In the fall of 2009, one Springfield elementary student was sent to the office for discipline 30 different times. The next semester, that number was down to 12 visits, with only three before he became temporarily homeless. The decrease was achieved through the district’s most intense behavior intervention program, a PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and […]
education
Posted inNews
The Ambassador of Salsa
Pulsing Latin rhythms echo through the cavernous gymnasium at Springfield College, as a handful of college students take their first few steps into the world of salsa dancing. Some glide gracefully across the floor, while others seem to move with leaden feet, but each of them is smiling. That’s thanks to the magnetic charisma of […]
Posted inNews
Voters to decide on sales tax for schools
If voters next week approve a referendum raising Sangamon County’s sales tax rate from 8 percent to a maximum of 9 percent, it would reaffirm a philosophical shift in school funding already begun by the Illinois state legislature, says David Root, superintendent of Williamsville schools. Without sales tax revenue, school funding in Illinois is based […]
Posted inNews
A computer for every kid
When a lesson on loom use in Iran unexpectedly transcends into a dialogue about the global equality of humankind, a teacher has to wonder what went right. Layne Zimmers, who helped guide her sixth-grade students through that very lesson, says she knows exactly what it was – technology and the ability to access the world […]
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A new type of med school, 40 years young
Forty years ago, the success of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine was anything but certain. Six years of planning had brought the school to the point of leasing a building for its headquarters and hiring a dean. The person chosen for the job was Dr. Richard Moy. Moy, then 38 years old and […]
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Kids in prison
What do you do when you catch a criminal? Conventional wisdom says you lock them up and hope prison scares them straight. But what if that doesn’t work, and what if that criminal is only 13 years old? That’s what Illinois lawmakers thought they were providing four years ago when they established the Illinois Department […]
Posted inOpinion
Reuniting learning and labor
Facing nearly half a billion dollars of unpaid bills from the State of Illinois, the University of Illinois says it will probably have to raise tuition nearly 20 percent over the next four years. Taking a page from the General Assembly accounting textbook, the university will pay its immediate bills by borrowing against tuition and […]
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Educator: Springfield needs more charter schools
Dr. Patrick Hardy, chief academic officer for Rockford Public Schools, visited Springfield last week to encourage educators and community members to consider offering more alternatives to traditional public education. During a presentation hosted by the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization, Hardy contended that charter schools — open-enrollment public schools usually operated […]
Posted inOpinion
Three into one won’t go
To build or not to build, that is the question. The answer will depend not on the review of high school facilities needs underway at School District 186. It will be determined by the voters — appropriately, if you are concerned about democracy, inappropriately if you are concerned about education. Common sense and consultants made […]
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Redesigning high schools from the inside out
While the Springfield School District plans to renovate its three high schools, and possibly build a new one, it has already embraced a new design for secondary teaching and learning. “Small learning communities,” also called academies or pods, will be built around specific career interests in each school. Students will pick a community and remain […]
