Chicago Public Schools spent nearly $70k on 30 cappuccino/espresso machines, 22 of which remained unopened five months after the purchase. This purchase and other actions are covered in a report issued by the CPS Office of the Inspector General. [via]
Ah, there's nothing more exciting than an academic smackdown, like the one between U of C economist and Freakonomics author Steven Levitt and Northwestern Northeastern criminologist James Alan Fox on the subject of black teen murder rates. Levitt criticized Fox for "ominous reports he produced about juvenile homicide...in the 1990s." Oh, snap!
CPSAlumni.org has put together an iTunes playlist of songs by artists who attended Chicago Public Schools, from Benny Goodman and Nat "King" Cole to Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco.
Has the "Chicago school" of economics, as championed by Milton Friedman, been killed by the current economy and political climate? Some are saying so.
As many as 20 CPS schools could be consolidated or closed by the next school year. The list of affected schools will be released in mid-January.
Starting next month, male and female students at the University of Chicago will be permitted to live together in university dorm rooms.
Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management didn't do itself any favors by accidentlally sending out acceptance emails to 50 applicants it rejected.
Morton O. Schapiro has been named as Northwestern's new president, effective September 2009. Schapiro is currently the president of Williams College and an expert on "the economics of higher education," which is fitting, as he was the ninth highest-paid college president in the US last year, raking in a $515,000 paycheck.
CPS alum Brad Harbaugh has assembled a list of 52 songs performed by the district's former students.
The U of I is generating controversy with the Irwin Center, a $6 million athletes-only tutoring center.
Vote now for your favorite design for next year's Chicago vehicle sticker. It's theme is "Dog Friendly Chicago" and all the stickers were created by Chicago Public School students.
The former Ludlum School in Long Island is now the Barack Obama Elementary School.
Know a University of Chicago student or alumnus? Know two or more? Print out these U of C-centric Bingo cards for them to enjoy during the holidays. Then stand back and watch the geek-tacular fun ensue.
Yesterday, IIT announced it will build the first smart microgrid electricity system in the United States. The system promises to "virtually eliminate" power outages and allow the university to sell excess electricity, all the while saving at least $2 million a year.
It may not be worth $300 million, but I'm sure the U of C is happy to hold onto its number 1 ranking.
In an unusual turn of events, a student group is sponsoring an updated Chief Illiniwek dance at the U of I. One of the reasons, apparently, is that it inspired at least one student "to be a complete man."
That's right, Pershing West Magnet School offers elementary school students archery classes [right side of page].
I bet you're wondering what happens to all the furniture, supplies, and appliances used by Obama campaign offices now that the election is over. Wonder no more: they're being donated. Two-hundred offices across the country have already donated or have pledged to to schools in their communities via iLoveSchools.com.
The University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business just announced a $300 million gift, along with a new name. If you want the information straight from the source, here's the press release.
If you love pregnant seahorses, endearingly floppy manatees and cephalopods like I do, you'll be excited to learn that every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday during the month of November (except Wednesday, 11/26), the Shedd Aquarium will offer free general admission and discounts on inclusive packages.
The city's Northside College Prep high school once again nabbed the top spot in a survey of area schools. But the news wasn't all good: Chicago schools also claimed 42 of the 50 lowest scoring spots on the list as well.
CampusGrotto.com has released their list of the 25 most expensive colleges for the 2008-2009 school year, and Hyde Park's own University of Chicago comes in at no. 18 with $48,588 (tuition plus room and board). [via]
Mayor Daley has apparently pulled the plug on plans for a high school serving gay and lesbian students.
The CPS has received a major donation to create a biotech education program for junior high/high schools to the tune of $5 million over five years. The program, sponsored by Baxter International, includes the creation of a Biotechnology Center of Excellence and two new Ren2010 schools. And not a moment too soon as local math scores reach Third World-levels.
If you're not blogging yet and still want to try, there's a class this weekend that's right up your alley.
Bowing to pressure from politicians and donors while citing "safety reasons," the University of Nebraska rescinds a months-old speaking invitation for Bill Ayers.
The controversial "Green for Grades" program's first payouts totaled $265,986 in cash rewards to 1,650 students at 20 participating CPS high schools for good grades in five subjects. While it sounds like quite a bit, none other than Mayor Daley offered some perspective: "Wealthy parents in the suburban areas give their kids a car."
The controversy over the U of C's proposed Milton Friedman Institute is in the news again following faculty and student denunciation of the Institute at a faculty senate meeting alongside a member of the Institute's faculty committee declaring he is open to changing its name.
One of 20 new school proposals unveiled Wednesday, the Pride Campus of Social Justice High School might just be the most interesting, with its promise to provide a safe, "gay-friendly'' atmosphere to students. [via]
Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education? That's the buzz according to local education publication Catalyst, which cites Duncan's role as an education advisor and close friend to a certain Barack Obama.
Staff at the Adler Planetarium were surprised to make the presidential debates, particularly when their sought-after projection system was ridiculed by McCain.
