The Real Chicago Experiment? University-Run Schools
Chicago schools are known for lots of things -- local councils, mayoral control, etc. -- but the growing involvement of the University of Chicago in taking over and running several neighborhood schools may be the most interesting and innovative part of what's going on here now -- a more extensive role than any I can recall since John Silber's Boston University took over the Chelsea school system in the 1980s.
Check out Kate Grossman's three-part Chicago Sun Times series on what's going on at one of the South Side schools being run by the University of Chicago -- one of the most direct examples of higher ed involvement in K12 reform in the nation (Doubts emerge in school experiment).
Check out Kate Grossman's three-part Chicago Sun Times series on what's going on at one of the South Side schools being run by the University of Chicago -- one of the most direct examples of higher ed involvement in K12 reform in the nation (Doubts emerge in school experiment).
posted by Alexander Russo at 7/25/2006 09:56:00 AM
1 Comments:
The real story here is that Renaissance 2010 is already wasting millions of taxpayer and charitable dollars without improving education for poor children.
Even the exalted U of C with its millions of Gates and MacArthur dollars struggles just like any average CPS school. The fact that the U of C school had to take the drastic -- and expensive - step of cutting class size in half in order to stabilize the learning environment suggests that this school doesn't have any better ideas than regular public schools, just deeper pockets - for now.
The fact that several parents and the featured teacher abandoned the school by the end of the year is a strong indictment of Renaissance 2010. This is not an isolated incident. Check out http://aspiraparent.livejournal.com/
for a close look at a charter that was designed to be a model of project-based learning but ended the year in chaos.
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