Top Education Stories You Don’t Want to Miss: June 5 – June 11, 2021

Noble’s Anti-racism Journey, A Conversation with Ivory Duncan

By the Noble Network of Charter Schools

“At the outset of the 2020 school year, Noble set a bold and ambitious goal of becoming a more antiracist organization. Since then, Noble announced our antiracism commitment (ARC), we engaged thousands of families in surveys and feedback to guide a reexamination of policies and practice. Since February, grounded in that feedback from parents, students, and alumni, ARC design teams have been meeting to guide the way forward on Noble policy and practice as it relates to our student code of conduct, uniform, promotion and graduation requirements, curriculum design and more. Those design teams then shared draft proposals with groups of Noble stakeholders for intensive feedback – hundreds of Noble family members, staff, students, and alumni engaged in these refine team spaces. This post is part of a series of updates on that work in progress. Ivory Duncan is the Assistant Principal of Culture & Operations at Gary Comer College Prep, in her day job she and her team work to ensure every Gary Comer senior has access to the post-secondary plans of their choice – which means thousands and college and scholarship applications and hundreds of advising appointments. In the past few months, Ivory has engaged as a member of the DEI Steering committee which has been one of the spaces acting as a “refine team” providing feedback and input into draft proposals. We sat down with Ivory Duncan to have a conversation about her role in the ARC design and refine work this year.”

 

Noble CEO Constance Jones Talks Leadership in new TED Conferences LinkedIn Series

By the Noble Network of Charter Schools

“Constance Jones, CEO of the Noble Network of Charter Schools, was recently featured in an online interview hosted by TED Conferences as the first guest in the company’s LinkedIn live series titled “New Ways to Lead (No Matter Who You Are).” In the interview, Jones discusses leadership with Helen Walters, TED’s head of curation, and addresses how we can all step up and lead in a time of crisis, concluding with a live Q&A portion in which she answered viewer-submitted questions. The full conversation can be found here.”

 

Noble’s Anti-racism Journey, A Conversation with Stephanie Oliva

By the Noble Network of Charter Schools

“At the outset of the 2020 school year, Noble set a bold and ambitious goal of becoming a more antiracist organization. Since then, Noble announced our antiracism commitment (ARC), we engaged thousands of families in surveys and feedback to guide a reexamination of policies and practice. Since February, grounded in that feedback from parents, students, and alumni, ARC design teams have been meeting to guide the way forward on Noble policy and practice as it relates to our student code of conduct, uniform, promotion and graduation requirements, curriculum design and more. Those design teams then shared draft proposals with groups of Noble stakeholders for intensive feedback – hundreds of Noble family members, staff, students, and alumni engaged in these refine team spaces. This post is part of a series of updates on that work in progress. Stephanie Oliva is the Director of Data at Noble, in her day job she and her team create the systems and dashboards that help Noble teachers and staff understand how to best support students. In the past few months, Stephanie has engaged as a member of the DEI Steering committee which has been one of the spaces acting as a “refine team” providing feedback and input into draft proposals. We sat down with Stephanie Oliva to have a conversation about her role in the ARC design and refine work this year.”

 

Noble Alumnus Leads in Pfizer Vaccine Production

By the Noble Network of Charter Schools

“In early 2021, coronavirus vaccines slowly began to roll out across the country. As Covid gripped the world and the vaccine offered hope for an end, one of Noble’s very own alumni played a pivotal role in ramping up production to help America beat back this deadly disease.  Before Jose Gonzalez graduated from Muchin College Prep in 2016, he was heavily involved in soccer and the Dreamer’s Club (a club designed to support undocumented students), while maintaining a successful academic career. Despite this, as he neared graduation Jose feared his options were limited, as a DACAmented student there was a lot of uncertainty about where he’d be able to afford college or where he could even get in. Then, he heard about Noble’s Pritzker Access Scholarship (PAS) – a program specifically geared towards ensuring that Noble students could successfully transition to college regardless of documentation. “It opened the door for more opportunities. Thanks to the PAS program, I was able to graduate college without any loans,” said Jose. That PAS scholarship enabled him to attend the Illinois School of Technology where he majored in electrical engineering. Through his four years in college, Jose experienced ups and downs.”

 

More standardized tests in Illinois schools? Vote delayed as educators raise alarms: ‘Our students and teachers are exhausted’

By Karen Ann Cullotta for The Chicago Tribune 

“A proposal to require Illinois public schools to give standardized tests three times during the next academic year instead of once — intended to better track students’ progress post-pandemic — has been put on pause to give educators and parents more time to weigh in, officials said Thursday. The Illinois State Board of Education was tentatively scheduled to vote June 16 to issue a request for proposals to design and deliver new interim assessments for elementary students. “Educators and families went to incredible lengths to keep students on track throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The next few years will be critically important to helping students reach their fullest potential,” ISBE said in an online fact sheet. “These assessments allow teachers to pinpoint knowledge gaps and immediately adjust instruction and support to match students’ needs.

 

Newly passed legislation could bring change to Illinois classrooms. What to know

By Samantha Smylie for Chalkbeat Chicago

“The Illinois legislature ended a long spring session with a raft of education bills heading to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk that will shape what students statewide are taught in classrooms. It sent to the governor a $42 billion state budget that will include a boost for K-12 school districts through the evidence-based funding formula, while holding flat money for preschool programs. During overtime, the Senate also passed a compromise elected school board bill that would establish a 21-person school board and kick off elections beginning in 2024. However, it must go back to the House, which adjourned on Monday and has not yet set a date to reconvene. In the meantime, several bills could impact the student experience. Here’s what to know.”