Applications Now Open for Chicago High School Teens Seeking Apprenticeship and Internship Programs with After School Matters®

Applications Now Open for Chicago High School Teens Seeking Apprenticeship and Internship Programs with After School Matters®

CHICAGO CRUSADER — After School Matters® is now accepting teen applications for its Spring 2018 program session. More than 400 programs in the arts, communications and leadership, sports and STEM will be offered at nearly 150 Chicago public high schools, as well as Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library and community organization locations throughout the city. Programs will continue to be offered downtown at Gallery 37 Center for the Arts and at The Michael and Karyn Lutz Center for After School Matters in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. Teens can search and apply for spring programs online at afterschoolmatters.org. The online application is also available entirely in Spanish.

In total, more than 7,000 paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities will be available to Chicago high school teens this spring through After School Matters. Participating teens will be eligible to earn a stipend of up to $425 (depending on the program level), and interns can earn up to $10.50 per hour.

“After School Matters is committed to providing teens with inspiring and engaging opportunities to explore their interests,” said Mary Ellen Caron, chief executive officer of After School Matters. “Through our programs, teens are able to further develop their passions and expand their skill sets, which we know will help them succeed in college, careers and beyond.”

After School Matters’ unique programs offer teens an opportunity to develop their current skills while incorporating critical 21st Century skills like collaboration, problem solving, social awareness and more. Multiple independent studies and data have confirmed that teens who participate in After School Matters programs have higher Freshmen On-Track rates, improved school-day attendance and higher high school graduation rates than their peers.

A few of the exciting programs offered throughout the city this spring include:

Kelvyn Park Bikes – Sports

Location: Kelvyn Park High School, Hermosa

This program offers teens the opportunity to explore the biking industry. Teens will develop hands-on mechanic skills, organize community events and participate in weekly field trips. Upon successful completion of the program, teens are eligible for summer employment with the Chicago Park District and West Town Bikes.

Museum 44 – STEM

Location: National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, Pullman

Using pop culture, various media and professional mentors, teens will produce a television show in this program. Teens will learn about music production, film production, marketing, promotions and media from industry professionals while working on a film that can improve their communities. 

Teatro Americano – Arts

Location: OPEN Center for the Arts, South Lawndale

In this program, teens explore different aspects of theater production and performance including acting, movement, voice, improvisation, writing, marketing, costuming, and stage management. At the conclusion of the program, teens present a full-length play in a professional theater setting.

Teen Arts Council – Arts

Location: University of Chicago Arts Incubator, Washington Park

The Teen Arts Council collaborates with the University of Chicago Arts + Public Life initiative to develop skills in arts administration, community engagement and event planning, while providing opportunities for other teens to engage with the arts. The Council members work with university staff and local partners to develop projects and public events for various audiences.

Territory Urban Design Team – Communications & Leadership

Location: Roosevelt High School, Albany Park

In this program, teens will work in art, architecture, urban planning, entrepreneurship, community organizing and public health. Teens will have the opportunity to research, design and implement ideas to activate public spaces.

Urban Hardball and Softball – Sports

Location: Columbus Park, Austin

Teens in this program will train to become umpires and coaches by learning the rules of baseball and softball and developing their leadership and communication skills. Teens are able to practice what they learn with little league programs.

Windy City Harvest Youth Farm – STEM

Location: Neighborhood Housing Services, North Lawndale

In the Windy City Harvest Youth Farm North Lawndale program, teens learn what it takes to grow healthy food in the urban environment. Participants grow, harvest, sell and cook more than 40 varieties of fruits and vegetables and showcase their work at a community famer’s market.

Teens can search and apply for Spring 2018 programs at afterschoolmatters.orgAll After School Matters programs are free and open to Chicago teen residents who are at least 14 years of age (16 years of age for internships) and are high school students. As part of the application process, teens interview with program instructors to discuss their interests. Chicago teens are encouraged to apply early, as program opportunities fill up quickly. Application features include an interactive map to help teens search for programs and a full Spanish translation on a mobile-friendly platform. For questions about programs and applications, call 312-742-4182 or email applications@afterschoolmatters.org. Para mas información en Español llámenos al 312-846-7106 o mándenos un correo electrónico al espanol@afterschoolmatters.org.

For more information, visit www.afterschoolmatters.org.

ILLINOIS: Education issues take spotlight in Springfield

ILLINOIS: Education issues take spotlight in Springfield

Illinois Federation of Teachers — The Illinois General Assembly will return to Springfield on Tuesday to continue considering bills in committees. Here are some highlights of this week’s action.

