FocalPointRespected. Refined. Realized.

VOL. 01 NUM. 1WINTER 2007

A Chicago International Charter School Publication

Chicago International Charter School Celebrates

10-Year Anniversary

Teacher Liz BeckEarns Rave Reviews

CICS Avalon Benefits from Active Parent of Three

Boy Wonder Northtown Student Earns Near-Perfect ACT Score

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDGURNEE, IL

PERMIT NO. 51

OpeningThoughts

We launch FocalPoint as a place where educators and administrators who are working to confront the status quo will describe the successes and challenges of educating students in urban America.

Many of the stories will be about the students, teachers, and parents of Chicago International. It is our hope, however, that this publication will encourage our readers to think more about the theory of change behind each story than of the system in which the triumphs and disappointments occurred. We encourage you to write to us with your reactions to individual articles or to the publication as a whole. Only through your response to our thoughts can a true dialogue take place.

This first edition of FocalPoint will also serve as the Chicago International 2006-2007 Annual Report. We believe that the juxtaposition of the FocalPoint stories and data about our performance last year only reinforces how important it is for us to work towards our mission of providing, through innovation and choice, high-quality, college preparatory education for today’s students.

Dr. Elizabeth D. Purvis Executive Director

w

Beth Purvis Executive Director Chicago International Charter School

Welcome to the inaugural edition of FocalPoint, a magazine published by the Chicago International Charter School. Our hope is that the information featured here will stimulate conversation and debate on the subject of urban education.

In our opinion, public education has failed in its mission to prepare children from the nation’s urban centers to succeed beyond high school. In a 2006 study supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Christopher Swanson reported that 14 of the 50 largest cities in the United States had four-year graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with Detroit graduating an appalling 21.7 percent of its students. Only six of those 50 urban centers had graduation rates higher than 80 percent, and no city graduated more than 82.5 percent of its students. Even more disturbing are the graduation rates of young men who are Black, Hispanic, or receive special education services. Despite these sobering facts, the vast majority of urban public schools educate students traditionally. Attempts to improve school systems through changes such as lengthening the school day, extending the school year, or evaluating the effectiveness of teachers by measuring student growth over time are met with fierce opposition. While the adults argue, student performance continues to suffer and thousands of young adults enter the work force functionally illiterate and unable to perform even the simplest computation.

02 | FocalPoint

contents

features06 35/36

CICS Northtown student, Nathaniel Berele, earned a near-perfect score on the ACT. But he’d rather talk about obscure math theories, his plans for the future, and why he thinks the Chicago White Sox can take the Cubs any day.

13 Ten Years of Urban EducationChicago International Charter School celebrates its 10-year anniversary and looks forward to ten more years of high-quality, college preparatory education for the children of Chicago.

18 A Parent’s CommitmentEnsuring a good education for your child begins with parental involvement. Stephanie Houston’s three children have attended Chicago International Avalon since its opening in 2005; many days, so has Stephanie.

22 A Stand-Out PerformanceA funny thing happened to teacher Liz Beck on the way to the theater: Instead of standing in the lights of Broadway, Miss Beck found herself standing in front of a room full of students. And loving it.

26 CICS 2007 Annual Report

VOL. 01 NUM. 1 | WINTER 2007

departments02 OpeningThoughts

04 ViewPoint

05 PolicyReport

10 CampusProfile

12 Noteworthy

32 Chalkboard

33 Exploration

34 Extensions

FocalPoint

06

22 13

18

34

FocalPoint | 03

Pho

tos

and

Cov

er P

hoto

by

Car

olin

e Vo

agen

Nel

son

FocalPoint Magazine | A Chicago International Charter School Publication | 228 South Wabash Avenue, Suite 500, Chicago, IL 60604

ViewPoint

What is most important to you in your child’s education?Q:

“Teachers that have higher learning. Caring teachers that will challenge my child to work at his best. That my child is in an environment that makes him feel confident, appreciated, respected, and secure, thus creating an atmosphere that is conducive for learning.”Page Minto CICS Basil Parent

“I am most concerned with my children being well-rounded, successful learners who are prepared to attend and finish college.”Barbara Brown CICS Wrightwood Parent

“Working together for a better education.”

Ana Rodriquez CICS Northtown Parent

“That he achieves a quality education in a safe environment. That he gets a foundation for college while enjoying his high school years.”

James Love CICS Ralph Ellison Parent

“Making sure my children are obtaining a quality education, delivered by competent and dedicated teachers.”Stephanie Houston CICS Avalon Parent

What is the greatest benefit to you and/or your child of attending a Chicago International campus?

Q:“Dedicated and caring educators and staff. [As parents] we no longer pay tuition, and parents are encouraged to and informed on how to be partners in their children’s education.”Stephanie Houston CICS Avalon Parent

“The opportunity to participate in the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation and the fact that my child is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. For me, the opportunity of knowing some wonderful teachers that makes me feel like they are an extension of my family working with me to make sure that my child works at his fullest potential.”

Page Minto CICS Basil Parent

“Dedicated teachers, small class size, updated facilities, administrators that listen, staff open to new ideas, teachers are accessible.”Barbara Brown CICS Wrightwood Parent

“More attention to the students. Safer school environment.”Ana Rodriquez CICS Northtown Academy Parent

“A smaller school setting.”James Love CICS Ralph Ellison Parent

04 | FocalPoint

PolicyReport

What is a Charter School?by Dr. Elizabeth D. Purvis and the Illinois Network of Charter Schools

A charter school is a privately run public school. Through unique agreements with the local authorizing agency, charter schools offer choice to families and are free from many of the mandates given to traditional public schools. In exchange for choice and freedom, they are held accountable through measures of student performance.

Choice• Charterschoolsenablefamiliestochoosetheschooland educational program that best fit the needs of their children.

• Educatorsareabletofocusonspecificcurriculaandinstructional strategies that meet their students’ needs.

• Authorizerssupportschoolsthataremostlikelytomeettheneeds of a specific district or community.

AccountabilityCharter schools’ success is measured according to student perfor-mance, financial management, and statutory compliance benchmarks established by the authorizer. If a charter school does not meet its contractual obligations, it can be closed by the authorizing agency.

FreedomWhile charter schools must adhere to federal laws such as the Individual with Disabilities Education Act and state learning standards, their administrators and teachers are free from much of the bureau-cracy that often interferes with improved student outcomes.

The mission and vision of each charter school are unique. Some schools, such as Chicago International, use innovative teaching techniques to deliver a classic curriculum; others focus their work as centers of excellence in technology, cultural arts, foreign language, or specialized topics. The goal for many communities is to create curricular choices within the public domain similar to those routinely offered to families by private schools.

Illinois Charter School LawThe operation of Charter Schools is guided by the principles set forth in each state’s charter legislation. In 1996, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law allowing the creation of charter schools. Key aspects of the charter law include the following provisions:

General ProvisionsThe number of charter schools that can be created in the state is limited to 30 in Chicago, 15 in the Chicago suburbs, and 15 throughout the remainder of the state.

An Illinois charter may be granted for a period not less than five and not more than 10 school years; a charter may be renewed in incremental periods not to exceed five school years.

Charter school applications denied by the local school board can be appealed to the Illinois State Board of Education; if the State Board reverses the local school board’s decision and grants the charter, the State Board will oversee the charter directly.

Illinois Charter School TeachersCharter school teachers must be Illinois State certified or meet the following criteria: (a) hold a bachelor’s degree; (b) have five or more years of employment in a field related to the subject to be taught; (c) pass a state basic skills test; and (d) demonstrate continued evidence of “professional growth.”

In Chicago charter schools opened prior to 2003, 75 percent of the classroom teachers must hold an Illinois State Teaching Certificate. For Chicago charter schools that opened after April 2003, 50 percent of the teachers must hold an Illinois State Teaching Certificate.

FundingAccording to Illinois state law, charter schools should receive funding that is between 75 and 125 percent of the local school district’s per capita student tuition. The exact amount of funding is to be negotiated between the charter school and the local authorizing agency.

For a detailed profile of the charter school law in Illinois, visit the Illinois State Board of Education Web site at www.isbe.net.

