Yes, I caved. On a day when nobody should have been outside doing unneccasary errands, I ventured out to try to get my application for gifted/classical testing postmarked. As a reminer, Dec 19 in Chicago (last day to mail the testing application and lottery entries for magnet schools) was in the aftermath of a big snowstorm that caused every school in the area except CPS to shut down. I guess the city figures that for the cash they’re spending to salt the city, people should be expected to reach their destinations. Snow was piled high and parking was risky (easy to get in a space, but getting out was questionable.)
After hemming and hawing, I decided that I couldn’t NOT be a part of the process again. In my often mundane life that feels a bit like the movie Groundhogs Day during the long dreary winter, I realized I needed something to look forward to in March – the excitement of opening that envelope to see some new information. Not that I even want to switch schools, I just need to be a part of the fun.
I also figured that it was safer to have some options available “just in case.” Not wanting to envision any terrible scenario, I decided that I’d imagine the Worst Case being that our current school principal wins the lottery in January, decides to retire and travel the world, CPS assigns some doofus as an interim principal (yes, I think they can do that) and I feel the need to flee. Or Arne Duncan’s replacement’s first order of business is disbanning the gifted program at our school and we’re back on the street searching for options (really, we’d likely just switch to our neighborhood school, but that doesn’t feed my drama very well.) I also justified my decision by using the “knowledge is power” argument. I figure the more I know about how my son’s intellect is progressing, the better I can help him as he continues in school. I am also just curious about how test scores can vary year to year. Yes, even at the risk of seeing that his scores last year were a fluke.
I didn’t have it in me to track down to Hawthorne, probably because I am not 100% certain I’d actually want to send my son there. Too far to drive and I think I would miss the neighborhoody feel that I really like. In the back of my mind, I believe that if you apply to Hawthorne every year, are willing to switch any year, and continue to “make yourselves known” to the admin, you can get in. Not for me right now.
So….in my usual fashion, I left the house cutting it fairly close to school pickup. I stopped at Post Office #1, climbed a mountain of snow to reach the front door only to find the usual long, slow-moving line. I had no reading material with me so facing the line was torture, plus I’d parked in a Burger King parking lot across the street and was too nervous about leaving the car. I figured I needed to wait in line to make sure my letter was post-marked.
On to Post Office #2. Same situation (but at least parking was better, although risky due to snow piles.) The whole world was out mailing Xmas cards and gifts. I got in line. I then noticed that each FREAKIN’ transaction with a customer seemed to take 10 minutes and that is no lie. Honestly, I could write a whole blog complaining about the post office. HOW, I ask, HOW can humans move so slowly? This had to be the worst day of the year to be waiting in line. Time was ticking towards school pick-up time and my stress level was rising. I knew it shouldn’t matter since I didn’t care THAT much about getting my application in. But since I was in the race, I couldn’t help but care about reaching the finish line.
More clock-ticking, more glaring at the slow workers, more angst. Finally, I had no choice but the following: I asked the man in front of me if he would mind getting my letter postmarked when he reached the front of the line (he looked like he was in for the long haul.) I instructed him that if they could not postmark it, to just put it in the mailbox.
So, as it stands… I have no idea if that letter got postmarked by Dec 19 or not. I guess I’ll find out if we get a test date next month.
And if not, then I just hope our principal doesn’t buy any lottery tickets.
December 27, 2008
I heard this question asked a couple times when I was helping at the NPN Fair. Mainly from parents who mentioned that people commented that their child should be tested for giftedness (and I think they meant people other than the grandparents.)
I just happened upon this interesting article that talks about the 5 levels of Giftedness. Level 1 (which probably describes many of the kids in the CPS gifted programs) are the “bright” kids. Level 5 is astounding. You’ve heard stories about them and I assume there are some at schools like Edison. Or maybe they’re in extra-special gifted programs that people like me don’t know about or are taking college classes or something. But this article lists specific behaviors that you can use to eyeball your own child.
Level 1 kids know most letters, colors and can count by age 3.
Level 3 kids know many sight words by age 3 – 3.5
Level 5 kids read chapter books by age 3.5 – 4.5. And sadly, question the reality of Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy by age 2-3. (I STILL cannot fathom how my son buys into this – clearly he’s not Level 5.)
http://www.educationaloptions.com/resources/resources_levels_giftedness.php
The problem is that many Level 1′s won’t make it into a CPS Gifted Program, just because there aren’t enough spaces. That’s where the luck of a good mood/good test day comes into play. The good news is that there are a lot of Level 1′s in the neighborhood schools, who’s parents should be making sure the school is challenging them adequately.
December 22, 2008
Well, today is the last day to submit an application to a school for their lottery or to submit a request for testing for Gifted/Classical Schools.
About a month ago, when I was working at the NPN fair and some parents innocently asked “when do we have to apply for the gifted test? In the Spring?” and I went all bug-eyed… “uh, like NOW people, NOW! Soon!” That night it occured to me that I hadn’t given any thought at all to submitting an application anywhere or having my son tested again. That was a good sign, I thought. Real confidence in our current school and lack of interest in going elsewhere. I always assumed that I’d just keep getting him tested for a few years for the gifted programs, just to keep options open and of course see if his “giftedness” was slipping. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t really think of another school I’d be that keen on moving to if he did test in somewhere. I love the neighborhood people at our school and the gifted program seems to be off to a good start. Can’t beat that for free, eh?
