For more than a decade, BPI has co-sponsored an annual Chicago School Policy Series, which offers a forum for policymakers, educators, business leaders and reform advocates to grapple with cutting edge, challenging education reform issues of the day.
Adopted last year by Illinois and 43 other states, the Common Core State Standards are an ambitious effort to raise the bar of K-12 student achievement to one that is on par with the best education systems in the world. Illinois is part of a 26-state consortium that is developing a new testing system for implementation in 2014-15. It is expected to show that students statewide have a lot further to go than ISAT exams have suggested.
In our 2011 Chicago School Policy Forum Series, key leaders will discuss where the standards came from, how they will be measured, and what they could mean for educators, parents, schools, districts, and other stakeholders.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Please note the change in time for this series. Each forum will be held over breakfast at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago. Registration opens at 7:30 a.m., and breakfast will be served at 8 a.m. The program will begin shortly thereafter, running until 9:30 a.m.
Oct. 27 (Thursday) | Common Core Standards: The Promise and the Peril
Michael Cohen, president of the national advocacy group Achieve, will provide an overview of the Common Core and the critical issues.
Respondents: Noemi Donoso, chief education officer of the Chicago Public Schools, and Gillian Dowley McNamee, director of teacher education, the Erikson Institute.
Venue: Crystal Room, 5th floor
Nov. 8 (Tuesday) | Beyond Multiple Choice: Teaching and Assessing Under the Common Core
Christopher Koch, Illinois state school superintendent, will share state plans and actions to date.
Respondents: Sam Meisels, president of the Erikson Institute, and Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Venue: Crystal Room, 5th floor
Dec. 14 (Wednesday): Implementing the Common Core and PreK-12 Continuum: How Districts and Schools Are Responding
Sonja Brookins Santelises, chief academic officer of Baltimore City Public Schools, and Jeff Nelsen, Targeted Leadership Consulting, will share the experiences of Baltimore, a leader in the Common Core movement, and other cities.
Respondents: Jennifer Cheatham, chief of instruction, Chicago Public Schools, Kiltae Fernando Kim, principal of Lloyd Elementary School, and Kim Zalent, education program director of BPI.
Venue: Main Lounge, 2nd floor
This series is presented by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI), Catalyst Chicago, and the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. Sponsors include the McDougal Family Foundation, Albert Pick, Jr. Fund and the Oppenheimer Family Foundation.
Register and pay online
Download a form to mail or fax
Questions? Please contact Paula Kruger at BPI -- 312.641.5570, ext. 241 or pkruger@bpichicago.org