Aa Bb

accountability beginnings

Cc

choice

Dd Ee

dialogue extensions

Ff

freedom

Gg Hh

growth honor

Ii

innovation

Jj Kk

journey knowledge

Ll

leadership

FocalPoint | 05

00 | FocalPoint

Northtown Academy junior Nathaniel Berele scored an impressive 35 out of 36 on the ACT.

(35/36)

THIS MATH AND SCIENCE PHENOM KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT ABSTRACT THEORIES, ACADEMIC

SUCCESS, AND IF THE WHITE SOX ARE REALLY BETTER THAN THE CUBS.

Nathaniel Berele is what you’d call a whiz kid. The 17-year- old senior at Chicago International Northtown Academy did what most other college-bound teenagers only dream of: He earned a 35 (out of a possible 36) on the ACT, the nation’s most widely accepted college entrance exam. His score puts him in the top one percent of more than 1.3 million test-takers this year.

“We took a lot of practice tests at school, and I scored pretty well on them,” Nathaniel says evenly. “I didn’t expect the ACT to be much harder than the practice tests, and when I finished, I felt like I had done just fine.”

The ACT is a curriculum-based exam, not an aptitude test, which means its questions relate to what students have learned in four topical areas: English, reading—and

Nathaniel’s favorites—math and science. The test also includes a free-response writing section.

As you might suspect, Nathaniel’s whiz kid status does not begin or end with the ACT. He is one of those precious few students with an uncanny penchant for math and science. “I’m able to take one concept and predict the next 10 concepts you’re going to teach me,” he says, a hint of wonder in his voice. “I don’t know how, I just can.”

The son of Miriam, a physician who retired to spend time with her family, and Allan, a math professor at Chicago’s DePaul University, Nathaniel grew up loving math and science. He enrolled at Northtown in ninth grade. He wishes the school offered calculus to freshmen, and he admits that he’d rather read a dry article about scientific theory than a novel.

by Hilary Masell Oswald

Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson FocalPoint | 07

Last year, Nathaniel took the Advanced Placement Calculus BC exam, which tests students’ knowledge of two semesters’ worth of college-level single-variable calculus. “I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been,” Nathaniel says, “so I was surprised when I got a five [the highest possible score] on the exam.”

The AP curriculum marked what is usually the most rigorous math curriculum available to high school students, so this year, Nathaniel made a deal with his math teacher: “I would take his final exam at the beginning of the quarter, and when I passed, he’d agree to let me work on any math I want in the back of the classroom.” Thanks to his dad’s stash of college math textbooks, Nathaniel is now busy studying applications of modern mathematics. “You know, graph theory,

mathematics in nature, where different patterns appear in nature—that sort of thing,” he explains casually, as if esoteric math theories are as commonplace as Chicago pizzerias.

But don’t peg Nathaniel as a guy with only one interest. When asked what he enjoys outside of school, Nathaniel doesn’t hesitate: “I love sports. Baseball is the best sport ever.” An outfielder on the Northtown base-ball team and a member of the high school’s new flag football team, Nathaniel says he likes learning about the sports’ fundamental elements and dissecting highlights from college and professional games. “I’m very competitive,” he says sheepishly. “I like to do anything that involves winning.”

Nathaniel’s baseball coach, Mark Stasiorowski, says Nathaniel’s passion for

“The best way to learn something

is not to memorize a black-and-white

fact. Argue for it; argue against it.

Then you’re trying to understand it.”

(35/36)

08 | FocalPoint

baseball is impressive. “He really wants to improve,” Mr. Stasiorowski says. “He’ll come up to me often and say, ‘Hey, Coach, I noticed that the other team’s catcher always drops the curve ball,’ or some other observation. He approaches the game with a very analytical mind and a lot of enthusiasm.”

Whether he’s taking batting practice or delving into an obscure physics lesson, Nathaniel says one other quality defines his approach to learning: a love of debate. “The best way to learn something is not to memorize a black-and-white fact,” he explains. “Argue for it; argue against it. Then you’re trying to understand it.” (This theory applies to baseball as much as it applies to academic work. He’s a White Sox fan, and he’s ready to take on any Cubs fan in Chicago’s interminable debate over which team is really better).

Equipped with passion, intelligence and his excellent ACT score, Nathaniel has a shot at enrolling at nation’s top colleges and universities. He’s planning to apply to Hofstra University in New York, Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, DePaul University and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Nathaniel is also considering taking a year off and traveling to Israel, where he would study Hebrew and learn more about his faith.

Nathaniel’s college counselor, Mario Ortiz, says Nathaniel has a lot of good opportunities ahead of him. “He has a tenacious mind, what you’d call a steel-trap mind,” Mr. Ortiz says. “He’s very sharp, very observant. He loves to debate ideas, which will serve him well in college.”

And what does the whiz kid have planned for his future? “I’ll take a good amount of courses in engineering and exercise science [in college],” he predicts. “Someday, I’d like to build a workout room where the energy created by people working out is converted to power that lights the room, runs the air conditioner and heater, that sort of thing.”

Then, Nathaniel becomes introspective. He has a broader view of his future than simple plans about college and career imply.

“In the next 20 years, I want to keep living life,” Nathaniel says. “I want to be happy with who I am. I want to be able to say, ‘Hey, you know what? I have done a good job.’”

No doubt this whiz kid is off to a great start.

(35/36)

Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson

FocalPoint | 09

aA Few Good MenMale Mentorship Program at Chicago International Longwoodby R.J. McMahon

At the end of a school day in September 2005, Robert Lang, Director of Schools at Chicago International Longwood on Chicago’s South Side, looked out of his office window and noticed several young men—many of whom were high school students at his school—standing across the street on the corner. In addition to being classmates, the young men had something else in common: They were not involved in activities after school, so they spent their afternoons on 95th Street, hanging out with other young men from the neighborhood.

The situation troubled Mr. Lang for several reasons. First, he was very concerned about the company his students were keeping. Second, he did not understand how these young men could not find extracurricular activities that interested them, given that the school offers 15 different activities over the course of the academic year. And finally, he felt compelled to address the dearth of role models and structure in these students’ lives. “We are a small school with less than 500 high school students, so it is very difficult to fall through the cracks at Chicago International,” Mr. Lang says. “Unfortunately, we were getting too close to letting these young men slip through the cracks.”

Something had to change. Mr. Lang assembled the male members of his leader-ship team to address the need for a program that would target the male students who were most at-risk: young men who were not participating in after-school activities on campus and who were struggling academically, socially, or emotionally. From this meeting, the Male Mentorship Program was born. Not only would this program provide an after-school destination for more than 30 high school boys, but it would also provide activities every Monday through Thursday

from 3:30 to 5:30 and create a structure in which these students could build relationships with positive male role models.

Launched in the fall of 2005, the program is built on daily two-hour sessions when four male African-American administrators at Longwood meet with small teams of young men. During these sessions, mentors and students work on enriching the boys’ academic work and building personal skills, such as how to behave appropriately in class and how to introduce themselves to new people. The mentors lead discussions about topics that are sometimes uncomfortable, such as hygiene and grooming, relationships with parents, and the importance of complet-ing work assignments. Two days each week, members of the faculty tutor students who

need help in any subject, and twice a week volunteers from the corporate community give presentations about important life skills, such as how students can open and manage checking accounts, start businesses, or improve their time management skills.

On top of these regular activities, mentors arrange college trips for the young men to see and experience where their hard work might lead. The message is central to the program’s mission: College is the logical next step in your educational journeys. As a result of volunteers’ time and the program’s structure, the students have become more accountable—to themselves, their mentors, their peers, and the entire program.

Within three months, teachers and

CampusProfile

10 | FocalPoint

Back Row: Robert Lang, Miles Griffin, Romond Payne, Ariel Mayberry, Donnell Jones Front Row: Dominic Robinson, Anthony Jones, Jarrett Ball

administrators saw positive changes in the young men. Suspensions dwindled. Students’ grades, attitudes, and self-esteem improved. And as a result, the students spent more time in the school building, a better option than hanging out on neighborhood streets. The students were either plugged into other after-school activities, or they gravitated to the activities that piqued their interest. Today, the participating students spend at least 10 hours a day on campus, from 7:30 in the morning to 5:30 or 7:00 in the evening, depending on their activities.

