced by any of my peers or neighbors. For that reason, perhaps I should go back to straight reporting rather than editorializing? 

So with that out of the way: don't shoot the messenger.

This morning, I attended, via teleconference, the November monthly meeting of the PTA Advisory Council. My attendance, either in person or via phone, is mostly sporadic, but I've written about my experiences in the past, and you can read more about the advisory council here. Due to a previous commitment, I had to drop off the call just at the point that the conversation turned to school closings and became heated. But I did hear the first presenter, a man by the name of Ira Rounsaville, who is tasked with revising the district's policy for family life and comprehensive sexual education. 

He started his presentation by saying that he really wants to increase parent involvement in policy development at the district level. (See above.) His department, the newly created Office of Student Health & Wellness, reconstituted from the ghosts of CPS Offices past, is in the process of revising the comprehensive sexual education policy from 2008. The 2008 policy is a revision itself, of the 1965 policy. 

The reason for this, he said, is two-fold. One, there is no uniformity in implementation of sexual education curriculum across CPS currently. And two, and probably more importantly, they looked at the data and trends of what age, and in what ZIP codes they reside, people are getting sexually transmitted diseases. 

He shared that in some areas of the city, kids as young as age 10 are contracting sexually transmitted diseases. He also said that Chicago is the top U.S. city for gonorrhea and chlamydia. In his view, student health affects educational outcomes.

So how is this happening? In what I imagine is a similar method to that employed by the instructional strategy office for Common Core rollout, the Office of Student Health & Wellness went backward from a high school senior to figure out what kinds of knowledge should be covered in each previous year, from a health and sexual education point of view. 

He said that the policy in draft form now would have children in grades K-4th taught the basics of family life as a precursor to sexual education: what the body parts are called, what is good touch/bad touch, what families look like in a general sense--all using age-appropriate terms and concepts. Comprehensive sexual education would begin in 5th grade, again using age-appropriate terms and concepts. The idea is to give students a basic understanding of how their bodies work. 

Currently, the 2008 policy says that condom demonstrations are allowed in 7th and 8th grade with principal consent, and in grades 9-12th with principal notification -- too late to prevent a 10-year-old from contracting gonorrhea. The draft policy would have students see a demonstration of condom use in 5th grade, period. He pointed out that even if you think your 5th grader is not ready for sex; he or she may be targeted by the sexually mature students in his or her class or in 6th grade. 

The draft policy would have the curriculum integrate with a core subject, such as science or social studies because, especially as kids get into high school, they are more likely to have these subjects every day and the sexual education component can be integrated easily into a discussion of biology, discovery of AIDS, or history and civics lessons, for example. Also, he pointed out that the draft policy aims for spending 625 curriuculum minutes each year on sexual education, and it's important that students have physical exercise during their P.E. classes.

The draft policy calls for parent notification via a letter, and suggests that schools should offer a parent/guardian informational meeting about the program with a curriculum breakdown and opportunity to ask questions. Parents/guardians will be able to opt their children out of the program by submitting it in writing to the individual school offices -- again, per the draft policy. 

He pointed out that CPS does not follow an abstinence-only curriculum, and that in a sample 10-lesson unit at the high school level, maybe only two lessons would discuss abstinence. 

Another important point that Mr. Rounsaville made, repeatedly, is that he believes that parents and the Board of Education should hold schools accountable for following the policy. When I asked about transparency in the policy and parent feedback, he was very receptive to that. Next steps for his department and the draft policy are to go through a few internal levels, through the CPS law department and then simultaneously onto the website (not yet launched) and to the Board of Education for consideration. A vote may take place on the policy at the BoE's January meeting.

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about the policy or process, please contact Ira Rounsaville directly at 773-553-8384 or irounsaville at cps.edu

Finding my own voice

Chicago Public Schools' independent fact finder report was released this week, and as all news outlets are reporting, both sides rejected the report's recommendations.

At yoga with a group of moms yesterday morning, the pre-pranayama chatter was all about whether CPS teachers are going to strike. On Facebook, everyone is asking the same question. The fear of the unknown is palpable. Working parents everywhere feel the shadow over what remains of the kids' summer vacation.

Although I follow CPS closely, I have no idea whether a strike is imminent or avoidable. My reaction to public issues is often so far outside of popular opinion that I cannot trust that my gut reaction to any particular issue is in any way predictive of outcome. 

Oddly enough, I feel fairly calm about the whole thing. The Dad is worried about a possible strike interfering with the kids' schooling, but I think a labor dispute could provide a standalone education lesson that The Boy, at least, would find interesting. I mean, this is the kid who found WBEZ's recent On Point story so riveting that he asked if we could continue to listen to it in the house. 

