In part shaped by movements like Black Lives Matter, the crisis of the global pandemic, and the political and social turbulence of recent years, many thoughtful conversations have taken place in the philanthropic sector that question the power and privilege inherent in grantmaking and challenge whether conventional norms and practices in…

This ethnodrama uses verbatim transcriptions of classroom stories shared by a first-year teacher in the Chicago Public Schools to help audience members ask better questions about teaching and the systems that shape teachers' labor. The production uses a small number of theatrical conventions to create an aesthetic experience built from moments of…

This article chronicles a community coalition's efforts to revitalize a "failing" school, the Walter H. Dyett High School in Chicago. It tells the story of one group of people fighting to keep a school open and, moreover, to see it reflect their vision for their community and their children's education. We see that this community's…

Although we often look to schools to solve complex social problems, many educators are not ready to address the structural racism behind many contemporary conflicts. Pedro Noguera and Julio Angel Alicia present a brief history of the socioeconomic forces that drove school closures and gentrification in Chicago, the remaking of New Orleans after…

Race, history and visibility have a great deal to do with how disability operated socially and educationally in the Chicago public high school art classroom where I taught for ten years. I am severely near-sighted, and I am also white, educated and often, but not consistently, able to pass for non-disabled. A large number of my students were…

The purpose of this article is to describe both our unique training under Don Hellison and how the TPSR Alliance has played an important role in helping us navigate our academic careers. Both of us studied under Don Hellison for several years at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). While Dave began working with Don as an undergraduate with…

Preparing today's students for careers that are emerging or not yet developed is a significant challenge for educators within the U.S. education system. In reaction to this challenge, there is a growing shift that focuses on ensuring that students have transcending and transferable skills, including academic, technical, and employability skills.…

This book examines what is happening, in the context of segregated and unequal public education, to children from poor families in the inner cities and less affluent suburbs, and describes how children of poor families get less real education, less hope, and less concern than children from rich families. Chapter 1 of the book examines the causes…

This article extends the ideas of social support systems to giftedness and disadvantagement, and presents examples of two intervention programs for talented, economically disadvantaged children--the Epstein Fine Arts Fund, and SMART (Science and Mathematics Advocacy and Recruitment for Teaching), both in Chicago, Illinois. A research agenda is…

Describes the Archdiocese of Chicago's Sharing program, in which affluent parishes link up with their poorer counterparts to form friendships, solve problems, and overcome the anonymity of charitable work. Reveals outcomes including the annual sharing of $2 million among parishes. Offers examples of parish-to-parish support and suggestions for…

The Ventures in Community Improvement (VICI) demonstration, a national research and demonstration program, was designed to test the effectiveness of a youth employment program in various settings. Eight VICI programs, each of which enrolled up to 60 unemployed, out-of-school, economically disadvantaged youths between the ages of 16 and 19, were…

Describes a Youth Service Project Program for teen mothers in Chicago. The program uses a bicultural approach that provides teens with a supportive social network and the opportunity to acquire parenting and literacy skills. (PCB)

Examines the effects of decentralized governance on instructional and curricular organization for disadvantaged pupils at the classroom level. Using descriptive information gathered from four inner-city elementary schools in Chicago and Albuquerque, this study finds that strong professional control over program decisions remains intact regardless…

This paper briefly describes Chicago's Center for Successful Child Development (CSCD), an institution aiming to prevent school failure among disadvantaged children from low-income families by providing intensive, comprehensive support services to all born since January 1, 1987 to parents residing in the six buildings of the Robert Taylor Homes…

The Urban Leadership Program, a Federally funded program consisting of three 10-week sessions for sixth graders in the Einstein Public School, Chicago, Illinois, provided a career awareness program of action learning to bridge the gap between students' economically improverished neighborhoods and the mainstream urban community. The community…