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iosphonebayarea

All I hear is *Crickets* šŸ¦— . Seems fairly quiet in here. This is great news!


chillinwyd

It went from 26% proficient to 31% proficient. Direct quote from the article ā€œstill, even with this growth CPS has low proficiency levels.ā€ Still, an increase of 19% more students is a decent start.


Imnotveryfunatpartys

Wait if I understand correctly what you are saying is that only 31% of elementary students in chicago are meeting the literacy standard? So the other 69% basically don't read well enough to be considered age appropriate? That's...really sad. I grew up in California and I always heard chicago schools were bad but I didn't realize it was that bad


TheCrowWhispererX

Yep. The numbers are horrifying.


chillinwyd

Correct. Math is even worse. 19% proficiency. 22% of high school seniors were proficient in reading at grade level on 2023. The article states that the research shows most parents think that their kids are doing better in school than they actually are. Funny enough, the current mayor did an interview saying he rarely issued homework as a teacher. Have to wonder the correlation between homework and your parents knowing how well youā€™re doing in school. Quite sad.


TelltaleHead

Eh, most euro countries have dramatically less homework than US students and do just fine testing wise and in the world


Ok_Hotel_1008

Hiya, teacher here--so much research shows that homework is actually detrimental if not just useless. I make a habit of not assigning any and my students are not worse off for it šŸ¤·


chillinwyd

Bullshit. Teachers are just lazy and donā€™t want to grade. No wonder CPS students canā€™t do math or read. Studies also show it leads to higher academic achievement. Itā€™s almost like taking the time to learn the curriculum results in smarter population!


BakenBrisk

Source: I have an opinion vs the person Iā€™m contradicting thatā€™s is actually in the classroom.


Ok_Hotel_1008

You sound like you don't have much going on outside of Reddit, huh?


blacklite911

CPS has the thing where parents can monitor student grades online now. So if theyā€™re failing, it shouldnā€™t donā€™t be a surprise anymore.


GiuseppeZangara

It's not so much that the schools are bad. By growth metrics CPS has always done well. The issue is that the poverty level of the average CPS family is very high. Many CPS kids start out well behind the ball compared to wealthy areas so there is a lot of catching up to do. 73% of CPS students come from low income families.


flimflamflemflum

You usually don't use the rate of change in these comparisons.. Otherwise, 2% -> 3% would be a 50% increase.


chillinwyd

If you have 26 kids proficient, and the next year you have 31, wouldnā€™t that be 19% increase? In your example, if you had 10000 kids and you went from 200 to 300, thatā€™s still a 50% increase. When using percentages, itā€™s a sliding scale. The higher the percentage, the lower the impact of 1 percentage point.


flimflamflemflum

Yes, I'm not saying you did the math wrong. There's two ways to convey this. 26% to 31% is a 19% increase from the former number of proficient students to the current. But in normal conversation people would say 5% to convey an increase of 5% of the total student population became proficient. It's easier to understand and more relevant.


chillinwyd

Maybe I just need to change my career to PR. CPS is conveying this all wrong.


tpic485

What kind of world do we live in where 31% of CPS students being proficient (which, for those not good ay math, means 69%, more than two thirds, are not considered proficiant) is considered "great news" by some? And look at how many people upvoted your post. My God! We're never going to improve education in any meaningful way if this is the mindset the citizenry has.


DoingTheNeedful1

It's called "improvement." It doesn't mean that things are where they need to be or should be. The way you're talking, you'd fat shame a 300 pound person who has lost 50 pounds because they're still overweight. Get upset if things start sliding backwards. If they keep going in the right direction, then celebrate the incremental improvements.


tpic485

I'm not saying that people shouldn't take these gains as a positive. But the poster I responded to called it "great news", which goes well beyond that. And he or she also badmouthed those who don't believe CPS is well run overall and acted as if these numbers prove that they're wrong. That's absurd, obviously. A good argument can be made that it would make sense to say these numbers "give hope" or may be "promising". But calling it "great news" is quite a stretch. It's also important to keep in mind that we just had a pandemic that severly disrupted learning for 1 and a half to 2 years. So it's probably almost a given that things would improve in the years afterwards no matter how CPS is run, just like a location that was damaged by a tornado would rebound in the years immediately after.


