As a new school day begins, Donyell Beck praises her 7th graders for forming straight lines and keeping their shirts tucked in.
鈥淚鈥檓 very proud of how you have been lining up,鈥� says the teacher here at UNO Veterans Memorial School. The conduct shows that the students are thinking with a 鈥渟chool mind鈥� rather than a 鈥渟ummer mind,鈥� she says.
That philosophy of quiet and order as a foundation for learning is a trademark of educators at Veterans Memorial and the other eight charter schools run by the Chicago-based , or UNO, a Latino advocacy group with a history of community organizing.
Chicago is soon to see more of these schools. The group recently received a $98 million grant from the state of Illinois to open new ones. That鈥檚 believed to be the largest grant of public capital funds to a U.S. charter school operator.
With the help of that money, UNO, which opened its first school in 1998, plans to nearly double its number of schools, to 16. All but one of UNO鈥檚 eight K-8 schools and its one high school are in Chicago; its other K-8 school is in New Orleans.
Nurturing 鈥楽chool Minds鈥�
Juan Rangel heads the United Neighborhood Organization. The Chicago-based Latino advocacy group recently received a $98 million grant that will allow it to nearly double its network of charter schools to 16.
鈥擯hotography and Videography by John Zich for Education Week
Juan Rangel, the chief executive officer of the organization, preaches the value of a disciplined school climate. He came to appreciate the strong discipline of his traditional Mexican-American family and the Roman Catholic high school he attended in Chicago.
UNO leadership imparts that philosophy to students and staff, along with other goals it sets for the schools, from the top down.
The schools, which cater largely to Latino students, are expected to 鈥渁ssimilate鈥� their populations into American society. In part, they do so by using an English-immersion approach rather than bilingual education for English-language learners.
Assimilation doesn鈥檛 mean Latinos should deny their own culture or native language, Mr. Rangel said. 鈥淲hat it means is having our families and children have an understanding of belonging. They have a role in developing this country.鈥�
In the past ive years, more Chicago students in UNO schools have met or exceeded state standards than their peers in the regular public schools.
SOURCE: Chicago Public 69传媒
Administrators at UNO headquarters handle the budgeting and manage the buildings so the directors鈥攑rincipals鈥攁re free to focus on academics. The curriculum is the same across , as is testing. For the past two school years, all network schools have been assessing students three times a year with benchmark tests to identify students鈥� strengths and weaknesses; teachers receive training on how to use the test data to improve instruction.
The directors are charged with having students grow academically by 1陆 grade levels each school year on average, a goal that leaders of the organization say about 60 percent of students in their K-8 schools in Chicago have reached.
The network鈥檚 overall mission is to foster a culture that can turn out students who are leaders in the community and beyond.
Mr. Rangel says he wants Latino students to understand the ideals by which the United States was founded. 鈥淢ost of our kids were born here. They aren鈥檛 isolated or segregated from the regular society.鈥�
Creating leaders means preparing students to excel in college, Mr. Rangel said. The network employs staff members responsible for easing the transition of students to academically sound high schools.
Judging by state test scores, the formula . In the 2007-08 school year, each campus had a higher proportion of students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, mathematics, and science than students in the regular Chicago public schools.
A released last week by the Illinois Policy Institute, which has offices in Springfield and Chicago, and the Lexington Institute, a think tank based in Arlington, Va., shows that both Hispanic students and English-language learners in UNO schools score better on state reading and math tests on average than do those same groups in regular Chicago schools.
The strong discipline at UNO schools enables students to focus on learning, according to Mr. Rangel and other school administrators.
UNO schools 鈥渁re quiet, disciplined, orderly,鈥� said Mr. Rangel in describing what parents and students can expect of the school culture. 鈥淭here is learning taking place. It鈥檚 a safe place for kids.鈥�
Expectations on student conduct are transmitted to classrooms partly through an annual summer institute for UNO teachers and classroom walk-throughs by school directors.
During the first weeks of school, directors encourage teachers to make a deliberate effort to establish the norms of UNO school culture.
That means reminding students to avoid social chatter during class and to be silent in hallways. Teachers tell students to assume 鈥渓earner鈥檚 position鈥濃�攕itting up straight and folding their hands鈥攚hen beginning a new lesson.
Chris Allen, the director of Veterans Memorial School, spends a good part of a recent morning visiting classrooms with a check list of the elements of the culture. He notes if students aren鈥檛 鈥�100 percent鈥� in uniform. Are they wearing tennis shoes instead of the requisite black dress shoes? He also notes whether teachers are making smooth transitions between lessons and whether their libraries are well organized. Have students formed straight lines on the way to the restroom? Are they making noise in class that isn鈥檛 what Mr. Allen calls 鈥減urposeful鈥�?
Likely because the UNO schools are in Hispanic neighborhoods, 92 percent of the 3,400 Chicago students are Latino, though anyone is eligible to enter the admissions lottery. Ninety-five percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. The organization reports that 37 percent of its students are English-language learners. In its K-8 schools, 6 percent are special education students; in the high school, 10 percent.
By contrast, 13 percent of the 408,000 students in the regular public schools in Chicago are English-language learners, and 12 percent are in special education.
Mr. Rangel said the state awarded UNO the $98 million because its schools have strong academic results and the organization has shown it can build schools faster and cheaper than the Chicago district can.
Jaime Guzman, the interim director of the office of new schools for the Chicago district, agrees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to argue with the results they have. They are really strong results,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey are a nonprofit that can operate more nimbly than a large bureaucracy like Chicago public schools,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have focused on creating schools in neighborhoods with severe overcrowding.鈥�
Parents also lobbied state legislators in their Springfield offices as part of a campaign orchestrated by network leaders to persuade the lawmakers to provide the organization with facilities funding.