Through their participation the first year, many students earned summer jobs on campus, working with summer school students, cleaning the school, or laundering uniforms for the sports teams. Now they have the skills

they need to supervise other students in their work around campus. The program instills not only a strong work ethic, but also—and just as importantly—a sense of self-worth in each young man.

The biggest misconception about mentoring programs is that the mentoring must be one-on-one. The Male Mentoring Program established at Chicago International Longwood uses a team approach. Each adult mentor has about 10 students assigned to him, and he serves as a go-to person for the young men in his group. But the mentors share responsibility for the students, creating a network of support for the young men.

Now in its third year, the Male Mentoring Program continues to change and grow.

As suspensions decreased and attitudes improved at the high school, problematic incidents at the Junior Academy increased, so the program’s focus shifted to young men in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, with a few high school students added to the mix. Once the high school students complete one year of the program—the time needed to get connected to the high school community—they become peer mentors for the younger students. Today, between 40 and 50 junior high students participate with a corps of peer mentors from the high school—a circumstance that has strengthened the culture of the school.

The students grow together, the young men learn to be leaders, and the adult mentors serve as torchbearers who light the way.

The program instills not only a strong work ethic, but also—and just as importantly—a sense of self-worth in each young man.

CampusProfile

FocalPoint | 11

Top: Longwood campus

Bottom: Romond Payne hard at work

Right: Dominic Robinson proudly displays Longwood logo

Far Right: Trevi Wilson helps a

student with his homework

Photos by Caroline Voagen Nelson

lPursuit of ExcellenceChicago International seniors achieve college dreams with help from Posse Foundationby R.J. McMahon

Where Chicago International Posse Scholars Enrolled

Carleton College (Minnesota):Lisa Ayala Ashley Dinzey

Denison University (Ohio):Jasmine McGhee

DePauw University (Indiana):Michael Pace

Oberlin College (Ohio):Terrance Richardson

University of Illinois – Urbana-ChampaignYudine LeJeune

University of Wisconsin – MadisonBeatriz Cañas Conei Coleman Yesenia Saavedra

Noteworthy

Last spring, across the Chicago International high school campuses, seniors were making their final choices about which colleges and universities they would attend come the fall. We all know that this process can be difficult for an 18-year-old (and his or her parents), so students generally put off their decisions ‘til the bitter end—right before the deposit deadline. But nine Chicago International seniors—five from Chicago International Northtown Academy and four from Chicago International Longwood—knew which top-tier universities they would attend for months. They had been preparing for this college deci-sion since the beginning of their senior year, when they were nominated for the prestigious Posse Foundation Scholarship.

The Posse Foundation, founded in 1989, identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. The foundation extends to these students the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing them in supportive, multicultural teams (“Posses”) of 10 students. The Foundation’s partner universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships.

Yesenia, who attends University of Wisconsin – Madison, is majoring in communication and science. Going through the selection process flipped on the light bulb in her head. “It’s when you realize that hard work pays off.”

In Chicago, the Posse Foundation awarded 70 scholarships from approximately 1,300 students nominated for the scholarship. More than 15,000 seniors attend approximately 100 public high schools in Chicago (selective enrollment, charter and neighborhood

schools), and 204—or about 1.4 percent— of those students graduated from Chicago International. But Chicago International students earned 13 percent of the scholar-ships awarded (9 of 70). (See sidebar for list of students and which universities they attend). Chastity Lord, the Posse Chicago director put this accomplishment in perspective: “This reminds our community that great things are happening in Chicago Public Schools, and specifically at Chicago International Charter School.”

To earn the scholarship, each student passed a rigorous, three-stage selection process comprised of interviews and group activities. In the final round, admission officials from each university partner conducted group and one-on-one interviews.

Jasmine, a Posse Scholar who attends Denison University in Ohio and will pursue business studies, said the usual selection process challenged her. “Being put on the spot taught me many things. I learned to value other people’s opinions,” she said. “Sometimes you can’t lead; you also have to follow.”

Beatriz, who will study communications at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, said the intense Posse interviews and focus on self-expression made her aware of her abilities. “This makes me feel more secure and confident,” she said.

Lord added, “These young people will be competing at the highest level. They will persist, graduate and return to their communities to make a difference.”

Northtown Posse Scholars: Jasmine McGhee, Yesenia Saavedra, Ashley Dinzey, Beatriz Cañas and Lisa Ayala

Photo by Mario Ortiz12 | FocalPoint

10 Urban EducationYears Of

More than 6,700 reasons to celebrate

Craig Henderson, Chicago International board president, was serving on the board of the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation (DMSF) when he first considered the power of the charter school movement. Founded 18 years ago, DMSF provides four-year scholarships and educational support to 420 high school students who attend private schools that will prepare them for college.

“We were minding our own business, giving about 50 scholarships a year, when the Civic Committee [of the Commercial Club of Chicago] came knocking,” Henderson says. Made up of senior executives from Chicago’s top institutions, the committee had lobbied hard for charter schools. The city had given the committee the responsibility of figuring out who would run Chicago’s first 15 charter schools, but Henderson says Daniel Murphy’s board just wasn’t interested in running public schools.

“But then [the committee members] asked, ‘How many kids are you helping now?’” Henderson says. “We told them 50. And they said, ‘If you open a charter school, you can help 600 kids.’ That was the hook that got us to consider it.”

DMSF board members Henderson, David Chizewer, Kate Gottfred and Jim Murphy—who had founded DMSF—agreed to try. Their mission: extend the opportunities afforded to Daniel Murphy Scholars to a larger group of children by providing both high-quality elementary school choices and increasing the number of public, open enrollment, college-preparatory high schools in Chicago.

To this end, they enlisted board members with different areas of expertise: education, law, finance, facilities, and governance. “We wanted an organization that was replicable and scalable,” Henderson says. “We had to operate on the paltry amount of money we received from the government.”

One of the board’s first decisions was to build an operating model that was different from most charter school structures. “We decided the board would be an oversight board, and we’d farm out school operations to school management organizations [or SMOs],” Henderson explains.

by Hilary Masell Oswald

FocalPoint | 13

10Years of

Urban Education

The benefits of the model are threefold, he says. “First, it allows us to be objective about how the SMOs are doing. If somebody is not doing a good job, we can terminate the contract and hire someone else.” Second, the board creates competition among management companies because they’re vying for more schools. Competition yields higher performance.

And third, “we were able to build scalability, and with scalability come economies of scale,” Henderson says. “If you run one school, you need a director of education, of course. If you run 11 schools, you still just need one director of education. Therefore, more dollars go to the classroom, where they should be.”

When the board applied for and received one of the first public school charters in Illinois, Chicago International was born. In August of 1997, two campuses—Longwood and Bucktown—opened their doors to 1,510 children in kindergarten through ninth grade.

The school flourished. More campuses opened, and more families added their names to the waiting lists. (Today,

Chicago International has more than 2,400 students on its waiting lists). Henderson says the growth prompted the board to reconsider how best to manage the campuses. Instead of relying on one school management organization, they hired three SMOs—one national provider (Edison Schools), one local provider (American Quality Schools), and one wholly owned subsidiary with expertise in high school curriculum development (Civitas Schools)—to meet students’ diverse needs. “The SMOs have different strengths, and we match them with the different needs on our campuses,” Henderson says. “Plus, the SMOs share best practices, which makes the whole organization better.”

By August of 2003, Chicago International had changed dramatically: 3,200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade were attending six campuses. With its three SMOs, the board further clarified its operating model. Guided by the board, the central office would oversee student performance evaluation, regulatory compliance, fiscal management, capital facilities projects, fundraising, school-wide policies, and relationships

14 | FocalPoint

with external partners. The SMO partners were responsible for all things related to the education of students: training and managing personnel, implementing curriculum, and managing the school culture and climate in accordance with the mission and vision of Chicago International.

In the 2004-05 school year, Chicago International got a $40,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to develop a 10-year business plan. Students had been outperforming their Chicago Public School counter-parts for years, but standardized test scores and the caliber of colleges that graduates were choosing suggested that Chicago International had not yet achieved its mission. “The grant was the catalyst that got us to refocus on what was important: education results,” Henderson says. “The business plan allowed us to focus on accountability and curriculum, to really look at what is important.”