We're all feeling the economic pinch, but Chicago schools are really feeling it. You can help fund educational projects through Donors Choose, where you can search by neighborhood, topic and grade level...and help buy kids a new microscope, workbooks or even an area rug to spruce up a dull reading corner.
Science Chicago, "the world's largest science celebration," kicks off today and runs for the next year. Check out the website for events happening around the city.
The new CPS/CPD project will let students send anonymous text messages to provide crime tips, but the real story is the ridiculous "CRIME" graffiti photo used in the article.
High schoolers who are homosexual, bi-sexual, or questioning their sexuality may soon have a school of their own. The Greater Lawndale Little Village School for Social Justice has submitted a proposal to the Chicago Public Schools for a Social Justice High School-Pride Campus to open in 2010. A community hearing will be held at the Center on Halsted on September 18, and CPS will make their decision by the end of October.
The Tribune's school newspaper experiment, The Mash, debuts today in Chicago Public Schools. Read it online. (Previously.)
So, Reverend Senator Meeks' boycott of Chicago Public Schools is pretty much on, and he'll be leading supposedly 125 buses up to New Trier High School in the northern suburbs -- which is playing along by allowing them to come to the Northfield campus, rather than the main one (good thing; there's nowhere to park up there.)
NASA named another telescope after a U of C researcher, and this time it's Enrico Fermi. The article also provides a list of other U of C affiliates similarly immortalized, from Chandrasekhar to Hubble.
State Sen. Rev. James Meeks says the boycott scheduled for the first day of school in Chicago is still possible. According to NBC5, Meeks was told a meeting time would be planned this morning (Wednesday) to discuss matters, but the meeting has yet to be scheduled.
A U of C researcher discovered a 9,500-year-old, 200-body graveyard in the Sahara. Other than being the biggest find from that era, it also shines significant light on the life of humans when the desert wasn't actually a desert.
You know it's not a good day for the Gov when he gets taken to task by a high schooler.
The University of Chicago's Chicago Initiative is complete.
Science Chicago aims to be the longest science fair in the world, running from September through the end of next August.
Chicago Public Schools finally has a new website. If you want to let 'em know what you think, they're listening.
The New Republic on what U of C's right-leaning law faculty think of their former colleague.
U.S. Department of Agriculture documented 22 violations for inhumane treatment of animal subjects at Loyola's med school, some of which led to the deaths of rabbits and dogs.
I guess coming up with a "valid new theory of trading" means one has a lot of money to throw around.
Here's a good place to start. The Beginning Fiction class begins Sept. 9.
U of C graduate student Matt Friedman discovered evidence that helps fill in the mystery of how flatfish like flounders and halibut evolved to have eyes on one side of their head.
An update on this Revenge of the Second City column: the Chicago Teachers Union is going ahead with plans to remove its vice president, Ted Dallas, on allegations of misspending.
Ashley Martinez, a 12-year-old CPS student won a new car for having perfect attendance. Well, at least her family will enjoy it...
Well, for Chicago it's a green school initiative, but some media companies are teaming up to fund some green modifications for schools in Chicago, Miami and San Francisco.
The U of C's plans to create the Milton Friedman Institute are meeting significant resistance from the school's faculty.
The Tribune is launching a new newspaper and website, inexplicably named The Mash, just for Chicago Public School students.
Catalyst Chicago, the independent school publication, reports on the recent influx of minority students into suburban school districts and the challenges both groups face.
"No, I take Marx very seriously; I think [the computer] alienates the worker from his production—I do not understand. With a typewriter, I hit a key, and it goes bam." The Maroon interviews luddite religious studies professor J. Z. Smith. (Full transcript here.)
The Community Media Workshop's Making Media Connections Conference takes place next week, so don't forget to register if you're planning on going. For an outside perspective on the conference, check out Nonprofiteer's assessment.
The Daley commencement brouhaha is really picking up, with Northwestern President Henry Bienen telling a student, among other things, "By the way you think a commencement speaker has any thing to do with the national stature of Northwestern tells me we failed here in educating you."
Mayor Daley. At present, 193 comments on The Daily Northwestern suggest students aren't impressed.
Undergrads from the University of Chicago have launched the first archeological dig of the site of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, aka the "White City." The students are following in the footsteps of another famous U of C archeologist who's been in the news a lot lately.
The Center on Halsted will host a screening for "Dottie's Magic Pockets," billed as the first children's program for kids in gay and lesbian families. The show features puppets as well as real-life families. Bert and Ernie approve.
U of C archeology students are conducting a dig in Jackson Park, looking for artifacts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition.
Did your high school get closed or torn down? Its memory lives on. [via]
Helmut Jahn's proposal for the addition to the U of C's Joseph Regenstein Library would definitely be the most radical building on campus. More details are available in a Trib article, along with these thoughts about the design: "The hesitation is: 'Where is my large, drab rectangular box to have books stored in?' This is very different, but it will still do what that box was going to do."
In Waukegan, the staff aren't catching students hacking on school computers, they're catching teachers smoking pot in the teachers' lounge.
A New Trier Township High School senior got caught hacking into the school's computer system. How did he get caught? Staff walked around the school and looked at students' screens.
Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk is sponsoring a bill to ban access of Second Life in schools and libraries, citing its lack of robust age verification and the abundance of "wholly inappropriate activities" that may take place there. The American Libraries Association (ALA) is among those who are opposed to this legislation.
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have created some very cool simulations of how a star goes supernova.
According to an email sent out to those affiliated with DePaul University, two buildings, Lewis Center and O'Malley Place, were evacuated due to bomb threats. Update: Information is also available on the DePaul website.
The buzz is growing over The University of Chicago Law School's recent decision to cut off wireless Internet access in classrooms. Something about students chatting, checking email or playing solitare during class...
Some of the greatest minds of our future have been given funds to tackle the pressing problem of zombie attacks, thanks to the University of Chicago's UnCommon Fund, a program designed to provided funding for, um, unique student projects. Other proposals that received modest grants include a clothing-optional Halloween Party. OK, to be fair, other approved projects are a bit more serious.
The SEED Conference is back. Get tickets now.
Thanks to Ariel Capital, students at Ariel Community Academy get to practice investing with $20,000 that's given to each first grade class. Don't worry, they don't get to touch it until sixth grade.
A report by Catalyst Chicago finds that the Chicago Public School's faulty enrollment projections are leaving principals with a cash crunch/teacher shortage.
Famed author Dave Eggers, the inspiration behind 826CHI, was one of the recipients of a 2008 TED Prize. His wish was for more people to become engaged with their local public schools, and they've launched Once Upon a School to help make this happen.
CPS is now considering public boarding schools for disadvantaged students.
Engadget points us to the fact that Chicago-based nonprofit Innovations for Learning is supplying 500 Chicago elementary schools with their $50 Teachermate PC over the next two years. Go ahead, get one.
The Gary Comer Youth Center's 8,600-square-foot rooftop garden is coming into its own.
Mayor Daley just announced that the 4,500 cameras in 200 (out of over 650) Chicago Public School buildings will be connected to the city's 911 Emergency Center to give the city a "comprehensive school security plan." The Department of Homeland security is reportedly picking up the $418,000 bill.
Henry S. Bienen, president of Northwestern University since 1995, is stepping down. NU has set up a special site dedicated to his announcement and legacy.
While some Newberry Library seminars started earlier this month, plenty of Winter/Spring term courses (in subjects ranging from genealogy to mystery-novel writing) don't start till some time in March, or even April. Click here for details about classes and schedules.
Like so many other sites of terrible events, NIU will raze the building where the recent tragedy occurred.
DonorsChoose is a non-profit that allows you to select which educational project you would like to donate money to. There are plenty of worthy projects in the Chicago area; as you do your taxes, consider putting a little of that refund toward furthering a kid's education.
The University of Chicago launched their new homepage today. The result of a massive research, redesign and restructuring effort, the new site focuses on U of C-related stories and news, instead of simply lists of links. This is the university's first major online facelift since 1999. (See for yourself via the Wayback Machine.) Give 'em your feedback here.
District299, Alexander Russo's excellent blog on Chicago Public Schools, recently made the move to Catalyst Chicago's website.
Starting May 8, you'll be able to swing by the Museum of Science and Industry and visit Smart Home: Green + Wired, a new exhibit featuring a 2,500 square-foot house.
Five West Chicago eighth graders were suspended for staging and filming a fake fight in the school bathroom. Because, you know, a "student who sneaks into a bathroom for a YouTube shoot could slip and hit his or her head on a sink and be seriously hurt."
The Museum of Science and Industry is closed today, but it will reopen Saturday and introduce free general admission for the remainder of the month. Happy 75th!
Congrats to Carlos Kenig of UChicago, recipient of the 2008 Bôcher Prize in mathematics for "important contributions to...nonlinear dispersive partial differential equations." Where's my prize for typing that correctly?
If you haven't checked it out already, you may want to swing by the Chicago Center for Green Technology and check out elementhouse, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entry in the 2007 Solar Decathlon.
While the Chicago Public Schools' "Renaissance 2010" program (or "Ren10") is nearing its goal of opening 100 new schools by 2010, almost half of the communities identified as the most in need of high-performing schools have yet to get them, according to the Chicago Catalyst.
Class are cancelled in Barrington today due to "severe bus vandalism."
Wanna see "nerds" beating the hell out of each other? Head over to the University of Chicago where their Fight Club-esque "Thunderdome" combat society is hoping to body slam the image of 90-pound, slide rule-wielding weaklings. Not everyone is in awe of the physical spectacle. "We come almost every week, mostly to laugh," said one second-year student.
Hundreds of eighth graders in Chicago are dropping more than $100 an hour this year to get into the city's most selective high schools. Up next: Grade school prep courses for kindergarteners.
The Tribune has compiled an extensive report of the 2007 season for the Mooseheart Red Ramblers. Complete in three parts, with supplemental video and photos. Suburban high school football at its most enthralling.
The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies' new building will be open to the public starting on November 30 with a series of events and a new range of amenities.