Some observers, however, wonder if more UNO schools are good for Chicago. They question, for example, if they serve English-language learners and special education students as well as they appear to on paper.
Josie Yanguas, a board member of the Illinois Association for Multilingual Multicultural Education, expresses skepticism at the Illinois Policy Institute study鈥檚 findings on ELLs because they are based on scores from state content tests. Such tests, she contends, aren鈥檛 鈥渧alid and reliable鈥� for those students. Instead, Ms. Yanguas said, any study of ELLs should include their scores on the state鈥檚 English-proficiency test.
And some Latinos who live in the city鈥檚 Pilsen neighborhood, which has a strong Mexican-American presence, advocate bilingual education. They maintain that it鈥檚 not fair that charter schools鈥攚hich are publicly financed but operate free of many regulatory constraints鈥攄on鈥檛 have to abide by the state鈥檚 mandate to provide it.
All the public money that UNO has received to build schools also bothers some Latino critics, especially when buildings for regular neighborhood schools are run-down.
鈥淚t seems to us these charter schools have been opened at the cost of the neighborhood schools,鈥� said Alejandra L. Iba帽ez, the executive director of the , a partner for an after-school program in a neighborhood school.
Ms. Iba帽ez also opposes UNO鈥檚 assimilation policy. She鈥檚 heard that some students have been reprimanded for speaking Spanish in the schools.
鈥淚t hits a nerve,鈥� Ms. Iba帽ez said. 鈥淭he fact that I can speak Spanish and English should be seen as something beautiful and not something I should be reprimanded for.鈥�
Within the UNO school community, plenty of parents and students say network schools are a better option than the regular public schools.
Emily Martinez, a 3rd grader at Officer Donald Marquez School, says the rules help her feel safe. A regular public school in Chicago that she and her siblings attended had 鈥済angbanging鈥� and 鈥減eople killing people,鈥� she said.
Arturo Velasquez also likes Veterans Memorial 鈥減or las reglas,鈥� for the rules. He and his wife, Georgina Velasquez, who have college degrees from Mexico, enrolled their daughter in 2nd grade and son in kindergarten there.
鈥淚 never tire talking about this school,鈥� Guadalupe Garcia said in Spanish. She enrolled two of her children in Veterans Memorial and another in UNO鈥檚 high school. 鈥淢ost of all, the learning is very advanced,鈥� said Ms. Garcia, who finished 4th grade in Mexico.
Ms. Garcia said she welcomes the network鈥檚 English-immersion approach. Her oldest daughter, now 15, received bilingual education in a regular Chicago school, which was actually, Ms. Garcia contended, 鈥�puro espa帽ol,鈥� pure Spanish. As a 2nd grader, her daughter couldn鈥檛 speak any English, but after a half-year in an UNO school, Ms. Garcia said, she could speak English well.
But Majdden Hejaz, a Palestinian-American, said UNO may go overboard on the rules. After her son, a kindergartner, gave her a teary goodbye at the security desk at the entrance of Veterans Memorial, she said, she didn鈥檛 like how she was barred from escorting him to the classroom after the first week of school.
The rule, according to Mr. Allen, cuts down on distracting teachers from focusing on the day鈥檚 lessons.
UNO leaders acknowledge that the education of English-language learners is evolving.
Mr. Rangel says his organization has had the 鈥渉onesty鈥� to recognize bilingual education hasn鈥檛 worked as intended and thus UNO schools have always used 鈥渟tructured English immersion.鈥�
Critics of UNO鈥檚 approach to teaching ELLs鈥攕uch as Jane Nolan, the co-chairwoman of a group called Multilingual Chicago鈥攕ay it鈥檚 really 鈥渟ink or swim.鈥�
In the network schools鈥� English immersion, students get a period or two of Spanish each week, but otherwise, all instruction is in English.
And only this school year has the network ensured that each school employs a specialist in how to work with English-language learners. Just this past summer, it began training those specialists and a few other educators in specific strategies for ELLs widely used across the nation, known as Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol.
Shannon Swindle, the language-acquisition specialist at Officer Donald Marquez School, said she expects to work regularly with about 50 of the school鈥檚 293 English-learners this year, her first full year in the job. She鈥檒l be coaching teachers in using strategies to work with the ELLs she can鈥檛 reach directly.
The Chicago district is satisfied with the network鈥檚 ELL plan submitted a year and a half ago, according to Mr. Guzman of the district.
Mr. Allen, who was certified to teach English-learners in California, said the UNO schools are 鈥渇ormalizing鈥� their approach to educating such students, but he thinks the schools have already been successful because teachers stress language instruction. For a long time, each school has had at least one 鈥渕aster teacher鈥� and one reading specialist freed up to coach teachers and co-teach with them. 69传媒 also have specialists in special education.
Mathew Ayala, 6, who comes from a home where Spanish is the primary language, has done well.
His 1st grade teacher at Veterans Memorial, Amanda Stoerman, recently asked her class to write about the plot of a book she had just read aloud. The story was about characters coming to life when a teacher and her students didn鈥檛 finish reading a book. Ms. Stoerman wrote 鈥渃haracters鈥� on the whiteboard to help the pupils write it correctly, along with the prompt: 鈥淭he problem in the story was ...鈥�
Without help, Mathew wrote: 鈥淭he problem in the story was that the kids didn鈥檛 finish the book and then the whole school filled up with characters from the book.鈥�
He capitalized the first word of the sentence, ended it with a period, spelled each word correctly, and remembered the punctuation for the contraction.
It was Day 6 of 1st grade for Mathew, who had attended kindergarten at an UNO charter school.