Henderson says that student outcomes show that the board’s efforts are working. (See “A decade of progress”). “I think the model is key. I think the other crucial thing we do is give control of the classroom to teachers, and we believe time on task in the classroom is very important,” he says. “What really makes this organization work is the commitment of our teachers and administrators. The fact that they work two more hours per day and 19 more days per year than their counterparts in the Chicago Public School system and for comparable wages—that’s what makes our campuses so successful.”

In addition to dedicated teachers, Chicago International’s board is proud of the revitalization the schools have brought to far South and West Side neighborhoods. The organization purchases its buildings or leases them long-term from the Archdiocese of Chicago; the renovation of these buildings—many of them in areas of high crime and low employment— has brought pride to these communities.

Henderson says the next 10 years will bring continued educational success for students. “If we have the results, we’ll continue to grow,” he says. “But the results have to come first.”

He’s looking forward to the opening of Chicago International Ralph Ellison High School, a new 600-student high school at 80th and Honore streets—a $15 million project on Chicago’s Southwest Side that includes the renovation of an historical structure and the creation of a new gymna-sium, named to honor the community. But most of all, he’s hoping to see the growth of a legacy that started 10 years ago with a few Chicagoans who shared a vision.

“It’s my belief that every child in the city of Chicago, regardless of economic status, should have a high-quality, college preparatory education,” he says. “That’s our mission for the next 10, 15, 25 years.”

Chicago International’s board believes that the campuses should operate without substantial philanthropic support. In order to be long-term community schools, the educational programs could not be affected by economic conditions that often impede fundraising; however, generous contributions from our donors have allowed us to expand our offerings to our students, develop new curricula and build schools. Here is a look at the organizations that have supported Chicago International.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: More than $4 million to develop a new high school curriculum, which is showing significant early signs of success, and to open four high schools

Charter Growth Fund: $1.4 million to develop an accountability program

Walton Family Foundation: $230,000 per campus for start-up expenses for new campuses

Renaissance Schools Fund (RSF) and funding partners (Kraft Foods, Judd Enterprises, Circle of Service Foundation and the Woodley Road Neighbors): Commit $500,000 per new campus over the first three years of existence

KaBOOM! and partners (The Home Depot & AMC Mortgage Services): Construction of new playgrounds on six CICS campuses—approximate in-kind value of $45,000 per playground

Money Well Spent

FocalPoint | 15

A Decade Of ProgressAt the end of the 2006-07 school year:

• Thefour-yearhighschoolgraduationratewas90percent.

• CPSgraduationrateforthesameclasswasabout54percent.

• 85percentofChicagoInternationalgraduateswereacceptedintocollege.

• AverageACTof11thgradestudentswas19.2,thehighestofanyIllinoischarterschool.

• 19.2representsanincreaseinaveragescoreof2.1pointsovertheprioryear.

• TheaverageACTscorefortheChicagoPublicSchoolswas16.3.

• CICSNorthtownAcademyisthefirstnonselectivehighschoolinChicagotohavean average ACT above 20.

• 22percentofour8thgradegraduateswereacceptedintoselectiveenrollmenthigh schools (compared to CPS average of 11%).

• ChicagoInternationalcampusesoffermorethan150after-schoolandcommunity-based programs to children and families.

On January 30, Chicago International Charter School (CICS) incorporates as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

The CICS Bucktown and Longwood campuses open.

1997

1997

Prairie Campus opens, Kindergarten through Grade 5.

Longwood Campus expands to include Grade 11.

1998

American Quality Schools (AQS), an educational management organization launches.

1999

Washington Park Campus opens, Kindergarten through Grade 4.

Edison Schools begins managing Longwood.

Longwood Campus expands to include Grade 12.

Prairie Campus expands to include Grade 6.

2000 2001

Washington Park Campus expands to second building and doubles in size.

Prairie Campus expands to include Grade 7.19

98

200020

01

1999

16 | FocalPoint

2004

2006

2007

Basil Campus (Kindergarten through Grade 2) and West Belden Campus (Kindergarten through Grade 5) open.

Chicago Charter School Foundation (CCSF) starts Civitas Schools, its own educational management organization.

CICS purchases the Basil building through a $16m bond.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awards a multi-million dollar grant to CICS to open four new high school campuses over a period of several years.

Northtown Campus opens Grades 9-12 and is the first free-standing CICS campus and first of the Gates’ high schools.

Basil Campus $5m renovation is completed; Basil opens Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 6. It is the only free, all-day Pre-Kindergarten school in the Englewood area.

CCSF is awarded a strategic planning grant through Walton Family Foundation and puts together a strategic business plan for next five years.

CICS is the largest charter school in Illinois, with seven campuses serving more than 4,600 students from Pre-K through Grade 12.

Chicago Public School names CICS a School of Excellence.

The CICS Basil Campus expands to include Grade 7.

Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) names CICS a Supplemental Education Services (SES) provider for after-school programs.

Irving Park (Kindergarten through Grade 4) opens.

CCSF issues $48m in bonds and uses funds to purchase Northtown Campus.

CICS charter renews for another five-year term.

CCSF partners with fourth educational management organization, Victory Schools.

The 2nd Gates’ high school, Ralph Ellison Campus (Grade 9) opens.

CCSF purchases a closed high school on the south side of Chicago and undertakes a $15m renovation, which includes expanding the building and adding a gym.

CCSF is awarded 2,400 additional seats through the invited process of Renaissance 2010.

20032002

Wrightwood Campus (Kindergarten through Grade 5) and Avalon/South Shore Campus (Kindergarten through Grade 4) open through the Renaissance 2010 program, bringing total number of campuses to nine and total number of students served to more than 5,600.

2005

2002

2003

2007

2006

2004

200

5

FocalPoint | 17

00 | FocalPoint

A Parent’s

This mother of three has big dreams for Avalon’s kids.

CommitmentPhoto by Caroline Voagen Nelson

A Parent’s

This mother of three has big dreams for Avalon’s kids.

There was a time in Stephanie Houston’s life when she stopped watching the news. It’s not because she was too busy—though she’s hardly the type to have time on her hands. And it’s not because she didn’t care. It’s because she was pregnant.“Every evening there was something about a kid on the news who got caught up in a gang, or about someone abusing a child—I couldn’t watch,” she says. At that point, her responsibility sunk in: “I needed to be an involved parent; I needed to be there, to protect them, to make sure they got a good education.”

For 11 years, Stephanie and her husband, Theodis Jr., have been doing exactly that for Korbin, 11, Theodis III, 9, and Sheridan, 8. The children have attended Chicago International Avalon since its opening in 2005; many days, so has Stephanie.

In addition to serving as Avalon’s parent representative to the Chicago International parent advisory board (where Korbin is the student representative), she’s worked with the Illinois Network of Charter Schools to lobby for more support in Springfield, as a Girl Scout leader, and in the classroom helping with various projects and field trips.

It’s a quality her youngest child can’t quite fully appreciate. At a recent all-school roller skating party, Stephanie took on organizing the crowds of kids filing into the building, eager to trade sneakers for wheels and break for the rink. After Stephanie performed some verbal crowd control, Sheridan approached her mother: “Why do you always have to talk to my friends?” she demanded. Stephanie laughs as she tells the story. “‘This is not really about

by Leah Fabel

CommitmentFocalPoint | 19

talking to your friends, but helping the entire school. Don’t worry about it,’ I said. And then Sheridan looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, but you always help.’”

Much more appreciative is Anthony Chalmers, Avalon’s school director, who praises Stephanie as one of his most involved parents. “She’s very open with her resources and very willing to share ideas that may better the school and the quality of school culture,” he says. He recounts a time he came down to the wire finding one more after-school program; Stephanie checked her resources and found a contact at the U.S. Tennis Association. Now, Avalon offers an after-school tennis program—a rare opportunity for a city school.

