BEST elmentary Schools in Chicago? please help me out!!!

[hamh]

Originally Posted by 666northstate

OMG I just shot coffee and scrambled eggs out of my nose.

why the surprise? There are tons if people who doesn't have goals at all when getting into college, something may think teaching is an easier path as it doesn't require that much of a qualification. The impression is people think they can't compete with the rest of the other majors, so they rather take education as an easy way out.

Often people either doesn't have the heart or the skill to pass knowledge to the next generation. I've seen people who claim they are a teacher, and my reaction is I'm sure I don't want to let my kid teach by this person.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by 666northstate

OMG I just shot coffee and scrambled eggs out of my nose.

If you were serious you might want to see somebody about that. Could be a real problem-- Preventing aspiration pneumonia in at-risk residents. - Free Online Library

I certainly don't think it is much of a stretch to say that many companies find the workforce in Chicago, and frankly most of Illinois, to be a subpar. Economic incentives are routinely used to "bribe" firms into developing jobs here and a big part of those bribes are in "workforce development" efforts / basic skills training. Pretty sad statement on the quality of schools...

[jojox]

Chet,
I have been on this site long enough to know you answer most questions asked and are very knowledgable about the Chicago area. That said, I think, from my limited research and understanding of the CPS system, that you are quite a bit off, here.

Gifted program admissions are score-based. Some public elementary schools have both "neighborhood" and "Gifted" (RGC Regional Gifted Center) programs under the same roof, as you mentioned. Your list is not accurate - Bell has a RGC, for example, and Hawthorne is a magnet school with no attendance boundary.

Magnet schools accept students without regard to location (although I think Hawthorne began giving selective admission to those who live close?) and from what I understand test scores aren't a main criterion for these schools.

In my short time learning about public elementary options, I've found plenty of "neighborhood" programs which are very good within Chicago. Audubon, Lincoln, Burley seem to be great with no gifted influence, in North Side. Bell and Coonley are also great, boosed some by the gifted scores contributing. I'm still learning.

Chet you aren't a dummy and I know you strive to help people here but I think this post doesn't live up to your standards and those not familiar with the CPS system are being misinformed. Thanks for listening.

Originally Posted by chet everett

I very much know how dysfunctional most CPS schools continue to be. I have been to many CPS schools and formerly worked as a teacher in CPS. I still have many friends that continue to plod along with the challenges the system fails to address.

The top performing schools in CPS are magnet schools where all the admissions decisions are based on test scores and as such it is no surprise that the scores on the weak State of Illinois mandated tests are quite good. Beyond those magnet schools the scores drop off quite precipitously.

In fact, of the schools ranked best on the basis of the state mandated tests only a handful of schools with neighborhood admissions components rate among the one hundred highest rated in the SunTimes summary of scores:


12 Lincoln
27 Bell
30 Oriole Park
33 A. Jackson
44 Edgebrook
48 Hawthorne
72 LaSalle
96 Burley

Among these there are some that have at least partial "admissions by test" students, which probably inflates their scores considerably.

The reason I continue to pound on the fact that CPS is a mess that does a poor job of educating students is because I honestly believe the weak economic conditions are a direct result of the underprepared workforce.

Believe me, schools that do a much job should be lauded.

Of the top 10 slots 7 are held by the all-test CPS magnet schools:

1 Decatur* Chicago SD 299
2 Keller* Chicago SD 299
3 Lenart* Chicago SD 299
4 Edison* Chicago SD 299
5 Skinner* Chicago SD 299
6 McDade* Chicago SD 299
7 Braeside North Shore SD 112
8 Highlands Naperville CUSD 203
8 Poe* Chicago SD 299
10 Ravinia North Shore SD 112

If one evaluates overall DISTRICT wide performance many suburbs are quite impressive, with all their schools ranking in the top hundred, but many show poorly, further showing just how poor the overall quality of education remains statewide...

Subjective terms like "amazing" bother me greatly. I much prefer some data, flawed and one dimensional though it is for elementary schools, at least it is an objective basis of comparison:

Top 100 Chicago-area elementary schools - Chicago Sun-Times

Facilities are a very tricky thing -- some of the best performing elementary schools have very basic, even antiquated facilities. Some of the worst performing schools have shiny new buildings that attracts folks looking for a "better" schools than the decrepit schools that still disgrace the city. Given the choice I would much prefer a safe, basic building with a superior staff and PARENTS that tolerate but performance over a shiny new building.

[chet everett]

The confusing terms / status of what constitutes a "neighborhood" school further illustrates exactly the kind of frustration that anyone trying to decide where live in Chicago. As a former CPS teacher I saw many kids that would travel across the city to get to schools that offered better opportunities than those closer to where they lived.

