What are Fresh Start Schools?
Fresh Start Schools are traditional CPS facilities at which the teachers and the principal develop a collaborative plan for the implementation of curriculum and instructional delivery. Both the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) share in the creation of the Fresh Start Schools.
Fresh Start Schools are traditional in that, as Union schools, they enjoy the same Union-Board Agreement as other CPS schools. They are non-traditional in the creative approaches employed for instructional purposes.
Fresh Start Schools are each monitored by an Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) that includes representation by the principal, school's Union delegate, CTU Quest Center facilitator, and a representative from both the school's Professional Problems Committee (PPC) and Professional Personnel Leadership Committee (PPLC), along with a Local School Council parent or community member.
Fresh Start Schools are learning communities in need of improvement as specified under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act guidelines and have been on probation for at least one year. A Fresh Start School and its staff are highly motivated to achieve success and have a desire to work collaboratively with the shared decision-making opportunities among staff, administration, CTU and CPS.
Representatives of both the CTU and the CPS select the schools to become Fresh Start Schools during the term of the agreement between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2010.
Fresh Start Schools Guidelines
Fresh Start Schools will be given special consideration to bring about school reform by both the CTU and the CPS by:
- Having the same level of autonomy as CPS performance schools in terms
of budgeting, staffing and curriculum;
- Operatig under a five year performance agreement requiring academic gains with an annual review to evaluate a school's academic and professional progress;
- Adopting an alternative teacher evaluation plan involving intensive peer review, mentoring, evaluation of teaching methods, and intervention
based on the CTU/CPS adaptation of the Toledo Plan;
- Accessing professional development opportunities through the CTU
Quest Center, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), CPS and other appropriate organizations; and
- Receiving additional support for school improvement activities as
deemed appropriate within the terms of the Fresh Start agreement.
Fresh Start Schools Personnel
Fresh Start Schools personnel should be accomplished teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators that are willing to critically examine their practice, seek to expand their repertoire of instructional strategies, deepen their knowledge, sharpen their judgement, and adapt their work to new findings, ideas, and theories.
A "Fresh Start" for meaningful and effective
job-embedded professional development
School reform at the Fresh Start Schools places critical demands on the academic practice of teachers. These demands include a need for a deeper knowledge of subject matter; the ability to make complex, impromptu decisions; and a commitment to working closely with colleagues to design rich learning activities and authentic assessments. Teachers working towards school reform are challenged by the rising expectations for student knowledge and capabilities and the increasing diversity of the urban student population. By adapting to these realities and with breakthrough research on how children learn, teachers are continuously expanding their knowledge, skills and capacity to work towards ambitious change. Thus, the work of the CTU Quest Center and the CPS are driven to pricide quality professional development experiences to Fresh Start Schools in these key areas:
- Cooperative Learning/Cooperative Schools
- Reading & Math Strategies that Work
- Data-Driven School Improvement Planning
- Learning in Overdrive (Alternative Assessments driven by
Standards-Based Instruction)
- School-Home Connections (Parents & Family Involvement)
- Classroom Management/Behavior Modification
Click here to view the Fresh Start Memorandum of Understanding.
Click here to view the Fresh Start Peer Mentoring and Evaluation Program (PMEP) Memorandum of Understanding.
Click here to view the Amendment to the PMEP Memorandum of Understanding.
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