Rauner to give budget address on Wednesday
The governor will deliver his annual budget address on Wednesday, February 14. He has pledged to present a balanced budget; it would be the first time he’s done so during his tenure. Rauner painted a rosy picture of Illinois during his State of the State address two weeks ago, but failed to take responsibility for the problems he’s created, including his two-year budget impasse that hurt our K12 schools, universities, and communities.

Teacher shortage takes spotlight; subject matter hearings planned
The House Education Licensure, Administration, and Oversight Committee has convened a subcommittee on the teacher shortage. The committee plans to hold informational hearings in the coming weeks. Discussions about the teacher shortage are expected to occur in the Senate Education Committee as well.

Members discussed two bills in subcommittee this week. HB 4167 (Parkhurst, R-Kankakee) would allow a student who is enrolled in an educator preparation program at a regionally accredited institution of higher education and has earned at least 90 credit hours at that institution to apply for a Substitute Teaching License. HB 4280 (Pritchard, R-Sycamore) would require ISBE to establish and maintain the Growing Future Educators Program to train high school graduates who are English language learners and are enrolled in an approved educator preparation program to become secondary language educators. Votes were not taken on either proposal.

Senate Ed committee focuses on school funding
Still stinging from the need to override the Rauner’s veto of SB 444, legislators heard testimony from State Superintendent Tony Smith before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday. Smith provided an update on the status of distributing $350 million in additional state money for education that was included in the FY19 budget. The new money will (eventually) be distributed using the new funding formula, which is designed to steer the most state money to the districts most in need.

ISBE now says it needs more than 20 technical changes to the evidence-based funding legislation before it can distribute the money. Smith said that April remains ISBE’s target date for distribution.

Tuition waivers in jeopardy
HB 4235, (Pritchard, R-DeKalb), would prohibit districts from waiving the out of district tuition fees for their employee teachers who live out of district but want their children to attend school in the district in which they teach. The sponsor claims eliminating the waiver would save costs for district. The bill would still allow the fees to be waived if the district is in a certified teacher shortage area.

IFT opposes this legislation, which would worsen the teacher shortage and eliminate district authority. The bill passed out of committee.

Widespread early voting delays
Some Illinois county clerks have delayed early voting due to ballot challenges. In Chicago and Cook county, the delay may last up to two weeks. Officials in Lake, St. Clair, McClean, and other counties have also announced a delay. If you are planning to vote in the next two weeks, first check with your county clerk’s office. To learn more about the candidates and the issues before you vote, visit ift-aft.org/VOTE.

A guide for white women who teach Black boys

A guide for white women who teach Black boys

By Robin White Goode, blackenterprise.com

THE CHICAGO CRUSADER — Did you know that there are 400,000 black men who have master’s degrees? I didn’t think so. That was just one of the many things I learned at a book signing and discussion of the newly released Guide for White Women Who Teach Black Boys.

Organized by RIISE, or Resources in Independent School Education founded and led by Gina Parker Collins, the event brought together independent school parents as well as educators and administrators to hear and participate in a powerful discussion.

Unfortunately, most of the narrative around black men is deficit focused, and the stereotype is what many believe.

Read more at http://www.blackenterprise.com/guide-white-women-black-boys/

Report: States Struggle With ESSA’s Requirements for Foster Children

Report: States Struggle With ESSA’s Requirements for Foster Children

Education Week logoAdvocates for children in foster care had good reason to cheer the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act two years ago. The new law requires schools to break out student achievement data for foster care students so that the public can see how they are doing relative to their peers.

And it calls for students in foster care to be able to stay in their “school of origin” (a term the law did not define) even if it’s no longer their neighborhood school. The state must work with school districts and local child welfare agencies to provide transportation. The transportation was supposed to be in place one year after the passage of ESSA.

So how are state agencies doing with that transportation requirement? The Chronicle of Social Change explored that question and found a mixed picture….

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Source: Education Week Politics K-12.

ILLINOIS — A comprehensive resource to help public libraries create and manage homework centers

ILLINOIS — A comprehensive resource to help public libraries create and manage homework centers

CHICAGO — For Immediate Release, Mon, 11/27/2017
Contact:
Rob Christopher
Marketing Coordinator
ALA Publishing
American Library Association
(312) 280-5052

rchristopher@ala.org

CHICAGO — Despite the proliferation of online homework websites and tutoring services, public libraries still have an important role to play when it comes to supporting young people’s educational needs. Public libraries that take a proactive approach—by setting up organized homework centers—have the potential to become catalysts for better performance in school, improved self-esteem, and engaged learning. Whether readers are investigating the possibility of setting up a center from scratch or are eager to revamp an existing center, Cindy Mediavilla’s “Creating & Managing the Full-Service Homework Center,” published by ALA Editions, shows the way forward with:

  • discussion of the philosophy behind a public library homework center and its many benefits, with useful talking points for getting stakeholders on board;
  • examples of model programs from across the country;
  • guidance on assessing the community’s educational priorities and utilizing outcome-based planning and evaluation methods;
  • pragmatic advice on how to collaborate with schools and educators to coordinate goals;
  • thorough consideration of such key issues as carving out a space, setting hours, scheduling staff, and selecting and procuring educational resources;
  • handy tools for a successful homework center, including sample surveys, homework helper application forms and contracts, staff and volunteer job descriptions, and focus group questions;
  • advice on equipment and technology considerations; and
  • methodologies for evaluation and improvement.

Mediavilla authored “Creating the Full–Service Homework Center in Your Library,” (ALA, 2001), which has been called “the quintessential guide to the practicalities of setting up a formal homework help center to provide one–to–one homework assistance to student patrons” (Intner, “Homework Help from the Library,” ix). In the early 1990s she managed a homework center, called the Friendly Stop, for the Orange (CA) Public Library, and she has been studying after–school homework programs ever since. She has published several articles on the topic and has evaluated homework programs for the Long Beach and Los Angeles public libraries. She has made presentations on homework help programs at the conferences of several major library associations, and she has also conducted many workshops on the topic.

ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide. ALA Editions and ALA Neal-Schuman publishes resources used worldwide by tens of thousands of library and information professionals to improve programs, build on best practices, develop leadership, and for personal professional development. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a growing range of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions at (800) 545-2433 ext. 5052 or editionsmarketing@ala.org.

New research finds Every Child Ready to Read curriculum leads to successful family engagement through libraries

New research finds Every Child Ready to Read curriculum leads to successful family engagement through libraries

CHICAGO – Libraries are taking a proactive approach toward engaging parents and caregivers in supporting the early literacy development of their children, and the Every Child Ready to Read® @ your library® (ECRR) Program is an excellent tool to ensure libraries’ success. These were two of the key findings of a study released this month by Dr. Susan B. Neuman, a professor of childhood education and literacy development at New York University.

ECRR is based on two core concepts: reading begins at birth, and parents are a child’s first and best teacher. Currently more than 6,000 libraries have invested in the ECRR Toolkit, which is used to implement ECRR in the library.

In 2013, the Public Library Association (PLA) and Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to conduct a national study on the effect of library programming on parent behavior and engagement using the ECRR model. From 2013-2016, the research team – consisting of Neuman, Naomi Moland, and Donna Celano – observed and evaluated storytime programs at 57 library branches representing 36 different library systems across the country. From that group, 20 target libraries were selected for the study—ten that were deemed to be strong implementers of the ECRR curriculum, and ten that were not. Neuman et. al. observed significantly greater engagement of parents and caregivers in the libraries that used the ECRR program: these libraries offered more opportunities for parents and children to interact, more parents-only workshops, and more diverse program offerings.

“Libraries are emerging as community centers that promote family engagement, thus serving an important mission of fostering school readiness for children in many communities,” the report reads. “Libraries are playing a particularly vital role as resource brokers, helping to connect parents with services and resources, as well as a space for parents and children to work on literacy skills.”

A 2016 survey of city and county managers highlighted early childhood education as one of the top three community priorities in which local government leaders see public libraries playing an important role. ECRR enables libraries of all sizes to better equip families to succeed as early childhood education providers.

“Our library was an early adopter of Every Child Ready to Read, and we’ve been very happy with the curriculum, resources, and marketing materials that support the program,” says Clara Bohrer, director of the West Bloomfield Township (Mich.) Public Library. “For our staff, ECRR has helped create a ‘springboard’ for new ideas and practices that we use in engaging families and strengthening early literacy programming.”

ECRR is the foundation upon which PLA has established its Family Engagement Initiative. The term “family engagement” refers to the shared responsibility among families, educators, and communities to support children’s learning and development. By implementing ECRR and other family engagement strategies into their programming, PLA encourages its member libraries to form respectful partnerships that offer the information, guidance, and opportunities for families to be active in their children’s learning and development.

“Public libraries across the U.S. are embracing their role as the community’s hub for early literacy,” says PLA Executive Director Barb Macikas. “PLA and our partner, the Association for Library Service to Children, are thrilled to confirm that our Every Child Ready to Read® (ECRR) @ your library® Program is having the desired effect by helping libraries engage parents and caregivers to be their children’s first, and best, teachers.”