U of C palentologist, and beautiful People person (1997 edition), Paul Sereno recently unveiled the remains of a heretofore unknown dinosaur. Called Nigersaurus taqueti, and described as a "cow of the Mesozoic" and "fern mower," due to its herbivorous nature, Sereno and his team discovered the fossils in the Sahara desert in Niger.
The University of Chicago just opened a center that will study everything from "painting of the 18th Century ... to the history of hip hop music." It promises to have a public presence, so hopefully we'll all have some more interesting events to attend soon.
CPS teacher Will Okun has become something of a celebrity education blogger at the NYTimes "On the Ground" blog sharing the real world challenges of urban educators. His most recent entry details how his students feel about the race of their teachers.
Considering the periodic uproar to "save the children from the evils of social networking," it's more than a little amusing to see the new CPS email/collaboration system so labeled. Teachers began using their shiny new @cps.edu addresses on Nov. 1st, and 5th - 12th graders will be getting accounts throughout the school-year. CPS is using FirstClass from OpenText.
Chicago is number one in public military schools (we'll have six by 2009). Advocates say the schools build better students through military history classes, regular uniform inspections, and marching drills. Critics, however, think the military is taking advantage of a school system composed largely of nonwhite kids from low-income families.
Learning opportunities both offbeat and conventional fill the Fall/Winter calendar at The Discovery Center, Chicago's self-proclaimed "Lifelong Learning Center". Can't afford to escape the cold and vacation in a warmer climate this year? Sign up for the "Out of Body Adventuring" seminar and astral-project yourself to Cabo San Lucas for the weekend. Or just learn how to paint, write a screenplay or become a private investigator. Classes start now and run through March 2008.
The "Highly Unofficial Scoop on Chicago Schools" AKA the District299 Blog -- is moving to Catalyst Chicago to create one consolidated powerhouse of a Chicago education-news resource.
The Trib made a gadget that lets you measure your high school's performance against schools statewide. It's nice to see the tippy top of the list loaded with Chicago institutions.
Three Chicago-area college newspapers won the 2007 Associated Collegiate Press Newspaper Pacemaker Award: Columbia College's The Columbia Chronicle, the Courier from the College of DuPage, and the University of Chicago's Chicago Maroon.
Someday this equation will make sense, if soon to be inaugurated IIT President John Anderson gets his way. Anderson would "love to see a little college town develop" around IIT's Bronzeville Campus, and in the meanwhile is charging ahead with efforts to improve student life and the school's national profile.
Facets Film School's first fall term has already started, but the second fall term begins the first week of November and ends right before Christmas. Classes are weekly (with Thanksgiving week off), 7 to 10 PM, and cost under $100 for the term. If you like Woody Allen dramas, outlaw couples, movies out of Hong Kong, or Howard Hawks movies (and who doesn't?), you still have time to enroll. You can find more details here.
Hobnob and hear the stories and tips from Chicago design heavy hitters at the SEED Conference this October. This one-day event, featuring 37Signals, Coudal Partners and Segura, will be composed of discussions on design, entrepreneurship and inspiration. it's $399, so see if your office will pick up the cost.
Chicago City Day School and The Latin School of Chicago grace the Forbes list of most expensive preschools with tuitions of $17,750 and $17,425, respectively. Note that a good portion of the Forbes information about Latin is incorrect. [via]
One in four of Chicago Public School principals are new this year. Chicago Public Radio's David Schaper followed an elementary school principal around for a day to see what challenges she's facing.
CPS students reported to school this week in record numbers with 93% of the district's 409,000 students attending class on Day 1. CPS managed to record this eventhough their much ballyhooed new attendance system (IMPACT) was down for much of the week. The most eye-catching CPS stat of the week comes from the CCSR: CPS Freshman on average miss/cut 19.6 days of class.
Feeling jealous of all the kids going back to school this week? You can join them (sort of) by signing up for a seminar at the Newberry Library. Courses range from genealogy (of your family or your Chicago house), to literature (Dickens, Joyce, Shakespeare, Garcia Marquez, and others are featured), and also include history, art, music, philosophy, and creative writing. Courses start mid-month or later. For more information, click here.
Oh, indie t-shirt buyers! You can do more than support the economy when the new Threadless store opens on September 14. You'll also be able to take basic design classes and advanced design workshops conducted by Digital Bootcamp.
Neil Gershenfeld's Fab Lab (check out his concept video from TED, and more background on "Personal Fabrication") will be in Chicago next week for a conference at UCHICAGO and the MSI. Rumor has it that a Fab Lab installation will be setup at MSI for public consumption, but nothing has been officially announced yet.
The University of Chicago tied for ninth place with Columbia University on US News & World Report's annual list of America's best colleges.
Two cousins at Paul Cuffe Math Science Technology Academy are filing a lawsuit because they were denied bathroom breaks.
CPS students who make it to the first day of school (Sept. 4) will receive a family pass for a free day at the Museum of Science & Industry.
A University of Chicago assistant professor in psychology has devised a videogame which tests racial bias based on whether you shoot black or white men holding cellphones, wallets or guns.