I came to my own interest in civics a bit later than the age of 9: although I studied Political Science in college, I pursued a (corporate) writing career. When I left UIUC in 1997, I also left late-night discussions about Nietzsche, Machiavelli, and the future of the EU to wither in my memory of Urbana's Espresso Royale.

Raising children in the city of Chicago--with its long history of both the good (architecture, arts, social work) and the bad (crime, graft, greed, corruption) in society--has been my political reawakening.  Don't tell my father-in-law, who is fond of quoting Winston Churchill, but as I get older, I've become more of a social democrat.

That said, I've been rather wishy-washy on the issue of the CTU, and of unions in general. I've yet to meet a white-collar professional/manager with something positive to say about union labor. But as I've read the news reports, and the editorials, and the public rants about the CTU's greed, I've come to an interesting realization about how I feel about the union versus free-market debate. 

And that is: I believe fundamentally in the unions. As a Chicago resident, I often find Karen Lewis's public statements to be irritating. But even with the CTU's bad (or nonexistent) PR, I don't think the usefulness of union labor has ended.  Without unions, we wouldn't have (had) a fair wage, a reasonable work week, and decent working conditions -- all things that helped to create a middle class, even as that middle class rapidly disappears. Even when I worked full-time, I often wondered why my field was not unionized. After all, in some ways, unionization is codification of an industry. Codification is really information. And information is power.  

I do not actually believe that the CTU wants or expects a 23% pay raise, but thanks to SB7, the CTU cannot negotiate on anything else unless/until CPS brings it to the table. So the teachers end up looking like greedy assholes in the press/public opinion. And the mayor wants this negotiation played out in the press; Karen Lewis isn't the only one who can play that game.

As an employee, the most important things to me were time, time, and culture (whether I felt respected by my co-workers and boss, and felt like I was contributing)--not pay. Of course "a day's pay for a day's work" is important, but no one in his right mind would argue that teachers in the United States go into the field for the money. 

As discussion of the fact-finders report and next steps continues, the online discussion invariably turns to what happens in the private sector (lack of raises, job security, etc.). In the private sector, we negotiate one-on-one with our employers about vacation time and benefits as well as about salary. To me, the CTU-CPS negotiations are no different. 

PTA Advisory Council: The Theory of Change

The theme among winners’ comments at the Alfred Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway is one of tolerance and keeping an open mind—especially when dealing with one’s enemies. The idea that we must embrace the differences of our foes is a difficult one for me to grasp.

And yet, it’s an important lesson—one that can ease the way for me (and others) in many situations. I’d urge my fellow parents to keep it in mind when reading or talking about the longest day debate played out in the papers, blogs, Facebook, message boards and on the playground.

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is the absence of balanced reporting. I think the Raise Your Hand Coalition is trying, but first, despite their numerous press mentions, they’re not the media. Second, they are only one voice—or more accurately, one set of voices—in the storm that is CPS education policy.

And so, when community meetings are held, there are a fair number of people who walk into the room with a closed mind, itching for a fight. I’ve seen it in West Garfield Park, and I saw it yesterday during the PTA Advisory Council’s monthly meeting. Moderated by Carl Hurdlik, a CPS employee, and Cassandra Eddings, a PTA member, parent, and volunteer, the PTA advisory council was the brain child of the late Betty Durbin, a longtime PTA champion with a significant legacy at Carl Schurz High School. As an aside, I’m often asked what PTA does. This is one of the things it does. Although it was set up for PTAs, the group is welcoming to representatives from PTOs, Friends-of groups, and LSCs from CPS schools throughout the city.

Carl and Cassandra had invited Monica Lee, Directory of New Initiatives at CPS, to speak about the changes coming to CPS next year. When she first started to speak, it hit me that the Longer Day could be a classic case of a politician reading a brief and misspeaking. Thus inadvertently creating a sound bite that doesn’t convey the whole picture, but ignites hysteria as it is reported by the media and picked up by concerned Chicago parents, to the detriment of the initiative. I know this is the optimist view, but read my review of Ms. Lee’s presentation before you snap to judge.

Ms. Lee, a former math teacher, tried to convey to the concerned group of parents in the room is that the longer day is just one piece in a three-pronged approach by CPS to improve student outcomes.