I also was hesitant to test again based on a conversation with one of the dads from our class who speculated that the gifted/classical testing can probably vary by a good 10% for any kid from day to day, based on things like mood, hunger, or some random interesting object in the testing room. I agree with that. And I figured I would just rather stay in ignorant bliss, knowing my son did a decent job that one year. Mama doesn’t want to see a 10% drop this year. Then I’d just start to worry that he was going to start lagging behind, etc etc.
I will admit to having had a few lingering doubts. There was a recent article about the top Elementary schools in the state and Hawthorne was the only CPS school in the top 50 that doesn’t require testing in. Something impressive goes on there, and I briefly wondered about just applying every year, hoping to hit the jackpot.
I also figured it might make sense to apply/test just in case some thing unexpectedly annoying or weird happens at our school by the end of the year and I want to get out. Hard to see that happening, but with CPS you never know.
Plus, hey, I have this blog. What am I going to write about if I’m not immersed in the application process?
But I came to peace. I would stay at our school with our nice neighborhood school as our backup. Peace, indeed.
Until today. Now I can drive an application to a school (nah) or get to the post office to get my testing application postmarked by today. I’m having second thoughts. I’ve realized today that I am a testing junkie. I took the SATs 3 times. I enjoy doing GMAT practice questions for fun. Something is wrong with me, I swear it. I just may try to make it to the post office today….
December 19, 2008
Wow, so the news is out today. Arne Duncan, the CEO of the Chicago Public School system is headed to DC to be the new Secretary of Education. Of course my first thought has to be “how will that affect us?” For those who had inklings that he was doing something good here in Chicago, I guess the selection by Obama confirms that he’s impressing people at the highest level possible. It also makes me realize the benefit of sending your child to Harvard – they get to play basketball with future presidents.
I had the thrill of meeting Arne last year. For lunch. My fellow school-obsessed friend had purchased the lunch as part of a school auction and was on a mission to beg for extra funding for our neighborhood school. My significant-other advised me not to go, worrying that I would “get up on my soap-box” at some point during the lunch. Which at that point was actually pretty likely except for the fact that I would need to keep my ever-complaining mouth shut so as not to ruin our chance at begging for money.
In the end, the meeting was one of the highlights of my school-obsessed era. In addition to being totally down-to-earth and just plain nice, I couldn’t help but marvel at how much it seemed like he “got” the issues that parents have about our beloved school system. He ranted about the lack of funding and talked about how he was trying to get other superintendants to rally together to protest for more money. Nearly everything he said made we want to say “I KNOW! That is SOOO true!” like a giggling school girl. In some way he felt like my education soul mate. He got why nobody want big class sizes. He expressed the opinion about a certain “turn-around” school focusing more on their building and less on academics (I know! That IS so true Arne! I think that too!) He truly had a great appreciation for the parents who are making school improvement their personal mission. It was like having a great conversation about education, but the person you’re talking to isn’t just some random parent you run into who is willing to listen to your daily rant, but someone who can actually affect things. In a big way. Or theoretically. I also got the feeling that there were politics or bureacracy or something else here in Chicago that were preventing him from fulfilling all his ideas.
But now – there’s no stopping him. I cannot wait to see what happens in this country with Arne at the top of our education system. But again, I come back to “what about us?”
UPDATE: For all you Arne fans out there, here are a couple good articles about his appointment. If you haven’t read the book Freakonomics, I highly recommend it. There is a lot about CPS in there.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/nobody-better-than-arne-duncan/?scp=4&sq=arne%20duncan&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/us/politics/16educ.html?scp=3&sq=arne%20duncan&st=cse
December 16, 2008
New CPS test scores (for tests taken last Spring) have been published. I cannot for the life of me find them on the CPS website (www.cps.edu) but you can locate your school here:
http://webprod.isbe.net/ereportcard/publicsite/getsearchcriteria.aspx
One important thing to note is that for this testing period, students who are considered English Language Learners were required to take the English ISATs for the first time. As a result, schools with a large population of ELL students likely suffered some declines. There had also been talk of some type of score inflation last year that was never fully explained, which could also lead to declines at some schools.
When you look at a school’s overall test scores, keep in mind that ISAT scores are reported only for grades 3rd-8th. Younger kids are tested, but not reported (not sure if they are given ISATs or something else.) The typical % you will see is the % of kids who are at or above the state’s acceptable level for that subject. You can also find the % of students who are exceeding that level, which to me is often more telling – is the school going above and beyond somehow?
Things can look depressing in some schools, in some classes. You can find North side schools where only half the kids in a certain grade are reading at the acceptable level. I used to cringe at these and wonder what CPS was doing wrong. But now that I actually have a child in school and have helped in the classroom, I also have to wonder about the parents. Why don’t the parents of those kids all march into the school and try to figure out a way to teach their kids to read? If I found out that half my child’s class was reading below where they should be, I’d be rallying the troops. And I don’t mean getting on the case of the teacher or principal. I think it’s gotta be a team effort somehow. There is not enough time in the day in CPS for every kid to get the special attention they deserve. It’s just a fact. A sad fact. So mobilize, parents! Be a village! An intrusive, meddling village if need be. Just get in there and figure out how to help the kids and how to help the parents who don’t realize that they can butt into the educational process.
UPDATE: From the comment below, here is another way to look at school test scores for 2008 (I did notice that the 2008 parent survey results are still not posted.)
http://research.cps.k12.il.us/resweb/schoolqry
December 2, 2008