In 69 of the 87 Chicago Public Schools that were deemed to be failing for two consecutive years, not one teacher's performance was rated "unsatisfactory".
Sustainablog offers an interesting take on Columbia College's decision to revamp graduate programs in Architectural Studies and Interior Architecture that focus on sustainability. "Green is the mainstream," says Sustainablog's author.
Crain's details some of the expansion (and construction) plans of the DePaul, Roosevelt, Columbia, and John Marshall campuses in the South loop.
DvA Gallery is auctioning off original artists' brushes to help raise money for Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit working to increase the visibility and stability of arts education across the country. Each brush is signed by the artist and framed in shadow boxes (a few even come with drawings or books). Check out The Brush Project for photos of the brushes and the artists' works. The auction is on ebay, and ends this Friday.
In an interesting move the state legislature passed a law stating kids will need to attend school if they want to be able to drive.
Starting on Sunday, the Stockyard Institute, AREA Chicago and other organizations will initiate "Pedagogical Factory: Exploring Strategies for an Educated City" at the Hyde Park Art Center. Throughout its run, topics will include "How We Peoples Make a People's Atlas of Chicago," "How We Grow: Self-Education and Urban Farming Gathering" and "How We Brew/Bake/Mead Etc Cottage Expo."
SIU's study on New Teacher Attrition in Illinois (PDF) reports that "each time a teacher leaves Chicago Public Schools, it costs $17,000 to $22,000 to recruit, hire, process and train a replacement."
Norman Finkelstein, controversial professor of political science at DePaul, has been denied tenure. Read his collection of articles about the situation. UPDATE: He spoke on 848 this morning.
Chicago State University's President Elnora Daniel finally talked about their recent audit controversy (high travel expenses aboard cruise ships and heavy bar tabs on the state's dime), and generally dismissed the problems as not being egregious. Apparently, we can rest assured that sloppy record-keeping with state funds will not continue. She didn't say that we should go back to not paying them any attention, but might as well have.
The University of Chicago was just given $100 million -- anonymously. The gift will launch the new Odyssey Scholarships program, which will serve students from low- to middle-income families. Due to the size of the gift, almost a quarter of enrolled students will benefit from it at any given time.
Car, that is. A couple of weeks ago, IIT's Armour College of Engineering entered a car in the student 2007 Formula Hybrid competition. They finished in 5th out of 6th in overall points, but more than doubled their previous speed record. They have their eyes on first place next year.
Bloomberg's recent review of Johan Van Overtveldt's book about the University of Chicago Department of Economics has one heck of a headline, alongside some interesting information about the department. If you like what you see, you may want to catch his upcoming speech.
The Reader takes a look at Chicago Public School's lunch program and efforts to improve it. You might also be interested in Lori Barrett's in-person take on the same, awhile back in Drive-Thru.
Here's a list of the Chicago-area winners of National Merit college-sponsored scholarships, otherwise known as "the kids everyone wants to sit next to in Science Lab".
The Knight News Challenge has been kind to Chicago. Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism received a grant to create scholarships for programmer-journalists -- such as Adrian Holovaty, creator of ChicagoCrime.org, who also received a grant and has left the Washington Post to start EveryBlock. Geoff Dougherty of (recently redesigned) ChiTown Daily News also received a grant to continue his citizen journalism project. UPDATE: Also, Daniel Sinker, co-editor and publisher of Punk Planet, received a Knight Fellowship at Stanford (thanks, Mark).
There is a good chance that some of you readers are educators or know an educator and that you've got some ideas about how your politics and your teaching could be better aligned. An impressive collection of leftist education organizations have banned together to produce this summer's Free Minds Free People: Education for Liberation and the deadline for cheap admission is coming up on the 21st. Be sure to check out the national conference June 21-24 here at the Little Village Lawndale High School.
Today the District 299 Chicago Public Schools Blog collects some education-themed (including some Chicago specific) funnies from the Onion.
The Virgina Tech shootings, in which 32 students were shot in one morning, caused immeasurable grief and a justifiable uproar. Curiously, less notice is given to the fact that 27 Chicago school students have been beaten, stabbed, shot, or suffocated this year alone.
Looking for something to do this summer? How 'bout a project? Classes start soon for furniture making, book and paper making, figure drawing and other arts.
A substitute teacher at a Chicago elementary school thought it would be a good idea to show the R-rated film Brokeback Mountain to an eighth grade class. Not surprisingly, the family of one of the students is now suing.
South Shore High School students were given stacks of paper and drawing utensils and the single question, "Which Chicago do you live in?" The maps they drew were reviewed to assess the kids' consciousness of their relation to space, perception of where they live beside where power resides (i.e., downtown), and more. The results were quite interesting.
Elementary students at the Lab School have been building their favorite pieces of the Chicago skyline in Joyce Carrasco's class for more than a decade. Check out examples from the class of 2004-2005. Dibs on the Morton Salt building! [via]
Following last year's teacher firing, Chicago Public Schools gave notice to more than 775 probationary teachers on Friday.