While most of us in the room had children in high-achieving schools—Skinner North, Farnsworth, Blaine, Burr, Alcott, Lenart, Inter-American, Northside Prep, and Disney II—the district-wide lack of achievement relayed by Ms. Lee was shocking:

• only 7.9 percent of 11th graders score at the minimum ACT level (or higher) to succeed in college. How many CPS high school students aspire to attend college? I’m pretty sure that it’s more than 7.9 percent
• only 17 percent of 3rd graders read at grade level. 3rd grade literacy is a marker of college-readiness down the line

Clearly, CPS is failing our kids academically. Sure, not everyone wants to go to college. Not everyone should go to college. But the second largest school system in the country should prepare more than 8 percent of its total population to attend college, no? 

And so it was, Ms. Lee said, that CPS decided to study the problems and come up with a reasonable solution for their amelioration. Ms. Lee told the group that the imitative seeks to do three things. It’s not enough to lengthen the school day, as so many parents have pointed out. (In fact, in her presentation, this was the last point that Ms. Lee made.) It’s not enough to change what is taught through implementation of the Common Core. And it’s not enough to change how teachers teach. The initiative is the confluence of these areas to create more college-ready students.

Ms. Lee told the group that the elements look something like this:

• Common Core is a change in what is taught from rote memorization (10 ÷2 = 5) to teaching students to understand conceptually what division is.


• Instructional Framework gives teachers models of what good teaching looks like and how they can measure their success against it, and gives them professional development tools to tweak their methods for success.

• Full School Day gives them time to understand, implement and tweak both the Common Core and the Instructional Framework. It gives time for students to catch up, but it also gives time for students to excel. The longer day also gives time for schools to offer “a richer array of academic, social and behavioral supports” and more time for “a broader set of subjects” –science and social studies as a mandate, and art, music, language if the school desires.

Then Ms. Lee went over how CPS plans to implement these changes. At this point, all the work is being done at the network and/or principal level, leaving parents mostly in the dark about what this is all going to look like. First, she said, the network chiefs had a lot of discussions about what’s best for every type of student. They conveyed this to principals, who then submitted a draft plan for next year. The draft plan’s goals reflect what parents, teachers and data say, and the schedule is to meet the parameters set by CPS. The draft plan also allows the network chiefs to flag facilities and other problems, Ms. Lee said.

The budget is still unknown because principals reported that incomplete data would be unhelpful. The district-wide budget will be presented at the March Board of Education meeting, following CPS’ typical schedule for these things, per Ms. Lee. The budgets will go to schools in March or early April, and final budgets will be due in May with the Continuous Improvement Work Plan, the replacement to the SIPAAA.

Someone in the room asked how CPS came up with a 7.5-hour day. Ms. Lee’s answer kind of surprised me. She said that CPS worked with Common Core experts, and focus principal groups, and from a content perspective to determine the ideal instructional time. For elementary school, that was 6.5 hours. The extra hour allows for lunch, recess, and bathroom breaks. As children and their parents know, there is a lot of waiting involved in group activities. For high school students, it wasn’t a huge increase over current instructional time: 6 hours and 8 minutes, adding 46 minutes to each high school day within CPS for lunch and passing time.

This is about the time than I began channeling Nobel Peace Center quotes. The Northside Prep parents were angry about the change: how were their kids going to continue their colloquium, their sports, and their extracurricular activities? I’m a non-athlete who grew up in a family full of intellectuals so this is a really difficult point for me to see. I also don’t have a teenager. Given that, I am going to bow out of any judgment on what high school should look like.

Tortured Artists

Enjoy the cooler weather with art, music, food and beer in one of Chicago’s most beautiful neighborhoods at the Arts Alive! Festival this Saturday, June 11th from 3-10 p.m. Located on the grounds and surrounding streets of Disney II Magnet school in Old Irving Park, Arts Alive is a celebration of art in all its forms. 

Children can learn dance, song, digital movie production, puppeteering and floral design, or have their faces painted during the festival’s 3-hour children’s tent from 3-6 p.m. The festival also features culinary demonstrations from top Chicago chefs for children and their parents, and delectable Texas BBQ from local favorite Smoque BBQ Plus live music all afternoon and evening with Super Stolie, Funkadesi, d’Go-Beat and American English.

Admission is $10/adult before 6pm; $15/adult after 6pm; Kids under 12 are free.

Breaking the Clique

I've "heard" that there is a perception among the parents at The Boy's and The Girl's school that the existing parent groups are "exclusive" and "cliquey." I can understand that; after all, the same 20+ people often show up to everything. I am happy and grateful to those volunteers (like myself) who want to be really involved or really informed. But: why aren't more people involved? How can we create a warm and inclusive parent community/culture? How to create more opportunities for involvement? And a confession: I often feel that I am on the outside of the circle.

