10/30/2019 0 Comments Day 5: Spying the Future of Education10:30 AM We headed out to catch the Brown Line train to visit 826CHI, a writing and tutoring support center located behind the “Secret Agent Supply Co” Store. This nonprofit group, the Chicago chapter of a series of similar centers around the country (including locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, and Detroit), helps support underserved individuals through tutoring and other enrichment activities, with the ultimate goal of promoting student writing and publishing in K-12. David Pintor, the volunteer manager, led us through the spy-themed bookstore into the brightly lit and colorfully decorated collaborative learning area behind. The bookstore, in addition to selling spy-related accessories, games, toys, and books, sells books of student-published writing. The profits from the bookstore go entirely towards funding the afterschool programs, field trips, and workshops that 826CHI holds. David gave us a glimpse into the practices that 826CHI emphasizes when working with students by asking us to reflect on several questions and actively listen to each other. We reflected aloud on some of 826CHI’s core values, their pertinence in our lives, and our experiences working with children previously. David emphasized the importance of listening without interrupting, showing us how 826CHI seeks to give students the freedom to voice their thoughts in their programs. I was very struck by the organization’s genuine dedication to serving the underserved; David discussed how they had changed their workshop times and locations in order to better target underserved populations, rather than their increasingly gentrified surroundings. 12:30 PM After our visit to 826CHI, we began our long and cold journey to UChicago. The L-station closest to 826CHI was temporarily not servicing the green line that we needed, so we walked an extra mile to the “Chicago” stop. While it was cold with freezing rain, we got a fantastic view of the Chicago skyline with the tops of skyscrapers in the clouds. 2:00 PM At the final stop, we stepped out of the train--yet again--into the freezing rain and wind. Shivering, we power walked our way along the beautiful but chilly University of Chicago campus. 2:30 PM We finally arrived at the consortium -- wet, frozen cold, and twenty minutes late. Upon stepping inside, we were immediately warmly greeted by Elaine Allensworth, the director of UChicago’s Consortium on School Research, who showed us to a conference room and offered us warm tea; we gladly accepted, the heated beverage warming our chilled hands and insides, a welcome contrast to the cold outdoors. For over two hours, Elaine talked with us about the wide range of her research and the impact that her work has had in Chicago Public Schools. She told us that the role of the Consortium was to “take things off the table” for people -- to act as a neutral party with the objective of identifying the factors that are most critical to educational success, and to allow policymakers to focus on implementing change based on those research-backed findings. We learned that the Consortium has three main goals. The first goal is to figure out which factors people believe are critical to educational outcomes, and how to measure and track these factors over time. The second goal is to discover which factors matter in answering the big questions in education (e.g. how to improve high school graduation rates?) by understanding the current theories of action and testing those assumptions. Lastly, the third goal is to give research information back to the district and schools, providing them with real-time data and information so that they can make informed changes to their policies and educational methods. We all really enjoyed hearing Elaine’s perspective about the Chicago education system and witnessing her dedication to her work. We left our meeting with a key takeaway: the idea that change often comes from having a sense of direction, and isn’t necessarily due to the implementation of a particular policy. Circumstances change for the better when the schools themselves realize that changes need to be made and they figure out how to make these changes in a coordinated way. Along the same vein, Elaine stressed the importance of communication networks (teachers networks, schools networks, etc.) -- how crucial it is that these groups analyze data and share information regularly in order to establish and maintain a general sense of direction. 4:45 PM Back out into the chilly weather. We wandered around UChicago’s campus for a bit, meeting up with Sydney’s friend, who gave us a brief tour. After a brief pit stop at Starbucks, where a few of us picked up some tea and desserts (red velvet cake, brownies, and hot water for Brian), it was back to the L-station. A forty-minute train ride back to Sedgwick, and we’re back at our beloved Airbnb. Home sweet home. Man, did it feel good to step into our heated house and peel off our wet shoes and rain jackets. 6:30 PM Sally cooked up some fantastic chicken fajitas (quite the masterchef), while the rest of us were in the living area snacking on salt and vinegar chips. Apparently, salt and vinegar chips are quite controversial among our group, but the bag was emptied within fifteen minutes. Geralyn flew in all the way from Tulsa to join us for dinner; both the food and the conversation were fantastic. 8:00 PM
Finally, we enjoyed cupcakes that Geralyn brought for us a surprise dessert as we taught her how to play the card game Mao. Don’t know how to play? The only rule we can tell you is that we’re not allowed to tell you any other rules! Guess you’ll just have to play with us to find out.
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AuthorsCo-leaders: Qing Huang '22 // Nastasia Klevak '22 |