Paul Vallas, former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools and candidate for the governorship of Illinois, is leaving his post as the CEO of the Philadelphia school system this year. Vallas plans to return to Chicago, but the rumor mill is suggesting that his stay at home will be temporary and that the New Orleans Public Schools will make a play to lure him to Cajun Country.
If you are interested in education research, you may want to check out the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, which is in town this week. Events are open to the public, but you'll need to pay the hefty registration fee.
Northwestern is in negotiations to open a campus in Qatar, where coursework would focus on Journalism and Communications and students would have to meet Northwestern's general admission (and tuition) requirements. The programs may negotiate internship opportunities with Al-Jazeera, which is headquartered in Qatar.
Bruce Lupori, a teacher at an Evergreen Park elementary school, put a bag over a kid's head in some wacked-out attempt at humor. The student wasn't hurt and no charges will be filed, but Lupori is on paid administration leave.
Ever get the jones for school lunch? If you're hankering for childhood delicacies such as mini corn dogs, crappy pizza and ham and cheese pinwheels, compare and contrast these school lunch menus from the Francis Parker School, Arlington Heights school district, Morgan Park Academy, and Saukview Elementary.
College newspapers may not be known as paragons of journalism, but some local schools have some trailblazing pieces online, such as Columbia Chronicle's Jackass of the Week column. Other recent college paper wackiness comes from an article about Microsoft vernacular, an apology from a paper that got it all wrong and a pseudo op-ed arguing for a "Star Trek Defense" system against illegal aliens.
Have you ever walked out of a test sure to your core that it was rigged? Illinois elementary school kids had good reason this year.
IIT is about to boost the Chicago Department of Fleet Management's Green Fleets Action Agenda [pdf] with a prototype plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The city will decide whether it wants more of the cars after a four to six month trial.
They are the Oscar's (not Golden Globes) of education. Today six of the area's finest teachers were presented with Golden Apple Awards for excellence in teaching. Way to go! Pssst...post-awards party in the teacher's lounge.
After being delayed by wack technical problems for months, results of the Prairie State Achievement Tests finally reached Chicago schools. Parents, students and educators are furious at these delays, which prevented them from doing informed prep for next month's test.
Ever wanted to learn Portuguese? Casa de Cultura Brasileira has you covered. Opened in January, the school and Brazilian cultural center offers classes from beginners up to advanced levels, and the next round starts in March.
Now that the locally produced General Social Survey completed its 26th run, the New York Times published a sneak peek of the 2006 results. Some interesting findings include a precipitous drop in the percentage of those who have a "great deal of confidence" in the military since 2004, as well as a 50% decline in daily newspaper readership since 1972.
Navy Pier is the home of "Target Chicago," a display of "Chicago-specific content from the DEA Museum's 'Target America' national touring exhibit." A quick search of the museum website yields no exhibits about crack in Los Angeles. Go figure.
Citing the 1967 Kalven Report [pdf], the University of Chicago will not divest from companies involved with Sudanese business. It is the first top-tier university to make such a statement.
Or, at least has an intellectual understanding of their attitudes, thanks to the recently completed Black Youth Project. The findings claim to reveal "an unexpected duality in the attitudes of black youth in America," and indicate (among other things) that the majority of black youth would prefer it "if mainstream rappers cleaned up their acts."
Making no mention of what the bad news might be, South Side Congressman Daniel Lipinski's resolution praising "Catholic Schools for their ongoing contributions to education" passed unanimously. The resolution was planned to coincide with Catholic Schools Week (Jan 28-Feb 3). There are over 250 Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Fortunately, the irony that the Illinois Institute of Technology's student newspaper hadn't been updated since January 31, 2006 wasn't lost on its editors. Oh, irony, thou must find elsewhere to roost.
Starting in the 2008-2009 school year, Lindblom Math & Science Academy will be the first CPS high school to shift to a year-round schedule. Bonus nonsensical Daley quote: "If we can spend billions of dollars to put a person on the moon, how, in this day and age, can we give kids two months off?"
Eat your heart out, Oprah. While the daytime talk show queen attends to affairs at The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, a musical group made up of ex-political prisoners from that country will tour the Chicago Public Schools. Yes, the kind of schools where students only care about sneakers and iPods. "The Robben Island Singers" were imprisoned with Nelson Mandela during Apartheid. They travel the world riffing on social justice and human rights. The singers will perform at Kenwood, Whitney Young and Roosevelt, among other CPS schools, throughout the first half of February. And a film crew will accompany them for a DVD.
It's that time again: the Newberry Library is offering seminars on everything from Irish writers to genealogy to the history of the sleeping car. Click here to see if there's a course for you. Seminars begin next month.
Hanna Holborn Gray was U of C's president from 1978 to 1993, serving as the first female president of a major university. As admirable as the professor's life has been, Gray's official presidential portrait has a more colorful history, having been repeatedly critiqued, stolen, and, in one case, inscribed with Apocalyptic verse.