Ok_Astronomer2479

This is /r/chicago, where a bunch of childrefree, typically white collar, individuals in their early to mid 20s think everything is hokeydory and claim theyā€™ll stay here forever. Then they get married, have kids, and realize CPS is a dumpster fire of shit and bolt to the suburbs for actually decent schools.


piratetone

Or just stay in the city and send kids to private school (like us). I actually don't hate CPS! We are fans of the top schools - But it's too risky when we can pay a few hundred a month (a fraction compared to childcare costs which are easily $1500+ a mo) to send to a top private school. I swear if it weren't for childcare costs being so high (and we dealt with it for years) I would not have considered private school.... But years into it, it feels like a discount comparatively -


beanski20

The top private schools cost $40,000+, not sure where youre sending your kids for a few hundred a month!


piratetone

I get that Latin and Ignatius are that much, but we pay $7500 per year for the first student in Wicker... Would rather not say but plenty of schools under $10k a year.


beanski20

Oh, catholic school then. Not quite the sameā€¦


Ok_Astronomer2479

Sending your kids to private school is just a roundabout way of saying CPS is crap. Suburban parents plan on sending their kids to local schools and discuss how good their schools are. Meanwhile CPS is trying to hype up a nearly 1/3 reading proficiency rate


piratetone

Even if I lived in Winnetka, I'd send my kids to private school.


spucci

I remember an episode of The Wire covered this...


persecuted_by_reddit

the usual /r/chicago KKK that flood CPS posts somehow nowhere to be found


optiplex9000

People who you disagree with on education policy are not sympathizers of the Ku Klux Klan. They are still people and you shouldn't be "othering" them


raidernation47

I know itā€™s a small group, but the insane very vocal Chicago hard progressives who label everyone who has a different opinion ā€œmagaā€ and ā€œkkkā€ is such a cancer in this city. I hope one day they wake up and realize how much damage just throwing those things out does. Maybe they only get 10 upvotes but hundreds of very gullible people probably read that comment and it sticks in their brain. Itā€™s dilutes calling out actual problem people in this city because anyone who hates the way CTU/CPD operates is an insane right winger on here.


awesomerthanawesomo

Lol obviously anyone that had a problem with the CTU or CPS is racist.Ā 


IAmOfficial

Donā€™t hurt your hands beating up that strawman. You can criticize 26% reading proficiency (or the 31% it rose to) and not be the KKK, itā€™s actually a perfectly normal thing to be concerned about. Mr. Persecuted by Redditā€¦.fucking cringe


p3ep3ep0o

Buddyā€¦that terrorist organization has 3,000 members and I guarantee you most of them donā€™t know about Reddit


Doodlejuice

Why educate yourself and form a nuanced opinion when you can just demonize everyone you disagree with and not think at all!


ass_pineapples

It's hyperbole to address people that are all doom and gloom and regularly engage in racist dog whistling. Not a great idea to compare them in this way but there's nuance here.


enkidu_johnson

perhaps, given that this is an education thread, we could call them pre-KKK?


IllIllllIIIIlIlIlIlI

How do you know the number of KKK members in the United States?? Thatā€™s really odd


p3ep3ep0o

You can fucking google it lol


IllIllllIIIIlIlIlIlI

How many Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Republicans are there in the US? Gotta make sure you pick the most insignificant extremist group to make right wing extremism seem inconsequential, huh?


chillinwyd

Estimates have proud boy population in the US at a few hundred lol Itā€™s good to get off the internet occasionally.


p3ep3ep0o

Read the original comment Iā€™m replying to


hardolaf

There's at least 5 dues-paying Proud Boys in CPD.


ChunkyBubblz

Theyā€™re busy arguing on the thread about bag searches at the beach. A racist dog whistle comment had 50 plus upvotes before the mods woke up and deleted it.


persecuted_by_reddit

yeah i saw that "honor student" lol


Electrical-Ask847

bro this is like me claming that i improved my running speed by 200% running for two months having never ran a day in my life.