In talking to other parents at other schools, this feeling of exclusion is common--even parents like myself who are what my friend Ami would call Super Volunteers. Last week, during a community-building session at Nettelhorst's CPS Symposium, one parent, Patricia O'Keefe of Friends of Alcott, shared what she had done to "break the clique" at Alcott, creating a community culture that really, truly values parent volunteers. It's simple, really, but so smart:

Everyone who wants to be a room parent, can be a room parent.

I know what you're thinking: well, how does that work? Basically, at Alcott, they broke up all the tasks associated with classroom activities and made it more manageable for everyone to get involved:

#1 Teacher Contact. This person fulfills the normally associated duties of room parent, meeting with the teacher as-needed, assessing classroom needs, and communicating with the teacher and the rest of the room parents about what is needed. Teacher preference goes.

#2 Communications. This person does everything associated with communications: putting together a class list, helping with the directory, sending out emails to parents, etc. Some teachers at Alcott even have the communications room parent help or do their weekly newsletter.

#3 Social Butterfly. This person coordinates social time for kids, parents, moms, dads, etc. outside of the classroom: pizza parties, MNO, DNO, parent socials, etc.

#4 Volunteers. This person coordinates volunteers needed for classroom events, putting together a schedule, getting the information on classroom volunteers from the teacher contact, etc.

#5 LSC/PTA/FO Contact. This person is the liaison between the classroom and these organizations. If a classroom project needs to be done for an auction or other event, this is the person who works it out.

#6+ Ad Hoc Time. This person or people may have 4 hours/week or 1/2 an hour a year to support the classroom. They'll work with the classroom volunteers person to make sure that the teacher has all of her bases covered in and outside of the classroom, lending a hand here and there as needed.

Disney II in the News

Along with the rest of the school and its community, the PR machine at Disney II works. Disney II was the lead in today's New York Times story about parent-led fundraising and Arne Duncan/President Obama's developing push for an extended school day. The Boy's class is pictured in the accompanying photograph.

Bolt

Tonight, I took The Boy and The Girl to the Disney II PTA's movie night at the gym at Disney II. The movie was Bolt, which was the national PTA's choice, not ours. It was a bit mature for the crowd of 3-8-year-olds. I was not a fan of the opening sequences, which were cartoon versions of heavy spy-action films. That said, the kids had a great time. There was lots of popcorn, running around (although I told The Boy and The Girl that if they wanted to do so, we'd go home), and general silliness. Some kids raptly watched the movie. I was amazed that they heard anything. The sound system, combined with the room's acoustics, were terrible. There are plenty of other complaints other parents have about their schools, so the sound system is of relatively minor concern. However, the movie night convinced me that we could really use the sound system that the Disney II PTA is hoping to buy with the proceeds from our spring auction and social.

Meeting Junkie

Since The Boy started kindergarten, I've become somewhat of a meeting junkie. If there is a meeting in the neighborhood, I'll probably attend. I'd like to claim that my motives are purely altruistic, a response to President Obama's call to volunteer, but that's only part of the picture. I often attend community meetings because I am curious. I want to know what is going on -- at school, in my neighborhood, at the parks, in adjacent neighborhoods, with my alderman, in city policy. I'm still trying to figure out specific ways that I can contribute to the actual organizing bit of community involvement, but attending meetings is a good way to determine what the group's actual needs are and how my talents fit in with those needs.

The ABCs

D is for Disney II PTA, E is for Entertainment, F is for Fun

Disney II PTA presents the ABCs: A is for Auction, B is for Benefit, C is for Community, on May 30th. It’s an evening you won’t want to miss! Dancing, cocktails, and an opportunity to mingle with Disney II teachers and staff are included in the $50 price of admission. Plus, I'm going.

It’s as easy as 1,2,3…Contact Stacey Nyman to buy your tickets today.

Disney II PTA

Disney II PTA has been formed! Tonight, I attended the office PTA.org meeting to charter the Disney II PTA. It was a long meeting, with a lot of discussion about member dues.

I'm Secretary of the new organization. Now that that's out of the way, you can click beyond to read more about the rest of the meeting.

Ruth Johnston (RJ), Chicago-area Field Service Representative for the Illinois PTA organization, called the meeting to order at just after 6 p.m. About 70 parents, teachers, and Disney II Principal Chkoumbova were present at the Disney II gym/auditorium, 3815 N. Kedvale, Chicago. Renee -------, interim PTA planning chair, was also present. Caroline Bilicki served as Secretary Pro Tem.