Northside Preparatory High School, one of the Chicago Public School's eight selective enrollment high schools, has selected Barry Rodgers to be its second principal, succeeding Dr. James Lalley. Rodgers was chosen over 38 candidates from around the city and the nation. Northside was recently named one of the top 25 high schools in the nation by Newsweek. Rodgers is a local product-- a graduate of Queen of Angels and Gordon Tech. Northside's student newspaper, the Hoofbeat, gets extra credit for breaking the story on their website and for using Joomla to power it.
A number of children working with the Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center have submitted public art concepts for the new Dan Ryan retaining walls. Vote for your favorite today.
The University of Chicago's Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes was awarded a couple million hours of time on a government supercomputer to run supernova simulations. The simulations could shed light (heh) on "dark energy" and other little-understood phenomena.
NPR documents the debate over the University of Chicago's future acceptance of the Common Application. The university will continue to use parts of its Uncommon Application, but that doesn't mean everyone's happy. If you're curious about all the fuss, read some previous Uncommon questions.
A group of Chicago cyclists (myself being one of them) have organized a ride to raise awareness of the growing number of cyclist fatalities in the Chicagoland area. Named the "Fallen Rider Memorial Ride", the ride will start at the Thompson Center at 6pm tomorrow, January the 3rd and will ride to Diversey and Pulaski at an easygoing and respectful pace. The goal? To highlight how important driving and cycling are to Chicago and how the two require attention and respect. A PDF flyer can be viewed, downloaded, printed and passed along from here.
Purdue University Calumet, a Division I NAIA school and a member of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, has cancelled the remainder of its mens' basketball season after more than half of the team's members were declared academically ineligible after the fall semester. The Peregrines' entire coaching staff resigned.
Wired has a brief story about the robots being used at Chicago State University to retrieve and shelve materials at the library's storage facility.
UIC biologist Joel Brown wants to know how squirrels survive the dangers of city life in Chicago.
Crain's provides an interesting profile of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and their business and political influence. Bonus: Parker and Latin alumni get a little catty.
If you'd like to know more about the Chicago Public Schools than what you can discern from short, mass media pieces, check out Catalyst Chicago, the local outpost of the urban education magazine. Be certain to visit the guide to CPS and research sections, which provide original content and links to research institutions.
Following the recent sentencing of an Urbana woman who killed a cyclist while driving and downloading a ringtone to her cellphone, the parents of Matt Wilhelm the deceased, have started a coalition to lobby for a law and education to reduce distracted driving. Looks like that cellphone ban hasn't been working out too well.
Following last month's announcement from Roosevelt University, IIT is offering Chicago Public Schools students a full ride, provided they meet admissions and financial criteria.
Since college kids don't have enough online personae to manage, what with MySpace pages, Facebook profiles and Xanga blogs, UIC is exploring the possibility of a school-wide implementation of LiveJournal. The goal? Building community via an informal mode of student, faculty and staff interaction.
Milton Friedman, University of Chicago Nobel laureate in economics, passed away today.
If you enjoyed Sudhir Venkatesh's article in the Boston Globe, you may want to check out his talk on Thursday. Details in Slowdown.
Today Roosevelt University offered all first and second year students at Social Justice High School a full ride, provided they graduate with at least a 3.0 GPA, earn a 20 or higher on the ACTs, and fulfill a handful of other obligations. Good luck, high schoolers!
Hoping to stand out from the glut of generic "season's greetings" cards this holiday season? Try this: Sign up for the Chicago Center for Books & Paper's cheap papermaking class (Nov. 4 -- only $25!) and make your cards yourself!
At least five suburban student newspapers are in trouble, and as Northwestern School of Journalism Dean Richard Roth puts it, "I hope they're not going out of business. We have enough problems with newspapers without losing them in high school."
Inside Higher Education notes that, thanks in part to the Collegiate Scholars Program, which identifies promising Chicago Public Schools students and assists them in applying to top-tier universities, the number of African-American students enrolling at the University of Chicago is at an all-time high.
Looks like the Chicago Bike Federation has a new website for their Drive With Care campaign. At first, I thought it was real, but then I knew that any memorial like "The Brittany" had to be too good to be true. Well done, chaps.
In BusinessWeek's 2006 rankings of graduate business schools, Northwestern's Kellogg slipped from no. 1 to no. 3. The best would-be MBAs won't have to look far for the new top dog, though: University of Chicago's GSB now leads the pack.
Chicago's first virtual charter school, creatively named the Chicago Virtual Charter School, is a month into its first school year -- and just got served its first lawsuit. The Chicago Teacher's Union claim it's more like homeschooling than a true school, and therefore shouldn't get public funding.
Check out this quicktime movie of Good Morning America wherein the author of the Princeton Review's The Best 361 Colleges announces that the students themselves picked the University of Chicago as the best undergraduate experience. Who are these students? And how much were they paid? As a former occupant of "The Level of Hell that Dante Forgot," I find this shocking, indeed.
Are you a college students or a recent grad? 826CHI needs you to assist with day-to-day operations of the writing center. If you've got 10-15 hours per week, then send your resume and a cover letter to Leah Guenther at leah [at] 826chi [dot] org.
IIT's Institute of Design hosts its annual About, With & For conference October 6-7, and it's shaping up to be a good one. A few seats are left; bug your boss to get you in.
