State of the Arts in Chicago Public Schools Progress Report 2013-14

Ingenuity's second "State of the Arts in Chicago Public Schools" details the progress made in the 2013-14 school year on the goals and recommendations set forth in the City's first-ever CPS Arts Education Plan which was approved by the Chicago Board of Education in November of 2012.Among the findings from the report is that CPS schools have increased arts instruction, staffing, partnerships and funding during the second year of implementing the CPS Arts Education Plan. The report also finds that combined District and external funds committed to arts education in CPS increased 11 percent, or by nearly $14 million -- most of which has been dedicated to CPS' hiring of credentialed arts instructors

The “Core” of Who We Are

Gardner-Webb University’s core curriculum ranks in the nation’s top two percent for quality and breadth, according to the 2011-2012 What Will They Learn? study by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA). The study rated all the major public and private colleges and universities in all 50 states—a total of 1,007 four-year institutions—on an “A” through “F” scale. Gardner-Webb was among only 19 schools—and the only school in the Carolinas—to earn an “A.” Youtube: ACTA Rates Gardner-Webb\u27s Core Curriculumhttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/gardner-webb-newscenter-archive/2995/thumbnail.jp

Nonlinear seismic analysis of existing RC school buildings: the “P3” school typology

The seismic assessment of existing school buildings is an important issue in earthquake prone regions; such is the case of the Algarve, which is the southern region of Portugal mainland. Having this problem in mind, the PERSISTAH project (Projetos de Escolas Resilientes aos SISmos no Território do Algarve e de Huelva, in Portuguese) aimed to develop a computational approach enabling the damage evaluation of a large number of individual school buildings. One of the school typologies assessed was the so-called “P3” schools. This typology is composed of several different modules that are combined in different manners depending on the number of students. Each module was built in accordance with architectural standardised designs. For this reason, there are many replicas of these modules all over the Algarve region. The structural system of each module is composed of a frame of reinforced concrete (RC) elements. Nonlinear static seismic analysis procedures were adopted to evaluate the structural seismic behaviour, namely by using the new concept of performance curve. Based on the obtained results, it was possible to conclude that the seismic safety of this type of school building is mainly ruled by the shear capacity of the columns. This study also shows the difficulties of carrying out accurate seismic assessments of existing buildings using the methods of analysis that are established in the Eurocode 8.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Race, Sex, and Discrimination in School Settings: A Multilevel Analysis of Associations With Delinquency

BACKGROUNDAdolescence is a critical phase of development and experimentation with delinquent behaviors. There is a growing body of literature exploring individual and structural impacts of discrimination on health outcomes and delinquent behaviors. However, there is limited research assessing how school diversity and discrimination impact students' delinquent behaviors. In response, the purpose of this study was to assess if individual- and school-level indicators of discrimination and diversity were associated with student delinquent behaviors among African American and White students.METHODSWe analyzed Wave I (1994-1995) data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Our analysis was limited to 8947 African American and White students (73% White, 48% male, and 88% parent = high school education). We used multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression to test the association of individual- and school characteristics and discrimination with the number of self-reported delinquent behaviors.RESULTSRace, sex, perceived peer inclusion, and teacher discrimination were predictors of students' delinquent behaviors. The average school perceived peer inclusion and percentage of African Americans in teaching roles were associated with delinquent behaviors.CONCLUSIONSFindings from this study highlight the potential for intervention at the interpersonal and school levels to reduce delinquency among African American and White students

New Evidence on Teacher Labor Supply

Recent evidence on the large variance in teacher effectiveness has spurred renewed interest in teacher labor market policies. A substantial body of prior research documents that more highly qualified teachers tend to work in more advantaged schools, although this literature cannot determine the relative importance of supply versus demand factors in generating this equilibrium outcome. To isolate the importance of teacher labor supply, we attended three large teacher job fairs in Chicago during the summer of 2006 and collected detailed information on the specific schools at which teachers interviewed. We document a substantial variation in the number of applicants per school, with some schools having fewer than five applicants and others schools having over 300 applicants, even after controlling for the number and type of positions advertised at the school. We show that the demographic characteristics of schools strongly predict the number of applicants to the school in the expected direction. Interestingly, the geographic location of the school is an extremely strong predictor of applications, even after controlling for a host of observable school and neighborhood characteristics.