Employing Robert’s Rules of Order, RJ began the meeting with a brief introduction of her background, role, and PTA mission.

Renee gave a brief recap of the October 14 planning meeting, outlining the group’s goals for tonight’s meeting, including establishing an executive board for the Disney II PTA and setting up committees.

RJ reiterated PTA’s mission/background (see 10-14-08 meeting minutes) and asked audience members to state their reasons for coming to the meeting tonight. She said, “You have a voice! We want you to be active and have a part in this. Our mission is parents coming together to advocate for children.” Steve K----, Sandra B-------, Lisa G----, Tiffany O---, and Rachel C---- spoke.

A Name to Make it Official

With no more questions about PTA, RJ moved to the first order of business: establishing a name for our group. This is a necessary step in establishing our organization, filing paperwork with the national organization, and receiving non-profit status

After a brief discussion, there was a motion from the floor to name our PTA group Disney II PTA. Seconded. There was a motion from the floor to waive future discussion and go straight to a vote on name. Seconded. Both motions passed by a show-of-hands vote.

We are Disney II PTA.

A Membership Drive and Dues

RJ led us to our next (and most contentious) order of business: establishing membership dues. A lengthy discussion ensued amongst many audience members. RJ reminded us that $3.25 of each member’s dues will go to the national organization. Dues are paid on an academic year. Other schools/groups structure their dues at $20 with 2 membership cards, $15 with 2 membership cards, $12 with 2 membership cards, $10 with 1 membership card, $5-6 with 1 membership card. She said that PTA is not a fundraising tool in and of itself. There is no proxy voting allowed according to PTA national by-laws (Disney II PTA will establish its own by-laws during a November board/by-laws meeting).

Motion from the floor to make 1 family = 1 member. Later rescinded.

Motion from the floor to make 1 membership fee = $10 with board discretion to waive fees in cases of financial need. Later rescinded.

Motion from the floor to establish dues of $10 per person and$20 per family (with 2 membership cards). Motion to vote. Seconded. In stand-up-and-be-counted vote, motion is defeated 29 to 26.

Motion from the floor to establish dues of $5 per person as a suggested minimum donation. Motion to vote. Seconded. In stand-up-and-be-counted vote, motion is passed 40+ to 4 with several abstentions.

Election of Officers

The next item on the agenda was to elect officers. RJ called for additional nominations from the floor. Initially, there were none. RJ presented the candidates by reading their statements. They were:

• Tony M---, President
• Brenda D---, Vice president
• Martina G---, Vice president
• Caroline Pollock Bilicki, Secretary
• Steve K----, Treasurer

Each stood up to identify him/herself to the audience.

Motion from the floor to consider making 2 VP positions on the board. RJ led discussion. Motion to table discussion of succession of power from president to 2 VPs. Motion from the floor to name 2 VPs to executive board. Seconded. Move to vote. In show-of-hands-vote, motion is passed nearly unanimously.

RJ reiterated call for nominations for PTA President. None. Nominations closed.

RJ reiterated call for VP nominations. Tony M--- nominated Ron S----, who accepted the nomination. Ron lives in the neighborhood, has a son in the tuition-based preschool at Disney II, has experience serving on non-profit boards, and wants to maintain a high quality of life for our children.

The other VP candidates also had a chance to present themselves.

RJ reiterated call for nominations for PTA Secretary. None. Nominations closed.

RJ reiterated call for nominations for PTA Treasurer. None. Nominations closed.

Motion from RJ to vote by show of hands to elect President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Seconded. All candidates were voted in for these positions.

Voting commenced by paper ballot for the positions of co-VPs. Renee, Caroline D., and Helen administered ballots. Brenda D---, Martina G--- elected co-VPs with 40 and 43 votes, respectively. Ron S---- received 23 votes.

Membership Drive Commences

With voting out of the way and time slipping away, RJ invited members-to-be to pay their dues and get their official membership cards.

Fiscal Year Vote

After the break, RJ moved to the final agenda items, including determining the organization’s fiscal year. Motion to forgo discussion and vote on July 1 – June 30 fiscal year. Seconded. Motion passed unanimously by a show-of-hands vote.

What’s Next?

Tony M---, new PTA president, called for volunteers for a by-laws review committee. This meeting will take place sometime in January. Please contact him if you’d like to help with this task.

The new PTA board will work with Ms. Chkoumbova to determine a date in December for a general PTA meeting. With that, Tony adjourned tonight’s meeting.

Copies of these meeting minutes can be found on the PTA Google group or with Ms. Santiago in the school office.