What it Takes... by Shelley Titzer

Arne Duncan, CEO of Chicago Public Schools, was interviewed on Sunday morning on Channel 7. He talked about some of the expansions of education that have occurred in Chicago recently. I was reminded of The New York Times article, "What It Takes To Make a Student" that thoroughly examined the real possibility of closing the achievement gap. An article in a BerwynCARES newsletter (on page 4) last year referenced the NYT article and the achievement gap here in Berwyn. One idea from that article is that low-income, minority, and at-risk students don't need the same education, they need MORE. From what I heard Arne Duncan say, Chicago is embracing this idea. Chicago spent $30 million on full day kindergarten so that most Chicago kindergarteners (95%) attend school full day. 200 Chicago Public Schools are open on Saturdays. Many schools double as community centers where parents learn along with their children by taking evening and weekend courses.


Oak Park District 97 is considering offering full-day kindergarten in SOME of their schools, the ones with the higher percentage of at risk children. I think this is a great example of targeting limited resources and rejecting a "one size fits all " approach, though the plan is to eventually expand full-day K to all Oak Park schools.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-district97_25jan25,1,2194992.story

Researchers and educators across the country (and here in the Chicago area)
increasingly report that What it Takes is MORE. More funding. More hours. More
resources. More teachers.

What it Takes is MORE ideas, MORE outside-of-the-box thinking, MORE progressive and innovative, research-based strategies for reaching ALL kids. Berwyn must offer MORE to our students. Berwyn must demand MORE of our schools and ourselves.