“This report further validates the importance of the early literacy work librarians do every day,” adds ALSC President Nina Lindsay, a children’s services librarian at Oakland (Calif.) Public Library. “Our job now is to make sure communities are aware of the strong literacy development available in their neighborhood libraries.”

Click here to download Bringing Literacy Home: An Evaluation of the Every Child Ready to Read Program.

About PLA
The Public Library Association (PLA) is the largest association dedicated to supporting the unique and evolving needs of public library professionals. Founded in 1944, PLA serves nearly 9,000 members in public libraries large and small in communities across the United States and Canada, with a growing presence around the world. PLA strives to help its members shape the essential institution of public libraries by serving as an indispensable ally for public library leaders. For more information about PLA, contact the PLA office at 1 (800) 545-2433, ext.5PLA, or pla@ala.org.

Is Testing the Only Way a Student Can Achieve Success Under ESSA?

Is Testing the Only Way a Student Can Achieve Success Under ESSA?

Welcome to the very first installment of “Answering Your ESSA Questions.” We are asking readers to send us their questions about the Every Student Succeeds Act, which will be rolled out in states, districts, and schools this year. We’ll do our best to answer as many of your questions as possible.

Our first question is on a pretty key part of the law: A school-based administrator asked, “Is testing the only way a student can achieve success” under ESSA?

The short answer is: No.

The longer answer: The Every Student Succeeds Act kept in place the testing regimen from the law it replaced, the No Child Left Behind Act. That means that states still have to test students in grades three through eight and once in high school.

But ESSA allowed—well actually, told—states they had to pick some other factor that got at school quality and student success. More than 30 states picked chronic absenteeism or attendance. And more than 35 states picked college- and career-readiness, defined as Advanced Placement participation or test scores, dual enrollment, career and technical certification, and more. Several states also included subjects other than reading and math into the mix, including science test scores. Others decided to measure school climate. ..

Read the full story here. May require an Education Week subscription.

Betsy DeVos: All ESSA Plans Are In, Complete, and Ready for Review

Betsy DeVos: All ESSA Plans Are In, Complete, and Ready for Review

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have now submitted their plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act, and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her team are ready to examine the dozens of plans submitted by the second deadline last month.

Thirty-four states and Puerto Rico turned in their ESSA plans in September and October. (The official deadline for submitting plans was September 18, but hurricane-ravaged Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas got extensions). And all of those plans have now been deemed “complete” by the feds. That means the plans aren’t missing key details, at least according to the department’s initial review…

Read the Full article here. May require an Education Week subscription.

Nominees sought for 2018 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Award for Lifetime Achievement

Nominees sought for 2018 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Award for Lifetime Achievement

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) is accepting nominations for the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for award-winning children’s author Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002), recipient of the 1983, 1986 and 1996 Coretta Scott King Book Award, 1974 National Book Award and the 1975 John Newbery Medal. In 1994, she was awarded the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Author Award for the body of her work and was named a fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1995.

The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of Hamilton’s exemplary contributions through her literature and advocacy for children and youth, especially in her focus on African-American life, history and consciousness. Authors, illustrators or author/illustrators will be honored in even-numbered years, while practitioners will be recognized in odd-numbered years. Previous recipients of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Author/Illustrator Lifetime Achievement Award include Jerry Pinkney, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack and Ashley Bryan.

The Author/Illustrator Award honors an African American author, illustrator or author/illustrator for a body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution. The body of work selected must represent distinguished writing and/or illustrations by and about the African American experience for children and/or young adults over a period of time. Committee members may also pay particular attention to bodies of work whose interpretation consistently motivates youth readers to stretch their imagination and thinking; that denote exceptional examples of specific types of literature; and that represent trend-setters, innovations or fresh explorations of themes or topics or perspectives in African American literature for children and/or young adult. The body of work must include at least one CSK Award winner (Author, Illustrator, New Talent winner or Honor Book for either category).

All nominees must be living at the time of the award to be considered. The winning recipient will be announced during the ALA Youth Media Awards during the ALA Midwinter Meeting on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 in Denver. The winner will be honored at the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast during the 2018 ALA Annual Convention Conference in New Orleans and will receive a medal and a $1,500 cash award.

Nominations will be accepted through Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. The winning recipient will be notified on Monday, Feb. 12, 2018 during ALA Midwinter. To view the Award criteria and submit a nomination, please visit http://www.ala.org/emiert/cskhamilton-submit.

The recipient will be selected by a five-member award jury from the Coretta Scott King- Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Committee of the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The award is administered by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of EMIERT and is supported by the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services.

The Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Award is part of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, which honor African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults that demonstrate sensitivity to “the African American experience via literature and illustration.” The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to work for peace and world brotherhood.