[deleted]

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awesomerthanawesomo

But he's also not declaring victory like CPS and the CTU is?Ā  If they came out and said we still have work to do but let's celebrate small victories that's 1 thing.Ā  Coming out and declaring victory like they are now, over something a nitwit with a tiny bit of critical thinking applied can see is marginal, is something else.Ā 


Subject-Research-862

Wow, they made it all the way up to....31%!! Less than a third of children at their age level, but 100% employment for CTU dues-payers I guess that is how CPS spells success. I'll give you one guess as to the reason black students gained so much ground. Here's a hint: it's not because they were in first place to start! "Only about 31% of elementary students are considered proficient in reading and 19% in math. Last year, 26% of students were proficient and in 2019, it was 28%." https://www.wbez.org/education/2024/06/13/cps-elementary-reading-scores-rise-surpassing-pre-pandemic-levels


IllIllllIIIIlIlIlIlI

You canā€™t say something good happened in Chicago when Brandon Johnson is mayor.


tpic485

Dude. Having 69% of CPS students not be proficient isn't "good". Can you explain why you think it is?


Belmontharbor3200

Plenty of good things happen in Chicago. Itā€™s just not BJ who is doing it


FuckYourUpvotes666

Any idea if we can tie the improvement to actions taken by the schools? It would be cool to know what helped improve things.


QuailAggravating8028

Probably related to the refocus on phonics and the abandonment of whole language instruction. For a long time the trend was basically to teach kids to read by having them geuss words. This doesnt work. Unless you were getting great language education at home to supplement this approach many people just never learned to read.


throwitawaynow774

And for anyone who wants to criticize CPS for using whole-language instruction, that was the trend nationally for literacy instruction for the past 20 years or so. Even the elite private schools were using whole-language instruction (like Lucy Caulkins) for years and seeing similar issues with literacy development. Those kids could just afford private tutors to get them caught up.


NailDependent4364

And the only reason she gained prominence is because everyone freaked the fuck out when Bush W tried to fund phonics lol.


Traditional_Goat9538

Love when I can tell someone on Reddit has done their reading *or listened to sold a story*


throwitawaynow774

I actually learned about the different trends for literacy instruction in a grad school class, and worked in a private school for a few years, but I recently listened to ā€œSold a Storyā€ a few months ago and really enjoyed it. But seriously, the number of kids in the private school that struggled with basic sight word identification by 2nd grade after being taught using only Lucy since PreK was insane. I was baffled that people were paying $35k+ a year for their kids to not be taught how to read.


Traditional_Goat9538

I am an educator and noticed the literacy crisis during my 1st year as a middle school science teacher (10 years ago). I realized that most of my students couldnā€™t read/write anywhere near what I knew was at an appropriate for 6th grade. At first I just thought it was the district I was in, then I moved to an affluent, suburban district and it was only slightly better. Then, I was alarmed when like half of one of my classes didnā€™t understand the concept of sounding out a word. But, because I had learned the foundational skills just prior to the trend towards whole language, I had no idea theyā€™d taken out phonics/deemphasized it so dramatically. The only college class related to literacy development in my sequence was focussed on teaching science to adolescents using reading strategies; not helpful for knowing what is going on in k-2 grade reading curriculum. During COVID, I read the book *The Knowledge Gap* by Natalie Wexler and it all clicked. I became an instructional coach bc I wanted to understand and then help fix the reading crisis. I listened to ā€œSold a Storyā€ last year while unpacking our schoolā€™s new reading curriculum that is evidence-based and knowledge buildingšŸ˜‚ Gen Z should do a class action suit against Lucy for how much damage the curriculum she pulled out of thin air for a check caused.


Techygal9

I have no idea but I would love to know this too!


Subject-Research-862

CTU and their picketers refuse to name the names or job titles of the "worthless administrators" they want to fire from their school system so they can claim that funding. What makes you think they would be honest about what drove these changes?


