Communities in Schools of Chicago Sara Ray Stoelinga, PhD srstoelinga@uchicago

Communities in Schools of ChicagoSara Ray Stoelinga, PhD

srstoelinga@uchicago.edu

April 11th, 2013

Overview

• Chicago school reform context• Changing demographics of CPS/segregation• Achievement gap• Influence on your work

Chicago Tribune:“Worst in America”

Schools “hardly more than daytime warehouses for inferior students, taught by disillusioned and inadequate teachers, presided over by a bloated, leaderless bureaucracy, and constantly undercut by a selfish, single-minded teachers’ union.”

Two-tiered school system• “The Chicago Public Schools operates a two-

tiered high school system, which concentrates dropout-prone students into inner-city black and Hispanic high schools.”

• Educational triage• “Tracking” of low-performing elementary

schools to low-performing high schools• Feeder system ensures failure• Perpetuation of social inequality

Chicago School Reform Act:PA 85-1418

• Established Local School Councils• Reshaped the principalship• Expanded influence for teachers• Redirected fiscal resources• Reduced line authority• Central pull toward academic improvement

Early 1990’s: Two problems

1. Schools were improving but decentralization was a capacity sorter.

CCSR The Students Speak, (Sebring et al., 1996) Academic watch list schools (104) were characterized by:– weak leadership– a lack of any focus or impetus for school improvement– African American– Low-income– Economically and geographically isolated

2. Financial/labor crises. Strikes, early retirement: 2,200 teachers, 100 principals

CSR Amendatory Act:PA 89-15 (&Paul Vallas)

• Paul Vallas appointed first CEO of CPS• Mayoral appointment of board members• Creation of CEO/CFO/CEdO positions• Re-centralization w/in decentralized system• Accountability

– Schools on probation for low test scores (initially < 15% at national norms on the ITBS

– Social promotion ended in 3rd, 6th, and 8th grade (retaining approximately 20% of 3rd graders, 15% of 6th graders, 10% of 8th graders)

Reform periods

• 1988 Decentralization: LSCs, local control• 1995 Mayoral takeover/Accountability (Vallas)• 2001 Arne Duncan & Barbara Eason Watkins

– New schools development/turnaround

• 2008 Ron Huberman– Performance management

• 2011 Jean-Claude Brizard– Portfolio strategy

• 2012 Barbara Byrd Bennett

School reform trends

• Pendulum- Centralization to Decentralization • Reform evolving closer to instruction

– Increasing importance of curricular materials– Greater use of instructional coaches, PD– Less focus on inputs (teacher credentialing)– Less focus on requirements (graduation criteria)

• Increased state intervention in schooling• Increased federal intervention in schooling

Overview

• Chicago school reform context• Changing demographics of CPS/segregation• Achievement gap• Influence on your work

According to the 2010 Census

More than half of the growth in the total population of the United States between 2000 and 2010 was due to the increase in the Latino population. •The Latino population increased by 15.2 million between 2000 and 2010, accounting for over half of the 27.3 million increase in the total population of the United States. •Between 2000 and 2010, the Latino population grew by 43 percent, which was four times the growth in the total population at 10 percent. •In Chicago, 10% point decrease in African American population, proportionate increase in Latino students.

Chicago Context

In 1990 Chicagoland's Latino population center stood inside city limits. By 2000 it had moved out into suburban Cook County. The latest census results--2010, show the center of Latino gravity continuing its westward march almost into DuPage, the next county over.

CPS Student DemographicsStudents Total: 404,151 (FY2012-2013)

African-American: 41.6%Latino: 44.1%White: 8.8%Asian/Pacific Islander: 3.4%Native American: 0.4%

Teachers total: 21,320

African-American: 29.7%White: 49.7%Latino: 16.1%Asian/Pacific Islander: 3.6%Native American: 0.9%

Principals total: 529African-American: 49.8%White: 30.8%Latino: 17.5%Asian/Pacific Islander: 1.5%Native American: 0.3%

Visualizing Race by Neighborhood

Overview

• Chicago school reform context• Changing demographics of CPS/segregation• Achievement gap• Influence on your work

Achievement gap

• Refers to the disparity in academic performance between groups of students

• Most often used to describe gaps b/t Hispanic and AA students vs. Whites & high vs. low SES

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): 2003 Results by Race

39

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42

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10

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5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

White Hispanic Black

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Reading Math

Reason for achievement gap?

• The Bell Curve- gaps in student achievement were natural result of variation in student’s genetic make up

• Highly contested• Experts charted that achievement gap result

of race & class factors, not genetics

Reason for achievement gap?

• Differences in teacher quality/credentials in high vs. low-income schools

• Teacher expectations• Race/Class as giving privilege and social

capital; more demanding parents get better “stuff”

• Better working conditions for teachers in high SES schools

Strategies to address gap

• Reducing class size• Smaller schools• Early-childhood education• Raising academic standards • Improving teacher quality• Encouraging students of color to take higher

level courses

Overview

• Chicago school reform context• Changing demographics of CPS/segregation• Achievement gap• Influence on your work

Influence on your work

• Outside partners…– Must recognize and work within the local control

context– Must be prepared to work with/engage Latino

students and families– Confront and challenge the low expectations that

schools sometimes have for low income students of color

– Work productively in a context of high accountability

Questions?

I welcome your questions and comments…