Designs for Change

Local School Council Leadership Courses
Mandatory & Elective LSC Training Lessons
Presented By Designs for Change

New Local School Council Elective Training Lessons

Lesson 7, 8, or 9 – The New CPS Probation Policy
What is the role of the LSC when your school is on probation? What is the role of the AIO, Principal and others? In this workshop LSC members will learn what are the roles of each stakeholder from student to CPS administrators. Also they will learn why they need to remain focused on getting off probation and what it takes to get off probation.

Lesson 7, 8, or 9 – From School Repairs to New School Construction –
the ABCs for LSCs
Why hasn’t the door to the bathroom stall been fixed? How do we get the parent room outlets and wiring done? Why don’t we have a new school? How does our school get an annex? In this workshop LSC members will learn what processes do and don’t exist for getting everything from minor school repairs done to new school construction.

LSC Training Dates & Locations

Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008 (9:00 am - 3:00 pm)
Chicago Vocational Career Academy
• Lesson 5 - Annual Principal Evaluation
• Lesson 6 - Principal Contract Renewal and Selection
• Lesson 2 - Effective LSC Meetings

Tuesday, October 14, 2008 (3:30pm - 7:30pm)
(location TBA)
• Lesson 3 - School Improvement Planning for Academic Achievement(SIPAAA)
• Lesson 4 - School Budget Planning & Monitoring

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 (3:30 am - 7:30 pm)
South Shore H.S. 7629 S. Constance
• Lesson 5 - Annual Principal Evaluation
• Lesson 7, 8, or 9 – The New CPS Probation Policy & the LSC

Saturday, October 18, 2008 (9:00am - 3:00 pm)
Chicago Vocational Career Academy
• Lesson 3 - School Improvement Planning for Academic Achievement(SIPAAA)
• Lesson 4 - School Budget Planning & Monitoring
• Lesson 7, 8, or 9 - The New CPS Probation Policy & the LSC

Saturday, October 25, 2008 (9:00am -1:00 pm)
Tanner Elementary 7350 S Evans Avenue
• Lesson 5 - Annual Principal Evaluation
• Lesson 6 - Principal Contract Renewal and Selection

Please RSVP!
Call Semay Johnston at 312-236-7252, ext. 245,
or fax your registration to 312-236-7927.

For more information contact the Course Facilitators:
Valencia Rias, 312-236-7252 ext. 241 (English)
or Elena Rios, 312-236-7252 ext. 234 (Spanish)

Sign an Online Petition to Oppose the Gutting of Local School Council Powers - proposed by Chicago Board President Rufus Williams

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Chicago Central Bureaucracy Grossly Inflates
Performance Ratings for Principals Who Are Failing

High Schools at Which the Central Board Appointed
Principals Have Shown Virtually No Academic Progress

Only 2% of the 485 Chicago principals for which Chicago released performance rating data for the 2005-2006 school year received an unsatisfactory rating from their Area Instructional Officers. The Area Instructional Officers (or AIOs) are supposed to be the principals’ key evaluators and mentors in an expensive bureaucracy created by the Chicago Central Board in 2002. However, 12 of the 23 Area Instructional Officers gave every single principal in their Area a satisfactory rating. Yet 50% of Chicago’s public schools are failing to make “adequate yearly progress,” based on federal standards.

A related Designs for Change analysis indicates that 20 high schools in which the Central Board has directly chosen the principal and taken control of the school improvement plan and budget have shown virtually no academic improvement and remain at very low achievement levels.

view full report

"School Reform Chicago Style" a Classic Study of the Drafting and Passage of Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 Now Available Online.

School Reform Chicago Style, written by Mary O'Connell and originally published by Center for Neighborhood Technology, is a readable in-depth analysis of how the state law that created Local School Councils was drafted and passed in the State Legislature by an impressive citizens' movement.

Unavailable for many years, it is now available online.

Complete Publication

The Big Picture
School-Initiated Reforms, Centrally Initiated Reforms, and Elementary School Achievement in Chicago (1990-2005)

Report Shows 144 Inner City Chicago Elementary Schools Have Shown 15 Years of Substantial Sustained Achievement Gains

Press Release • Summary • Full Report

The full report includes color graphs and pictures. They will remain clear if printed in black and white.

Policy Reform Program
The Chicago Policy Reform Program studies and advocates changes in school system structure and policy that foster school-level improvement. In doing so, DFC collaborates closely with Local School Council members active on policy issues and other parent, community, and business groups. DFC provides workshops and training for Local School Council members.

Literacy and School Improvement
DFC supports Literacy and School Improvement activities. We advise and assist school communities in Chicago (including Local School Councils, teachers, principals, and parents) in planning and carrying out basic educational changes to improve student achievement, especially student literacy. These efforts include resource guides and advice for schools across the city, and citywide leadership for Links-to-Literacy, a program to encourage independent student reading in 255 schools.

Learning Path Institute
Associate of Arts Program
The Learning Path Institute/Chicago is becoming a credit-granting degree-granting program to provide college-level educational experiences for active parent leaders and community leaders working to improve urban education. Learning Path Institute extends the focus of DFC’s reform efforts beyond elementary and secondary education, to include the “learning paths” that children and youth follow from birth to a career with a future.