SITE VISITS

This year’s host committee has designed four special off-site opportunities for you to discover just what makes Chicago’s comprehensive community and education reforms unique. Delve deep with key local visionaries to learn how their challenges, lessons learned and successes to date might inform change efforts in the communities where you fund.

Parent-Led Education Organizing: The Chicago Way

Tuesday, October 6: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Several neighborhoods in Chicago are seeing gains in local schools by putting parents at the center of the school improvement process. This learning tour will visit the award-winning Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA), developer of the Parent Mentor Program that engages parents as teacher aides in elementary classrooms. LSNA parent leaders have gone on to plan after-hours community schools, student enrichment programs, and the Grow Your Own Teachers program for aspiring neighborhood educators. Join us for a thoughtful conversation with parent leaders as we discuss this model for parent engagement, and the district- and state-wide systemic reform efforts based on the Logan Square model.

The Educare Center: A National Model for Investing in our Youngest Learners

Tuesday, October 6: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

In 2000, the Ounce of Prevention Fund opened the nation's first Educare Center on Chicago's South Side to address the growing achievement gap for low-income children. The comprehensive birth-to-five program rapidly established itself as a national model for high-quality early childhood programs, catalyzing a national replication effort. The impact of Educare's model -- emphasizing research-based best practices, high-quality instruction (with BA-certifi ed teachers in every classroom) and extensive parental involvement -- also relies on its tight integration with policy and systems change efforts. As such, Educare has become a national example of how public-private partnerships can impact programmatic, policy and system change. Join colleagues, advocates and key leaders in the field of early care and education to learn more about this bold initiative.

Chicago's Community Schools: Collaborating to Transform Education

Tuesday, October 6: 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Chicago has drawn national acclaim for its community schools that educate the whole child by providing children and their families with free social services and programs addressing children's unmet needs. While CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Arne Duncan helped expand the number of community schools from 10 to 150 in less than fi ve years. Taking community schools to scale, however, has required signifi cant involvement from Chicago’s diverse nonprofi t and philanthropic communities and a commitment to both coherence and collaboration. On this visit you will see an outstanding example of a community school and meet the educators, nonprofi t staff, technical assistance providers and advocates behind the program’s success.

Raising the Bar for Middle School Math and Science Instruction in Chicago

Tuesday, October 6: 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Teaching and learning that has dramatically higher expectations for all children requires intensive efforts at strengthening the knowledge and skills of teachers at a whole school level as well as putting higher curriculum stakes in the ground. Join us as we meet with middle school math and/or science teachers, district math/science coaches and leaders, and university coaches who are working collaboratively in neighborhood schools to increase the rigor of science and math -- including algebra— in 6th through 8th grades. Engage in a conversation with representatives of this effort as they share their many successes and the challenges.