BPI's focus on education reform began in the early 1990s as an effort to improve the quality of public education for low-income children of color throughout the City of Chicago. As a result, BPI became an early and ardent proponent for the creation of small schools as places where such students could “beat the odds.” Subsequent BPI efforts addressed challenges faced by small and innovative schools. This early work indubitably raised the bar for public expectations of schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system, and helped ignite the emerging charter movement, which drew on educators’ experiences and lessons learned from small schools.
However, as accountability for CPS schools escalated dramatically – evidenced by 2001 No Child Left Behind legislation, successively more stringent CPS probation policies, school closings, and most recently a focus on rigorous performance management – CPS lacks systemic, scalable models to build the internal organization and capacity of traditional schools to meet the increased expectations for student achievement.
In response, during 2008-09, BPI initiated the Partnership for Instructional Leadership in association with CPS Area 4 (Logan Square/Hermosa) and a cohort of seven Area 4 neighborhood elementary schools, as a demonstration of such a systemic, scalable model for whole school improvement. The Partnership applied an approach developed by Targeted Leadership Consulting that had been used successfully by schools in Boston, New Jersey, and Chula Vista, CA (the largest and now the best performing elementary school district in California).
Current Initiatives
Partnership for Instructional Leadership: BPI is the catalyst and project manager of the Partnership for Instructional Leadership, working in collaboration with Chicago Public Schools Area 4 and an initial cohort of seven Area 4 neighborhood schools, all with predominantly Latino student populations, including high numbers of English Language Learners.
The Partnership’s goal is to significantly advance student learning by building individual school capacity for rigorous professional collaboration and whole school change, using a proven “change process” developed by Targeted Leadership Consulting (“TLC”). TLC has a national track record of achievement in successfully addressing systemic change at both the individual school and the Area/District levels.
BPI School Funding Litigation: On March 24, 2010, BPI and its pro bono partner, Sidley Austin, filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s current school funding system.
Strengthening Schools in CHA Transformation Plan Communities: Drawing on findings from BPI’s 2010 report, The Third Side: A Mid-Course Report on Chicago’s Transformation of Public Housing, BPI’s Public Housing and Education staff are exploring a range of options to improve the educational opportunities of families living in Transformation Plan communities.
Chicago Schools Policy Luncheon Series: Since the year 2000, BPI has sponsored an annual series of informational luncheons devoted to discussion of a single topic of interest to educators and school policy leaders. Catalyst Chicago, a magazine dedicated to Chicago school reform, currently co-sponsors this series with BPI.
