RETHINKING HIGH SCHOOLS NETWORK - Six city and suburban high schools have come together to revitalize teaching and learning for their students.  Improvements focus on ten structural features of high schools, including size, scheduling, climate, and voice for teachers and students. Interdisciplinary teacher teams provide the lever for broader change throughout the schools.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NETWORK - This project involves six Chicago Public elementary schools.  The network helps teachers to find an integrated curriculum approach which include best Practice Strategies.  Consultants work in the classrooms with teachers demonstrating instruction.  The teachers also meet as a network to discuss their practice and the progressive education methods that they are working on.  Cross site visits are also a part of this network.

WESTHAVEN CURRICULUM LEADERSHIP PROJECT - In Chicago's redeveloping Westhaven neighborhood, improving the quality of the local public schools and enhancing parent involvement are a top priority.  This joint project of the Center for City Schools offers intensive leadership experiences for teachers and parents.

BEST PRACTICE HIGH SCHOOL - Begun September 1996, this new, small public school is a model for progressive curriculum for a full range of Chicago students. It serves as a professional development site, aiding reform in other schools. Supported by the Fry, McDougal, and Polk Bros. Foundations, J.C. Penney, and Prince Charitable Trust.

THE WALLOON INSTITUTE - This residential summer seminar brings together teachers, administrators, parent leaders and students for a one-week immersion in best practice teaching methods.  Participants in many of the above projects meet and collaborate at Walloon, allowing cross-school regional networking, along with rich school teacher experiences.

PARENT PROJECT - Developed by our colleague James Vopat in Milwaukee, this program offers a workshop-based approach to parent involvement in more than 30 schools.  Now focused on the development of parent leaders and training materials in Chicago and Milwaukee, the Parent Project was recently recognized by the Clinton administration as one of the most promising programs in the U.S.

ILLINOIS WRITING PROJECT- The IWP was the original program which led to our Center's development, providing workshops on teaching writing and related topics throughout northern Illinois since 1978. IWP's summer leadership institute receives Federal funds through the National Writing Project, while local schools and districts adopt more than 25 other IWP programs per year.

PAST PROJECTS

CHICAGO STUDENTS AT THE CENTER - The Center for City Schools was the lead agency and fiscal agent for this $3,000,000 initiative funded by the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund. A consortium of five Chicago curriculum reform groups -- the Algebra Project, the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, the Chicago Metro History Education Center, and the Illinois Writing Project -- helped middle grade teachers in 20 schools to use an integrated curriculum approach. Networking with companion projects in New York and Philadelphia, we sought to show that constructivist teaching methods work in urban schools, across all subject areas and up through the grade levels.

THE BEST PRACTICE PROJECT - This long range project, initially funded by the Joyce Foundation, has served a Chicago network of 13 schools, 11 "Kids First" schools in Milwaukee, and 10 Institute for Educational Renewal schools in Cleveland. Workshops developed teacher and parent leadership; classroom consulting helped teachers install progressive practices; school-year networking built energy across sites; and summer institutes helped schools share strategies and plan changes together.