Stephanie’s dedication to education began long before she had children of her own. As a young girl growing up on Chicago’s North Side, she read daily. “My mom worked nights—she had to be at work every single night at 10 o’clock,” Stephanie says. “But I remember every night she pounded phonics and word recognition. ‘You’ve gotta read every day,’ she’d say. ‘If I send you to the store, you’ve gotta be able to read the street signs and the grocery list—you’ve gotta read every day.’ I think it was ingrained in me that way.”

In high school, Stephanie relied on the confidence learned at home to move past the subtle racism she encountered at her alma mater, Lincoln Park High School. “I found that minority students were not always encouraged to the extent that other students were. Those of us who had parents to encourage us didn’t necessarily see it, but I see it when I look back.” She recalls a counselor who called her to his office at the end of her sophomore year, worried about her course load: a lot of math, science and foreign language, but no typing class so she could find a job once she graduated. “I said, ‘Well, I’m going to college. And after that, I won’t need typing—the people who work for me will.’”

True to her word, Stephanie went on to Eastern Illinois University,

in Charleston, and majored in community health sciences. Soon afterward, she took a job with the Chicago Department of Public Health, where she began as a health educator teaching schools and communities about the dangers of lead poisoning. In her 16-year career, she’s received five promotions.

Today, she heads the city’s HIV primary-care program: a $1.5 million budget and a staff of 10 to cover one of the largest jurisdictions in the country. Her department serves Chicago’s most needy patients, offering costly medical, nutritional, and psychological care to those without the funds to afford it.

Throughout her successes, Stephanie has championed higher educa-tion. Now, she intends to encourage it for each student at Avalon by developing partnerships with colleges and universities. “We have to get our kids focused on college in grade school,” she says.

She credits Avalon’s teachers and administrators with supporting her ambitions through their attention to each individual student. “They’re so dedicated, so skilled and knowledgeable,” Stephanie says. “They take time to address the issues of each child and to find out how each child learns.”

And they strengthen the values Stephanie and her husband teach at home: “I teach them that their community, their neighborhood, is only as good as they are, and that they have to be involved,” she says. “Avalon reinforces that by concentrating on building capacity as a community, helping each other learn.”

As they continue to succeed, Stephanie may be able to switch on the news one night and find her world a more pleasant place to live. In the meantime, she’ll continue to work at it.

“I’ve found, after having three toddlers at once, you don’t have to think about what needs to be done in terms of magnitude,” she says. “You just do it ‘cause it needs to be done.”

“ I teach them that their community, their neighborhood, is only as good as they are, and that they have to be involved,” she says. “Avalon reinforces that by concentrating on building capacity as a community, helping each other learn.”

AParent’sCommitment

20 | FocalPoint

FocalPoint | 00

Stephanie and her three children, Theodis III, 9; Korbin, 11; and Sheridan, 8.

Pho

to b

y C

arol

ine

Voag

en N

elso

n

00 | FocalPoint

astand outperformance

Teacher Liz Beck uses her talents to inspire students at Washington Park

by Hilary Masell Oswald

A funny thing happened to Liz Beck on the way to the theater: Instead of standing in the lights of Broadway, Miss Beck found herself standing in front of a room full of students. And loving it.

A graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University in New York, Miss Beck intended to take her music degree and launch a career as a Broadway actress. She figured she’d need a job while she was audition-ing for roles, so she applied for a teaching position in New York City’s public school system.

“New York was desperate for teachers, and I thought that teaching was an easy job with plenty of time off,” she remembers. “Boy, was I wrong.”

Miss Beck landed a job as a music teacher for 7th and 8th grade students at a public school in Manhattan, where, she says, “The gangs ran the school.” But she loved the work, and after three

years in New York, she moved to Chicago, where she accepted a position at Chicago International Washington Park. Now in her fourth year teaching 5th grade math, science, and social studies there, she laughs a little about how she accidentally found a job she loves.

“I believe that with children, you get back what you put in,” she says, as a way of explaining what has kept her in the classroom. “Kids are brilliant at finding the real you, and they know instantly if you care about them. It’s amazing.”

Miss Beck’s classroom is a lively, colorful, demanding place, where on any day you will find her students absorbed in her teaching. “I have out-there ideas about education,” she says. “I teach to my brightest kids. I differentiate my instruction to see how it suits my students, but I will not be the teacher who neglects the brightest kids. That’s terrible.”

FocalPoint | 23Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson

And she relies on her students to figure out the value of their learning. “I ask them, ‘Why do you need to know this?’” she explains. “They come up with great ideas. I think people underestimate kids a lot. If you ask them for good answers and expect good answers, you’ll get them.”

Pamela Creed, director of Washington Park, uses a string of superlatives to describe Miss Beck. “She’s extremely dedicated and motivated, and she cares about her students and holds them to high standards,” Mrs. Creed says. “There is no challenge too big for Liz, which I love.”

In addition to teaching all day and serving as a mentor for new teachers, Miss Beck runs Washington Park’s Community Schools, an after-school enrichment program that provides opportunities for students to stay on campus and explore their interests. Teachers lead “clubs,” such as Public Speaking,

Cheerleading, “The Wildcat Times”—the newspaper club, which publishes a paper created entirely by students each month— and Mad Science for aspiring scientists. In all, Washington Park offers 23 clubs for students and one for parents (“Coffee Club,” where parents come to discuss different issues).

As if that’s not enough, this summer Miss Beck designed and led an enrichment program she called “A Picture Perfect Summer.” For four weeks, she led 15 rising 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders through photography-related lessons. The students built a darkroom and learned how to take and develop their own photographs. They learned about the science of photography by studying shutter speeds, basic optics, and periscopes. They hosted visitors such as a book author, who talked about how she chose photos for her book, and a graphic designer from the Chicago Cubs organization, who showed the

students how he makes posters.

And, best of all, says Mykaila Potts, 11, they went on field trips. “We went on a food tour. We went downtown. We went to a bunch of museums,” she says with awe. “It was really fun.” The program’s trips included an archi-tectural boat tour (where students practiced taking well-composed photographs), a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry, a stop in the Signature Room restaurant on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building, and a morning at the WGN studios, where they watched a live taping.

“I wanted the program to be about learning, but not like they’re used to in the classroom,” Miss Beck says. “I just wanted something that would stretch their minds.”

This innovative approach to teaching is possible in charter schools in ways it’s sometimes not in traditional public schools,

AStandOutPerformance

Photo by Caroline Voagen Nelson

Miss Beck says. Though her summer program was extracurricular, she uses the same creative streak to reach her students in the classroom. “I think charters are a nice alternative, and when they’re run right, they can be successful,” she says. “I enjoy having a hand in the planning. I like that we can do what we think will make a successful school, and it’s working.”

Mrs. Creed agrees. “We have more freedom in terms of curriculum,” she says. “We have children from all different levels of academic achievement, and our teachers can reach them. Teachers like Liz could go to a tradi-tional public school and make more money, but the teachers here love what they do, they love to innovate, and they have a passion for educating the children in their classes.”

That passion fuels Liz Beck for about 12 hours each day—that’s how long she spends

at Washington Park’s campus. She begins each of these long days with a mantra that hangs in her classroom: “Love them unconditionally. Teach them uncompromis-ingly. Encourage them unceasingly.”

“I ask myself, ‘Am I doing this today?’” she says. “It took me a while to realize that it’s more than just test scores and me doing my thing in the front of the class. It’s about a life. You might be the only one who is a positive force in this kid’s life.”

Deidra Jackson, 12, was one of those lives who spent a year in Miss Beck’s 5th grade classroom. Now a 7th-grader, Deidra still adores her former teacher. “She’s a heartwarming person,” Deidra says. “She’ll never forget you. It makes me feel like” — she pauses for just the right way to explain Miss Beck—“like she’s another part of my family.”

“ I believe that with children, you get back what you put in... Kids are brilliant at finding the real you, and they know instantly if you care about them. It’s amazing.”

FocalPoint | 25

00 | FocalPoint

2007 Annual Report

I. Board of Directors Update

The initial Board of Directors of Chicago International Charter School came together with a shared vision and passion for educating the traditionally underserved members of society; inner-city, urban youth, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. These individuals formed an organization dedicated to bringing change to the traditionally staid education community. They built a unique organization that has relied on a business model focusing on core competencies (see sidebar) and economies of scale with the confidence to allow talented education partners to employ their strengths to achieve the organizational goal: college preparation for all students, from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The education partners assume the day-to-day operations of the “business,” educating more than 6,700 students across 11 neighborhood campuses.