I apologize if I mis categorized any of the schools in the summary that I attempted to assemble but my goal was merely to get some parameters on other posters fuzzy adjective use. The ranks alongside each of those schoolls is accurate and i believe the various sub categories of regional gifted center or what have you is just one indicstion of there being more or less slots for kids that live near by. That by itself probably does not really have any influence on the fact that some of these schools really are not particularly impressive in the simple rankings but it does add another layer of testing / application to make it harder to get into an available sub program that tends to raise the statistical rankings... Honestly the CPS needs to both get more schools performing better and do a much better job of attracting talented students.

[Chi-town Native]

hmm... thoughts?

Achievement gap: Little progress in closing gap between white and black students in Chicago. - chicagotribune.com

Not sure I buy that teachers alone can make the change needed...

[linicx]

Chicago is not going to close the gap caused by 150+ years of resentment overnight. One teacher cannot do it alone. It take a school adminstration, dedicated teachers and involved parents to make a difference. Teachers more interested in tenure and pension than students should not be teaching.

The 1989 movie "Lean On Me" starring Morgan Freeman is the real life story of how one principle with a baseball bat cleaned up a failing highschool in New Jersey to graet success. it can be done but it takes a lot of hard work and dedication by more than one. This movie ought to be required viewing by every teacher, every school administration and every board member in a failing school.

[themag62]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Look into Bell, Blaine, Nettlehorst, Burley, Audobon, Coonley, Lincoln, Waters, Peirce, Wildwood, Sauganash. These are all good to amazing neighborhood schools.

I believe it is fair to say that each of these schools are populated by students whose parents value education and ea. have a significant no. of students who exceeded state standards for grade level. All are good schools as compared to CPS overall, and most are good as compared to other IL schools. They have friends of/parent organizations that raise funds for the school. A few have extremely satisfied parents that would call them amazing. CPS does have islands of functioning within the dysfunctional system, Chet. Are any of them truly the creme de la creme of education in the US? Well, no, but we don't all have that as our criterion.

[Chicago76]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

hmm... thoughts?

Achievement gap: Little progress in closing gap between white and black students in Chicago. - chicagotribune.com

Not sure I buy that teachers alone can make the change needed...

The article is a bit misleading because we're talking about different socioeconomic shifts among African Americans in Chicago proper vs. the entire nation. I forget where I read it, but you can guess test score variance across schools with a high degree of accuracy based upon two factors alone: % of students in two family households and highest level of eductional attainment of the mother. You don't even need to look at income or subsidized lunches because these two variables will generally predict economic factors as well.

The AA community as a whole in Chicago has changed in the last 20 years for the worse due to AA flight to the suburbs. Take a random local African American majority neighborhood in the city. 20 years ago, you might have had 100 school aged kids. Today, that neighborhood may have only 50. Those with the means left and they're probably doing better. Those left behind on average are probably the most disadvantaged. Not every AA neighborhood in the city is like that, but there are enough of them to keep the average test scores from catching up.

Comare that to white kids. White flight was generally over w/ 20 years ago. If anything, the socioeconomics of white school children's families have improved in the city since then. Hispanic families in the city have a better grasp of English and the culture of education in Chicago than they did 20 years ago. It's not surprising to see the AA kids on average who are still in city schools not make up ground.

[chet everett]

While there has been a lot of relocation among the AA families with the means to leave Chicago for better suburbs there are a couple of troubling factors even taking that relocation into account.

Firstly the AA percentages at the higher performing schools is largely far below that of lower performing schools. Since the original purpose of the Options for Knowledge programs were to bring better racial balance to CPS that suggests a major failure of that goal. For all the folks that wish to take advantage of the alleged diversity of Chicago the failure of CPS to have high performing schools with the same level of diversity would seem to be a huge negative.

The other odd thing about the AA migration to the suburbs is that even among the relatively well off families that can afford the nicer suburbs the resulting performance gap that exists among the racial groups suggests either some failure of the schools in Oak Park & Evanston or the presence of some set of forces that seems to persistently make the achievement unequal.

Regardless of what the causes of these problems are there seems to be a lack of coverage of any real solutions to these problems and that, to my way of thinking, is probably the worst aspect of the problem. If there were at least some honest discussion of efforts to try to close these gaps, or even more fully explain them, it would be reassuring that Chicago and other suburbs that have attracted a large number of AA families would not continually fall behind in the push to increase academic success...

I don't think the census based arguments are enough to explain away this problem -- while I do acknowledge that the "left behind" kids / families are almost certainly greatly disadvantaged the notion that the city / state can simply afford to have this persistent underclass is unacceptable. If more people would not look for excuse but solutions maybe more progress would be possible.