Comments on: Big News – Consent Decree Overturned

By: cpsobsessed

cpsobsessed — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:04:26 +0000

A couple posts were deleted at the request of the poster (so if you’re reading this and are confused, no, you’re not nuts.)

It is definitely a debate-worthy topic.

Love the Buffy and Jodie reference btw. I am old enough to know who they are. I LOVED that show.

By: Mayfair Dad

Mayfair Dad — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:39:22 +0000

Differentiated instruction, specific to each student’s ability level, should be the norm in every CPS classroom, not the exception – and not limited to a select category of schools called “magnet” or “gifted”. And while I heartily encourage parents to volunteer their time at the neighborhood school, it shouldn’t be offered as a bribe to get your kid’s teacher to do their job.

The fact is, bright children are not academically challenged at most neighborhood schools. There are exceptions – I can think of a few Region 1 schools on the NW side – where parents demanded excellence and fought to obtain it, usually by taking over the LSC to influence principal selection and then having the new principal fire CTU lifers who refused to elevate their instruction. This is the current recipe for school reform.

In the meantime, keep filling out those magnet lotteries and having Buffy and Jodie tested for gifted schools.

By: skeptical

skeptical — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:03:10 +0000

My apologies,

the reply to hopeful above is from “skeptical”. I typed in the wrong name in the message.

By: mom

mom — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:23:32 +0000

This is RIDICULOUS!!! Little kindergartners–especially boys–want to be physical and are “disruptive” because they are forced to sit still when they want to be moving. They are all over the place developmentally until around third grade.

I did not push my children to read–but our house is filled with books. During the summer between first and second grade, I gave my son some step up books on a topic he was fascinated with. In a few weeks he was a fluent reader and always had his nose in a book–mostly Great Illustrated Classics. In second grade, after reading David Copperfield, he pulled the unabridged verson off the shelf and read 200 pages. He is still a voracious reader in 8th grade but regularly gets in trouble for being disruptive in class–calling out, talking etc.

Parents need to relax–this is not a race.

By: cpsobsessed

cpsobsessed — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:54:46 +0000

Chicagomom, I think there are plenty of parents in your situation. We all know there are very few spots to accomodate all the bright/gifted kids in Chicago so naturally there are plenty scattered around the neighborhood schools who are working above grade level (and I’m quite sure could do the work at the same level as the gifted programs.) From what I hear, this seems to be a low priority in CPS and challenging for a teacher with a big classroom.
From a pure lack-of-resources standpoint, CPS is placing a HUGE emphasis on “performance” right now (meaning test scores.) So I’m sure each schools is really focusing on getting those low-performing kids up to the “Meets Expectations” level – which is what improves a school’s test scores. Not to say they don’t care about the smart kids, but they get more payoff by getting everyone up to minimum. And one could argue that those kids SHOULD get the attention they need to get up to minimum. But that leaves the smarties bored out of their gourds.
I would agree with Hopeful in working collaboratively with the teacher to see if your child can get more challenging homework, perhaps go to a higher grade for reading center time, etc.
But unfortunately the burden of it seems to fall on the parent to supplement at home.
I guess you could also try the “let’s try to stop the misbehaving” angle and suggest he be given some other work or book as an experiment to see if that helps the behavior.

By: hopeful

hopeful — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:48:14 +0000

Hi chicago mom,
I am a teacher in the system. I wonder if you have sat down with your son’s teacher and spoken with her about your concerns? Does she know how high he scored? If she did, she might realize his behavior is due to boredom and make some accommodations for him.
Most teachers will differentiate for kids, especially if parents advocate for their kids. And especially if the parent is willing to help out in some way. Not everyone can come into the classroom and volunteer a lot, but most people can sharpen the tons of pencils that need sharpening at home, or cut out art projects, or something along those lines. Sort of a “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours”…..of course teachers should be helping kids no matter what, but I just remember what it is like to have 30+ kids without help and sometimes meeting all the needs of all the kids is really hard. Hopefully you will find a really cooperative and caring teacher who will go to bat for your son in the classroom. Good luck!

By: chicagomom

chicagomom — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:48:42 +0000

I just hope they figure something out. Last year my son received a 145 and did not get into any of our choices. Granted, they were the most popular schools, but it was very frustrating to hear of other students with much lower scores getting placed. I am a single mom and cannot afford a private school with an accelerated program. So, he sits in a Kindergarten class while they learn what he had accomplished by 2 1/2 or 3 yrs. I think sometimes CPS forgets that there are economically challenged, gifted, non-minority students who deserve a level-appropriate education as well. I wouldn’t be as upset about it except that he keeps getting in trouble for being “disruptive” (because he’s not challenged) or he wants to answer the questions all the time and not “give other kids a chance.” Sorry – just venting. Any thoughts or suggestions?

By: don't assume

don't assume — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:38:47 +0000

That’s a pretty sweeping statement Kurtosis. The private school we transferred from has MEAN 7th grade scores in the 90+% in language, math and reading. It is open registration so I think it does a pretty good job.

By: Kurtosis

Kurtosis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:50:36 +0000

No offense, but have you ever compared curricula and other metrics of academic preparation? Other than UCLS, private schools are not close to selective CPS in academic rigor. So Im not surprised a neighborhood school was better academically than private school.

By: don't assume

don't assume — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:36:48 +0000

“Also, now that I know that my child is 97th percentile, I do not want to enroll her in a neighborhood program.”

My daughter has higher test scores than this and I had to take her out of private school for financial reasons this year. I signed her up for the neighborhood school and it is FINE!