In addition to the distinctive business model, much of the Board’s functioning is patterned after the corporate world, specifically the governing board approach. The

Chicago International Board is not a traditional non-profit “working” board. This Board is focused on the end, with the education partners concerned with the means. This model gives the Board members opportunities to evaluate the organization’s goals and, when those goals are met, to focus on the next initiative—all with a focus on results in the classroom.

In order to live this focus, board members must know the outcomes and how (and whether) the organization is achieving its goals. The Chicago International Board adopted a rigorous assessment system over the last two years, which not only informs the Board of Student Achievement (and campus achievement in aggregate), but

also informs teachers of students’ strengths and weaknesses, leading to the goal of differentiated instruction for the students of Chicago International.

The Board has realized that as we grow as an organization, the Board becomes further and further removed from the front lines. In order to keep members aware and in tune with the individual campuses, the Board launched the CICS Teacher, Parent and Student Advisory Boards during the 2006 – 2007 school year. The purposes of these boards are to provide advice and feedback to the Board regarding the experiences of CICS children, teachers and families. Through the insights of students, teachers, and parents, we hope to improve the school program delivered at Chicago International so that the educa-tional program best meets the needs of each campus community. Each CICS Campus has one member on each advisory board. The campus director chooses the teacher representatives. The Parent Organization

Annual Repor t Contents

I. Board of Directors Update II. Fiscal Year 2008 Financial ProjectionsIII. Funder Prof ileIV. About the BondsV. Fiscal Year 2007 Funding PartnersVI. Student Performance Update

The financial philosophy of Chicago International Charter School (CICS) is to operate schools using the per pupil and entitlement funds provided through Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the U.S. Department of Education. The fiscal policy of Chicago International is to operate a balanced budget. CICS generates small cash surpluses each year to create a cash reserve fund to be used for emergencies. In addition to the revenues from the public school system, Chicago International solicits donations for special projects and to finance organizational growth. Our philosophy presents a unique challenge because charter schools in Chicago receive less funding than traditional public schools.

of each campus chooses the parent reps, and the students generally come from the leadership of the student government.

Of the nine members of the Board, four remain from the original board: David Chizewer, Kate Gottfred, Craig Henderson and Gerald Jenkins. The remaining five have joined the board over the last four years (see sidebar list of Board Members and their professions). This collection of talented, committed people continues to keep student achievement at the forefront of Chicago International.

Executive Committee:Craig W. Henderson (Board President) is the founder and president of C. W. Henderson & Associates, Inc., an investment counseling firm that specializes in tax-exempt municipal securities and manages assets totaling approximately $1.8 billion.

David J. Chizewer (Vice President) is a partner in Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom, and Mortiz’s Litigation Group and is the chair of the firm’s Education Industry Practice.

Laura Thonn (Treasurer) is a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in their business assurance practice. She is a licensed certified public accountant and also has a master’s degree in Social Service Administration.

Thomas J. Nieman (Secretary) is the owner and president of Nieman Inc., a privately held company that specializes in developing curriculum materials for educational publishers.

Board Members at large:John Gates is chairman and CEO of PortaeCo LLC, a private investment firm. Prior to forming PortaeCo, he co-founded CenterPoint Properties Trust.

Dr. Catherine Gottfred is president of Gottfred Speech Associates, Ltd., a firm that provides language therapy to children and adults across Chicago.

Thomas Hayden is the chief marketing officer for the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and also serves on the faculty of Medill.

Gerald L. Jenkins is a principal at Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom, and Mortiz, where he specializes in tax planning and corporate creation.

John Lock is the CEO and president of Charter School Growth Fund, a firm specializing in value-added grants and loans for the development and expansion of high-quality charter management and support organizations.

The hierarchy of core competencies of Chicago International:Board of Directors: Oversight, governance, vision, and focus

Leadership Team: Finance, compliance reporting, relationship building, fund raising, facility acquisition, and management, and student performance evaluation

Education Management Partners: Training and managing personnel, implementing curriculum, involving parents and community, and managing school culture and climate

Teachers: Teaching, differentiating instruction, and caring

II. Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Projections

FocalPoint | 27

To support Mayor Daley’s effort to create 100 new schools by 2010, Chicago’s civic and business communities launched the Renaissance Schools Fund (RSF), which raises funds for the new schools and provides strategic guidance and accountability for the process. Phyllis Lockett is CEO of the Renaissance Schools Fund, which has in the last two-and-a-half years raised $41 million to launch 38 new public schools through Renaissance 2010. RSF has contributed more than $1.3 million to support four Chicago International campuses, namely: Chicago International Avalon, Chicago International Wrightwood, Chicago International Ralph Ellison, and Chicago International Irving Park.

What is your vision for the Renaissance 2010 initiative?For children in the city’s most underserved communities to compete effectively in the global economy, we must do a better job of providing access to high-quality school options.

The city’s business and civic communities invested in Renaissance 2010 because they saw it as an opportunity to create innovative

Chicago public schools on a significant enough scale that would give parents real options and that would infuse competition into the system. With competition, our belief is the system will inspire innovation and improvement.

The opportunity for choice has already unleashed strong parent demand for high-quality schools. At the same time, the pipeline of high-quality schools is growing as some of the early school leaders, such as Chicago International, are developing into high-performing networks and new educational entrepreneurs are emerging.

How does RSF assess the new schools it funds?Our work is driven by the need to create greater equity in our public education system and to offer families high-quality public school options. To do this, RSF seeks to replicate high-performing school models.

We look for high-performing models wherever they are found—they may be from the private sector, among charter schools, or among the best of the traditional public system. The common denominator among these models is

that students are learning.

In evaluating schools, we look for schools that offer:

1) Choice: We support schools that are open to students from across the city. We believe schools should compete and parents should have the opportunity to “vote with their feet,” creating a demand for high-performing schools.

2) Innovation: We support schools that offer innovative practices, such as providing more professional development to teachers, a longer school day, or longer school year.

3) Capacity: We support schools with entrepreneurial school leaders, sound financial and operational strategies, and consistent governance structure.

How have Chicago’s business and civic com-munities embraced the school choice model? Chicago’s civic and business communities have been long-term partners in the city’s school reform efforts, paving the way for the reform movement of the 1980s and in just the last two years, they have contributed more than $41 million to create new high-performing

III. Funder Prof ile: Interview with Phyllis Lockett, CEO, The Renaissance Schools Fund

Pho

to b

y K

athe

ryn

Hay

es

28 | FocalPoint

schools through Renaissance 2010. Our donors believe in the need to offer Chicago families high-quality public school options.

How would you assess your impact to date?As of October 2007, 55 new schools have been created, and these schools offer innovative practices and outperform, on average, neighbor-hood schools. (See “RSF Facts.”) They have an oversubscription rate of 140 percent, which demonstrates that there is real demand for high-quality schools.

We are working to create a pipeline for high performing school models, and based on the results so far—both the supply of high-quality schools and the demand for them—we are on the right track.

RSF Facts

More time with innovative instruction…

* RSF-funded elementary schools spend an average of 32 percent more time than CPS elementary schools on core subjects (317 minutes each day versus 240 minutes each day).

* RSF-funded high schools spend an average of 22 percent more time on core subjects than CPS high schools (342 minutes each day versus 280 minutes each day).

…leads to stronger student outcomes.

* In the 2005 cohort of RSF elementary schools, the percentage of students proficient on the math portion of the ISAT increased 12 percent over the previous year (versus five percent in CPS schools).

* On average, RSF schools out-performed neighborhood comparison schools by three percent in reading and math, with some schools outperforming their neighbors by as much as 23 percent.

IV. About the Bonds

2007 witnessed a refinancing of Chicago International Charter School’s (CICS) original $16,050,000 bond issue from 2002 with a new $49,475,000 long-term tax-exempt bond to support facility improvements and expansion. The transaction was completed in early February and it received an investment grade rating from Standard & Poor’s Corporation.