On October 8, the Shimer College Convocation and Reception will take place somewhere new: IIT's main campus. The Great Books college will still have some operations in Waukegan, but most activity will be in Chicago.
If you're the proud owner of one of these traditional Chicago homes (like I am!) then you've got to check out the Historical Chicago Bungalow Association. The HCBA connects homeowners with funds, ideas and vendors to help you make your home even more awesome. Check out October's free seminar on practical interior design solultions at the Woodson or Sulzer libraries. Register now.
What to make of schools like Northeastern Illinois and Chicago State, where graduation rates are among the country's lowest? That question's raised in today's Times, following on a report issued last spring. Since then, debate has swirled, but no one, it seems, can agree on an answer.
If one of your new year's resolutions was to read Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow, you're in luck: the Newberry Library is offering courses in each of these notoriously difficult masterpieces. Also offered are courses in Louis Sullivan, Friedrich Nietzsche, history, genealogy, and writing (including a one-day novel workshop). Click here to see if there's a course for you. Seminars begin next month.
Five Chicago-area colleges and universities were recognized this month as being among the 100 best in the nation for GLBT students. Columbia College, DePaul, Northwestern, UIC, and Northern Illinois are all profiled in The Advocate College Guide For LGBT Students, which scores the 100 gay-friendliest campuses based on school policies and student surveys. U of I Urbana-Champaign campus and western Illinois's Knox College also make the cut.
Sandra Gray is a master's student in urban planning and public administration at UIC. Her thesis project discusses CTA customer service, particularly on the Red Line. If you're a regular rider and have something to say (who doesn't?), she sure could use your help. Take her survey here.
Hey, 37signals is holding a workshop on Getting Real October 9; it's about half-way sold out, so get your boss to approve it quick!
You've been writing that article about wine and trust and deception for a few weeks now, but it's missing that certain something. Could it be a quote from a local expert?
Becoming a social studies or history teacher just got considerably easier in Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education lowered the passing grade on their test to 57%. That's right: you can fail and still pass.
The Mies van der Rohe Society is offering inexpensive architecture tours at IIT, highlighting not only Mies' work (e.g., Crown Hall and the Carr Memorial Chapel), but also the grounds (designed by Alfred Caldwell), the campus center (designed by Rem Koolhaas), and the new student residence (designed by Helmut Jahn). Click here for details about self-guided and docent-led tours.
The Teaching Excellence Network is "an online professional community for teachers across subject areas, grade levels and school type, from urban, suburban and rural areas all over the state and country." If you or someone you know is a teacher, this is the place for you.
Know any academics? The Illinois Humanities Council is seeking candidates for its Road Scholars speakers bureau, which presents experts in fields ranging from ancient literature to wildlife biology to audiences of ordinary folks throughout the state. While scholars in all fields are welcome, themes emphasized this year include genetic engineering, U.S. roots music, and Abraham Lincoln. Click here for details and an application. The deadline is September 15.
In a move to boost Chicago Public Schools' attendance rates, the district has partnered with sports teams, radio stations, and even Southwest Airlines for the Back to School Sports Challenge. While some prizes will be handed out just for attendance, essayists can win a trip to Disney World or a chance to be a DJ on Power 92. So, kids, see how rewarding staying in school can be?
Do you teach? Curious about how to incorporate documentaries into your classroom activities? Need more ideas for improving your students' media literacy? How about applying hip-hop in the K-12 setting? Cinema/Chicago is presenting a three-day Teacher's Institute from 15 through 17 August, to be held down at Columbia College. It's cheap ($25 a session; $150 for the whole shebang--cheaper if you're a Cinema/Chicago member), promises to be enlightening, and the registration deadline has been extended till this Friday. Click here for details.
Inside Higher Education profiles DePaul's Jim Duignan in his quest to bring art to kids in Chicago's urban neighborhoods. In addition to making his own work, Duignan's Stockyard Project has been contributing to the development of young artists for the past 10 years.
In more School Boards vs. Blogs news, a 17-year-old student in Plainfield School District 202 has been suspended and threatened with expulsion because of his criticism on his blog of the school's disciplining of another student. His Xanga.com site isn't accessible from the school's computers, but administrators are saying that his comments caused "a disturbance at school".
I doubt any of our readers are currently enrolled in Libertyville/Vernon Hills public schools, but you'll still be slightly alarmed to hear that School District 128 is now holding its students responsible for anything posted on MySpace or elsewhere on the Internet. Expect a lot of teenagers suddenly going anonymous in response.
Who would have thought a map of Chicago's neighborhoods would be so controversial? Not only has the Chicago Neighborhood Map designed by Christopher Devane upset realtors and developers because of a new motto, "Home is Where the Hood Is," printed across the top, but Chicago Public Schools has slapped the mapmaker with a cease-and-desist order to keep him from offering the map to schools.
The Associated Press reports that Northwestern has suspended its women's soccer team in light of hazing allegations. Website BadJocks.com posted a number of photographs it attributes to "a public picture sharing site," and the story develops.
So you know