Teachers sample new science ed tools at national exhibition
By Taylor Mullaney The National Science Teachers Association hosted its 2015 National Conference March 12 to March 15 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, with almost 10,000 teachers in attendance. The conference included a three-day exhibition of the newest science education products on the market, including games and live animal specimens. According to teachers, these tools can […]
Parents speak out against PARCC opt out policies
By Taylor Mullaney After the first week of state-mandated PARCC academic testing, some parents are speaking out for the right to exclude their children from taking the examination. The Illinois State Board of Education provided a Frequently Asked Questions sheet about PARCC on its website in January. As to whether individual students or parents can […]
Lindblom to dedicate innovative classroom to legendary journalist
By Taylor Mullaney When Ethel Payne was a student at Lindblom High School in West Englewood nearly a century ago, she published exactly one article for her school’s newspaper. But, according to biographer James McGrath Morris, Payne was never allowed on the newspaper’s staff. As a black student during a time when Chicago was deeply […]
Chicago education tech company targets rural Illinois schools
By Taylor Mullaney When Ryan Hoch started teaching Algebra II in St. Louis five years ago, he found that his students were vastly unprepared for the futures they wanted. “When they got to my class their junior year, 90 percent of my students told me that they wanted to go to college,” Hoch said. “They […]
Chicago comic school artists react to Charlie Hebdo massacre
By Taylor Mullaney In 2013, the Europe-based International School of Comics opened a new campus in Chicago. Six weeks after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Annalisa Vicari, Emma Rand and Christopher Kutz, teaching artists from the school, said they do not fully excuse the publication’s drawings. Vicari, 29, Rand, 23, and Kutz, 41, shared how they think […]
Despite $10 million investment in arts education, experts say much work remains
By Taylor Mullaney and Phoebe Tollefson When Jim Duignan began the Stockyard Institute in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood in 1995, he realized that the arts could enable kids to actually solve problems in their own communities. “We could really be building work based on the young people’s questions,” Duignan said. “And whether it […]
Event to examine aftermath of 2013 school closings on displaced students
By Taylor Mullaney Two groups that explore public education in Chicago will join forces Thursday night at the University of Chicago Logan Center to discuss what happened to children displaced by the closings of 50 CPS schools in 2013. The School Project plans to screen “Chicago Public Schools: Closed” as the second segment of its […]