Among 4,100 charter schools nationally, approximately 300 have been able to qualify for bond financing due to investors’ limited appetite for debt from this new sector of public building bonds. While S&P has rated more bonds than the two other national rating services, fewer than 50 charter schools have received an investment grade rating. To meet this high credit standard, a charter school must meet criteria in many areas, including:

1. the legal framework under which it operates

2. the relationship with the charter’s authorizer

3. financial practices and professional management practices

4. Board oversight of operations and adherence to its mission

5. educational results, and

6. community support for its school(s).

While other features of a charter school bond are examined, such as the bond structure, budgeting and audit practices, and fund balances, Chicago International’s bond differed from other charter schools’ bonds in that part of the security was a mortgage on the various owned properties and revenues from leased properties without mortgages. Most charter school bonds have been for a single school, not a city-wide network of 11 campuses under one charter and governance structure.

Chicago International’s bonding team included D.A. Davidson as Underwriter; William Blair as Financial Advisor; Mayer Brown as Bond Counsel; Kutak Rock as Disclosure Counsel and Goldberg Kohn as Foundation Counsel. The bonds were issued through the Illinois Finance Authority.

Russ Caldwell, Senior Vice President of D.A. Davidson remarked that Chicago International’s 2007 bonds were unique in several respects: chiefly that institutional investors recognized CICS’s multiple campuses have greater financial strength and financial flexibility than a single charter school entity. “This, coupled with a strong operating history, caused the BBB rated bonds to be accepted by the market place similar to ‘A’ rated securities,” Caldwell said. “The 30-year fixed rate bonds at 4.99 percent were purchased by institutional investors, many of whom were local to Chicago. Chicago International’s credit has enjoyed the best investor reception of any single school or system of charter schools to date in the national market place.

Thomas Lanctot, Financial Advisor, added, “Chicago International’s bonds have established a framework for other charters to follow.” Consistent, positive financial performance underlying high educational results is the best path to the capital markets for charter schools, according to Lanctot.

CICS Wrightwood Halloween Party:

Panjanea Rivers, Deasire Brooks,

Phyllis Lockett, Joy Jamerson,

Ashley Ward and Maya Holcomb

FocalPoint | 29

CICS Wrightwood Halloween Party:

Panjanea Rivers, Deasire Brooks,

Phyllis Lockett, Joy Jamerson,

Ashley Ward and Maya Holcomb

Chicago International Charter School (CICS) has been continuously striving to meet the needs of today’s student, and has acknowl-edged the importance of using data in making educational decisions. By evaluating student performance data, we identify students’ needs and address their needs using instructional best practices in the classroom. As we move forward as a data-driven school, we are able to see the growth our students are making.

CICS Elementary School Performance: ISAT and NWEA (Figure 1)In our elementary schools, 75 percent of our students are meeting and/or exceed-ing state standards on the 2007 Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in math and 59 percent in reading. Consequently all campuses are meeting and/or exceeding state math standards, compared to 63 percent of Chicago area charter schools and 59 percent of Chicago public schools. Three of eight Chicago International campuses are exceeding both the average Chicago area charter school and Chicago public school percentages in reading. Our students achieve growth year-to-year as well: 50 percent of Chicago International students made expected gains in reading on the ISAT and 55 percent made gains in math.* (Figure 1)

Although Chicago International is moving our students towards the standard goal of proficiency by state standards, the school has also raised the bar for internal standards. Using a tool called Measures of Academic Progress (MAPs) from the Northwest Evaluation Assessment’s (NWEA), Chicago International tracks not only students’ proficiency, but also their growth from year-to-year and within each school year. Administered three times a year, the NWEA tracks student progress throughout the school year. It allows administrators and teachers to access test results for their students within days of testing completion and

make instructional changes in the classroom that best meet students’ needs.

Chicago International has been successful in moving students from the “below” to the “meets” category on the ISAT. Using NWEA-inspired growth and proficiency targets, which are aligned with the Illinois state standards, Chicago International has increased the overall percentage of students meeting the projected growth targets on the NWEA reading and math scale. Fall 2007 data suggests 54 percent have made adequate NWEA projected growth in reading and 64 percent of students will meet projected proficiency in reading. Fall 2007 NWEA math scores suggest 50 percent of students have made their projected growth targets and 75 percent will meet their projected proficiency targets in math. Compared to the previous year, school-wide Chicago International is increasing the percentage of students who are meeting projected growth targets. (Figures 2 and 3)

CICS High School Performance: ACTChicago International students have an average of 19 on the ACT compared the to average Chicago public school ACT score of 17. Longwood ACT composite scores ranged from 11–24, with an average of 17. Northtown ACT composite scores ranged from 11–35, with an average score of 20.

Moving ForwardAs Chicago International Charter School continues to progress, focus will remain on the growth of our students. We expect to see growth for students at all academic levels, and these data ensure that we are meeting all students’ academic needs across our K-12 system.

*Based on CPS calculations.

V. Fiscal Year 2007 Funding Partners

On behalf of the 6,700 students, their families and the 500 educators who constitute Chicago International, the Board of Directors wish to extend their deepest gratitude to these organizations and individuals for their continued support of our mission. These gifts of cash and in-kind goods and services truly make a difference in the lives of thousands of Chicago’s youth and adults on a daily basis.

Cash Contributions:Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Charter School Growth Fund

Circle of Service Foundation

John Gates, Jr.

Judd Enterprises

Kraft Foods

Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation

Renaissance Schools Fund

Walton Family Foundation

In-kind contributions:AMC Mortgage Services

Bally’s Hyde Park

Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom, and Moritz

KaBOOM!

The Home Depot

U.S. Tennis Association

VI. Student Performance Update

30 | FocalPoint

FocalPoint | 00

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 1.

Chalkboard

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Implications for Urban Classroomsby Dr. Andrea Brown Thirston

As the student population shifts from mostly White, middle-class students to mostly culturally diverse students from various economic backgrounds, teachers and administrators, as well as colleges of education at universities, must respond. We find an example of this shift in Chicago Public Schools (CPS): Approximately 90 percent of CPS students are non-White, while almost 50 percent of their teachers are. Furthermore, 85.6 percent of CPS students are low-income, while their teachers are mostly middle-class. What implications do these disparities have for the classroom?

The issue of cultural mismatch is certainly not a new one, particularly since the mandatory desegregation of schools in the 1950s and ’60s. However, just recently have universities and school districts begun to address the need for more teacher preparation in this area. One trend that has grown over the last decade is preparing teachers, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, to utilize culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom.

Culturally relevant pedagogy refers to instruction that is modified to include specific knowledge about the culturally influenced and varied ways of thinking, believing, learning and communicating, and how they impact the educational process (King, 1994)1. The term was first coined by Gloria Ladson-Billings in her 1994 book, The Dream Keepers and referred specifically to strategies for effectively teaching African-American students. As America’s public schools become increasingly diverse, however, teachers of all students will find that culturally relevant pedagogy is an effective way to engage their diverse students in the classroom.

Culturally relevant pedagogy is particularly valuable to classroom teachers because it provides a theoretical framework as well as practical applications. Some of the tenets of culturally relevant practice include the following beliefs:

• Teachersareanintegralpartofthelearningcommunity.

• Teachingisanartandteachersthemselvesareartists.

• Teachingis“diggingknowledgeout”ofstudents(ratherthan pouring it in).

• Studentsshouldmakeconnectionsbetweentheircommunities, and national and global identities.

• Ateachershouldhaveaconnectednesswitheachstudentin the classroom.

• Teachersshouldviewknowledgeassomethingthatiscontinuously shared, recreated, and recycled.

Once a teacher commits to this theoretical framework, he or she must also make a commitment to applying it in the classroom. Examples would include reading literature that explores themes relevant to the students in the classroom. In one middle school classroom in a predominantly Latino community, students read a book, Tomas and the Library Lady 2, which focused on the son of migrant workers and his love for reading books. Not only did the book explore cultural themes that were familiar to the mostly first-generation immigrant students, it also included text in Spanish and English, which added to the authenticity of the literature. A high school biology course might include a unit on genealogy and the use of DNA in determining the ancestry of African-Americans. The film series, African American Lives3, hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., could be used as a supplement to this unit and perhaps inspire African-American youth to explore their own cultural backgrounds and family histories.