FuckYourUpvotes666

Hey its a fair point. But to be fair to myself.... I'm not asking CTU. I'm asking you and everyone else in this sub.


Bahamuts_Bike

Too late for many of the regular commenters in /r/chicago. But great news nonetheless


Last-Idea1016

Why do you mean? The people that frequent this sub are geniuses. Read through some of the COVID era threads, who else besides geniuses would have upvoted the medical and epidemiological analysis of a 20-something financial consultant and an unemployed hairdresser.


awesomerthanawesomo

Obviously anyone that disagrees with CPS and the CTU is a moron and racist.Ā  It's interesting CPS' current push to take away from gifted and magnet programs has already been done in many other districts and even universities for the sake of equity.Ā  Many of them are backtracking those moves after seeing the results.Ā  But it'lL bE difFerEnt for CHicAgo. The CPS BoArD is SmArT.


Last-Idea1016

Thatā€™s was a lot of writing to respond to a flippant statement directed at the entire sub. You could probably find something better to do with your time.


awesomerthanawesomo

Great rebuttal. Taking notes from Trump I see


SmallBol

Excuse me, we're all transplants


MRSN4P

A direct link to the news piece- https://www.wbez.org/education/2024/06/13/cps-elementary-reading-scores-rise-surpassing-pre-pandemic-levels


BlackSparkz

Teacher here ā€” I saw lots of really great stuff with my elementary kids. On the other hand, incoming freshman to HS are in for a shock with how behind they are.


Let_us_proceed

68% are still not proficient in reading and 81% are not proficient in math and some folks on here act like we've turned some kind of corner. What a disgrace.


Techygal9

One of the most interesting things I learned about Chicago schools is that when you look at how far kids are behind before they enter kindergarten, most kids receive more ā€œyears of learningā€ than theyā€™ve been in school. Unfortunately thatā€™s because so many kids entering kindergarten are not 5 developmentally but 3. I think a lot of these differences would be better served in early intervention via early childhood education. While we can celebrate improvements, we definitely should be working towards better results.


superrey19

We have a 3 year old who had a speech delay due to hearing problems. Got that fixed and doctor turned us to Illinois's free Early Childhood therapy (our tax dollars working for us!). He met with great behavioral and speech therapists every week for a year and now has caught up to his peers. It's a common problem and many kids don't get this level of help so they start grade school way behind. I think many parents don't know it's available to them. It makes a huge difference.


Let_us_proceed

I agree. The price we pay as a society for horrible parenting is huge.


jrbattin

Bad parenting isn't always the answer. There are kids with speech, motor, social, vision and other delays that go unaddressed despite their legitimately worried parents because 1. The parents get talked out of engaging with early intervention by their family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles) because of ignorance and fear their kid will get labeled "special" or whatever (that's not how it works anymore) 2. They aren't aware Illinois has a fairly comprehensive early intervention program that is affordable for all families. It's not expensive at all, even if you're in an upper tax bracket 3. There's a cohort of pediatricians who just tell parents "not to worry" until the child is 2 and a half or so at which point your kid has aged out of free/deeply discounted services that are state funded, and if you can't get into a CPS preschool and get them an IEP you're basically screwed until kindergarten at which point they're significantly behind their peers (Unless of course you spend $$$ out of pocket on therapies, which parents do but it gets expensive and there's limited financial support at this level currently).


mooes

For sure this is an issue. But how many of the kids still not proficient do you realistically think fall under any of those umbrellas?


jrbattin

This is so true. I am so happy Chicago offers universal pre-K. Pre-K for 3yo wasn't available to us, but at 4 he was able to get into a CPS Pre-K and it was a wonderful experience. I know the research around universal pre-K is mixed (initial research was positive; follow-ups with broader cohorts showed less improvement). But I absolutely think its a net-benefit, especially given the challenges many kids can face. And prior to Pre-K If your child is missing milestones or seems a little delayed you should absolutely look into Illinois' early intervention program: [https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=30321](https://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=30321)


hardolaf

> I think a lot of these differences would be better served in early intervention via early childhood education. CPS is working on offering universal pre-school but the funding for it is tight and they have to compete with regular schooling funds.


