School Networks: Chicago Schools Alliance
The Alliance is a membership network of diverse Chicago public schools—charter, contract, autonomous small
schools, regular public schools—including elementary, middle and high schools.
The Alliance is a community of practice that:
- Strengthens effective, innovative practices in each member school.
- Builds collaboration and mutual support among the schools.
- Promotes proven educational practices that can be adopted across the city.
- Joins together to advocate in positive ways for district policies that support their proven innovative
practices.
The Chicago Schools Alliance is a membership partnership of schools that joined together to build and sustain their excellence as institutions of learning. The Alliance is organized by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) and Illinois Network of Charter Schools (INCS).
The Alliance provides Practice-Based Inquiry® visits to each of its member schools. The Alliance sees Catalpa's focus on "bringing professional practice into focus" as making an important contribution to its purpose of building an effective community of practice.
Catalpa has designed and conducted nine visits for the Chicago Schools Alliance and two other affiliated networks in Chicago. The majority of Alliance Practice-Based Inquiry visit team members are faculty and leaders at other network-member schools. Each visited school holds the copyright to its visit report.
The responses of both team members and the visited Alliance schools to the visits have been thoughtful and extremely positive. The straightforward, direct reports, which analyze how well each school is doing in promoting learning and good teaching, have provided important and useful information for each visited school. See Sidebar and Resource Documents.
The Alliance is building its capacity to conduct certified Practice-Based Inquiry® school visits in Chicago. Sarah Howard has successfully completed the required rigorous training, and Catalpa has certified her as a PBI visit chair. Two other Alliance associates, who are currently certified Apprentice Chairs, are scheduled to become fully certified in 2009.
Resources: Documents
Chicago Schools Alliance. School Visits: A Tool for Improvement. January 2006. Download
Chicago Schools Alliance. PBI School Visit Team Member Reflections--2005. May 2005. Download
For more information:
Contact:
Kim Zalent, Director, Public Education Initiative
Business and Professional People in the Public Interest
Email: kzalent@bpichicago.org
312-759-8258
Web site: http://www.bpichicago.org/pe.php
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