The possibilities are endless in terms of developing lesson plans and instructional strategies that are culturally relevant. The most important element for its implementation is essentially the teacher’s commitment and passion for providing educational equity and empowerment for culturally diverse students.

1 King, J.E. (1994). The purpose of schooling for African American children: Including cultural knowledge. In E. Hollins, J. King, and W. Hayman (eds). Teaching diverse populations: Formulating a knowledge base (pp25-26). Albany: State University of New York Press.

2 Mora, P. (2000). Tomas and the library lady. Albuquerque, NM: Dragonfly Books.

3 From the PBS Web site, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/index.html.

*All

dat

a ta

ken

from

the

Chi

cago

Pub

lic S

choo

ls W

eb s

ite, h

ttp

://w

ww

.cp

s.k1

2.il.

us/A

tAG

lanc

e.ht

ml.

35.8% African-American

47.3% Caucasian

13.2% Latino

3.1% Asian/Pacific Islander

0.6% Native American

48.6% African-American

37.6% Latino

8.1% Caucasian

3.2% Asian/Pacific Islander

2.4% Multi-Racial

0.1% Native American

2006-2007 Chicago Public School Teachers were...

2004-2005 Chicago Public School Students were...

32 | FocalPoint

Adopting the “error band” approach intro-duced by Standard and Poor’s, this paper evaluates charter school performance in Illinois over the last five years. This paper, the result of research by the National Research and Development Center on School Choice, Competition, and Achievement (“the Center”), is instructive not only on the substantive questions of charter school performance, but also on the benefits of strong partnership between researchers and charter practitioners. By bridging the research-practice divide, this paper provides guidance to policymakers in the schoolhouse and the statehouse. Our primary findings related to charter school performance in Illinois are:

• Charterelementaryperformanceimproves over time, with longer running charters beating statistical expectations for their value-added to student achievement.

• Charterhighschoolperformanceis distributed roughly the same as traditional public schools, with most charters neither above nor below statistical expectations.

• Charterschoolperformancevaries significantly by school, subject matter, and grade level. Charters generally perform better in reading, than in math.

• Charterschoolscienceachievementinboth elementary and secondary grades remains low, relative to other subject matters.

As the national charter school movement nears its fifteenth anniversary, there appears to be a growing consensus amongst charter school researchers that evaluation of the charter movement is best carried out by analyzing the performance of individual charter schools. Buddin & Zimmer (2005) are echoing many when they conclude that, “it may be very difficult to develop universal conclusions about charter schools nationally as charter school performance varies from state-to-state, charter type to charter type, and even charter school to charter school.”1 Rather than asking, “Are charter schools working?” the better question is: Which charter schools are effective, which charter schools are not, and what explains the differences between the two?

At the same time as charter school research-ers are focusing their attention on school-level success and failure, charter school operators continue to search for better ways to effect - ively use the mountains of data provided by their state and district accountability offices. For many years, policy experts have suggested strategies that provide roadmaps for charter schools to use statewide accountability data in their operations.2 With limited resources, however, charter schools often do not have the resources to carry out the types of data analysis that are required to sort through the many layers of performance data. To use an analogy, in the charter school “marketplace”

individual charter schools often do not have adequate information about their disaggre-gated performance in individual sectors (e.g. grade levels and subject matter). Similarly, charter schools do not have suitable internal tools for evaluating value-added over time.

Recognizing charter operator’s need for better school-level performance evaluation, as well as the research trend toward school-level analysis, we believe the time is right for increased partnership between researchers and charter practitioners. As this paper will illustrate, such partnerships can be of great benefit to both parties. Charter school operators can gain a better understanding of how the various segments of their operations are performing, and how this performance has changed over time. Researchers can look to the expanded analysis on overall charter school performance to see how charters as a whole are performing.

Chicago International Charter School PerformanceWhen we focus on the performance of the Chicago International Charter School (CICS) we find that in each year the CICS has consistently been in the error band region (aligned with statistical expectations). In 2005, the CICS showed signs of increase outperformance as it outperformed in overall PSAE composite, grade 8 reading, grade 11 reading, and grade 11 science (CICS Error Band Summary). When looking at value-added over time, the CICS has consistently outperformed, especially in the four-year gain scores (2001 to 2005, Error Band Summary). As we discuss in the final section of the paper, identifying these positive outcomes leads naturally to the question: what is it that successful charter schools are doing that less successful counterparts are not?

1 Buddin, Richard and Ron Zimmer. 2005. “A Closer Look at Charter School Student Achievement,” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Vol. 24, No. 2, Spring 2005, p. 369.

2 Early examples include: Hassell, Bryan and Paul Herdman. 2000. Charter School Accountability: A Guide to Issues and Options for Charter Authorizers, Annie E. Casey Foundation; and, Nahas, Jennifer & Roblyn Bringham. 2000. Charter School Accountability Action Guide, Massachusetts Charter School Resource Center.

Exploration

The following are excerpts reprinted from a report of the National Research & Development Center on School Choice. This study was supported by the National Research and Development Center on School Choice, Competition, and Achievement, which is funded by the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (R305A040043). To access the full report, please visit the center Web site at: http://www.nrdcsc.org.

Assessing Charter School Performance in Illinois: An Error-Band AnalysisExcerpts from a paper by Francis X. Shen, Harvard University and Kenneth K. Wong, Brown University

Illustration by Gordon Studer FocalPoint | 33

iMay I Have This Dance transforms boys and girls into ladies and gentlemen.In recent years, dance has made an exciting and profound impact in urban schools with programs that use dance as a medium to build students’ teamwork and communication skills, personal character, and self-esteem.

May I Have This Dance, Inc. is Chicago’s leading provider of school-based dance programs, serving more than 50 schools each year, including six Chicago International Charter School campuses. The company’s Executive Director, Nino DiGiulio, holds a master’s degree in education and, together with Director of Youth Programs Margot McGraw Toppen, has designed an engaging dance curriculum geared toward the learning styles of children and young adults.

The company’s large and diverse staff of professional instructors has been trained to use the Dancing with Class™ core curriculum to deliver high-quality programming. The teaching methodology focuses on making dance accessible and relevant to all participants.

Each Dancing with Class™ program is customized to the specific school site, with flexible scheduling options and dance styles ranging from ballroom to hip-hop and everything in between. Programs help teachers achieve state-established goals in the areas of social science, physical development and health, fine arts, and foreign language. May I Have This Dance also offers two touring shows for school assemblies, as well as Fortnightly/Cotillion programs, Parent-Child dance workshops, and teacher training programs.

Kids who take part in Dancing with Class™ programs are often reluctant at first, but by the time the program ends, they become enthusiastic, eager dancers. (See “Overcoming Shyness.”) After gaining exposure to a wide variety of dance styles, children discover their own favorite styles—and they’re often surprises by just how much fun dance can be.

For more information about May I Have This Dance youth programs, visit www.dancingwithclass.com or call 773-635-3000.

Dance Dance Revolutionby Meghan Schmidt

Extensions

Pho

tos

by M

ay I

Hav

e T

his

Dan

ce

Left: 5th graders, Korbin Houston and Jocquis Johnson cutting a rug

Bottom: CICS dance class in action

34 | FocalPoint

FocalPoint | 00

Overcoming Shyness: On the Dance Floor and Off

Last December at CICS West Belden, young Roberto was in tears the day before the May I Have This Dance after-school club’s debut performance at a school assembly. While he had been doing fine in the dance classes, he was just too shy to get up in front of the whole school and perform. He sat out that morning and watched while the rest of the school cheered for his club-mates as they performed their swing, tango, and merengue routines.

Four months later, the dance club was preparing for a Dancing with Class™ competition against neighboring CICS Bucktown. Dance Instructor Miss Margot took Roberto aside and asked him if he would like to perform. Without hesitation, Roberto said yes. On the day of the event, Roberto showed up dressed to the nines and ready to go. On the dance floor, he smiled at his partner and nailed the swing dance routine with confidence. He and his partner made it into the final round and walked out that afternoon with awards in hand and grins on their faces. They hadn’t finished in first place, but they most certainly had won. CICS Prairie student

and dancing queen, Gabryelle Walker