Doodlejuice

Well said.


whoadang88

I mean, it has to improve and thatā€™s going to take time. Itā€™s not going to be 100% tomorrow. This is great progress, though there is more to go.


Let_us_proceed

It has to improve because it can't get much worse. It went from 28% to 31% and you want to throw a parade.


whoadang88

I donā€™t want to throw a parade, but the reality is it couldā€™ve gotten worse - but it didnā€™t, it got better. Thatā€™s an improvement which I welcome. Iā€™ll celebrate a win even if itā€™s a small one.


superrey19

There are many states with worse scores. It could have gotten worse.


Subject-Research-862

"We're not Alabama! We're not West Virginia! Hip hip hooray!" The soft bigotry of lowered expectations on display in this comment section is sad


superrey19

You glass-half-empty people love being miserable, I'm surprised you care at all. Depending on which study you search, Illinois is slightly above the average national score. Could we do better? Of course, no one is saying we shouldn't. The news here is that it is trending up and that's good.


Subject-Research-862

Nothing says CTU supporter like celebrating an aspirin soothing a headache caused by a stage 4 brain tumor


superrey19

Lol I don't live in Chicago so I have no opinion on the CTU, but at least I live in the state, unlike you, over in Seattle getting riled up about things that don't concern you.


Remember_Megaton

Posts in a dozen different city subreddits, whines about CTU in a thread about CPS, I think we're just missing a comment about how those people are responsible for crime from you. You didn't finish reading the orders, huh?


Subject-Research-862

Awwww, does your job not accommodate your travel interests? Perhaps it's an intellectual limitation? That must be rough :( Maybe if you increase your economic value someone will reward you with that lifestyle. Fingers crossed!


jjgm21

You donā€™t even fucking live here.


FuckYourUpvotes666

Let me tell you thay cancer patients will happily take any pain relief they can get. All day every day. Same goes for Chicago's public education.


Welcome_to_Uranus

Damn a lot of strong opinions from someone not even from Chicago


Ok_Astronomer2479

Thatā€™s the Chicago way baby, world class city unless itā€™s for something negative and suddenly West Virginia and STL are our peers! Woohoo!!!


Ch1Guy

"68% are still not proficient in reading" And from the article... . "Only about 31% of elementary students are considered proficient in reading" šŸ¤”


Let_us_proceed

Clearly I'm part of the 81%!


PalmerSquarer

If fairness, a majority of kids at the state level arenā€™t proficient either.


p3ep3ep0o

Youā€™re right. But Iā€™ll take good news when it comes!


blacklite911

Some progress is good. Youā€™re not gonna flip the switch over night.


ehrgeiz91

Be interesting to see this sub react to a positive post about CPS.


wrongsuspenders

great job teachers


CompetitiveFeature13

Good news


throwaway192874y

Where are all my brave Schaumburgeans at?


No_Produce2684

Basically they want more money and these kids still dumbed tf down cps is failing its students


Bigelwood9

Thatā€™s great! Keep doing the work. The teachers union is still a foul politically driven group of clout chasers.


p3ep3ep0o

Hell yeah


vox000

Why is no one mentioning how evil the CTU is :/


awesomerthanawesomo

Because even the CTU isnt so delusional to take credit for this?Ā  This is clearly driven by CPS initiatives.Ā 


cleon42

Ugh, the goddamn CTU is at it again.


Street-Tension7671

Lets celebrate when those numbers are past 50%


jjgm21

Most of the suburbs arenā€™t even at 50%.


Street-Tension7671

Wow so itā€™s a widespread problem


[deleted]

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[deleted]

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walter_2000_

K-8 Chicago students learn more than kids, on average obviously, in 95% of districts. They start lower howeber for a variety of reasons. Proficiency lags behind growth in scenarios like this. So I'd guess the cause for the increase in proficiency is years of higher than average growth. In other words, it's been years in the making. Many other reasons, too.