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Anitra Schulte
CPS Office of Communications
Phone: 773-553-1620
Fax: 773-553-1622
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 26, 2007
CPS Rewards Schools for High Performance, Strong Progress
18 Additional Schools Earn Increased Autonomy from District
Eighteen additional Chicago public elementary schools will become Autonomous Management Performance Schools, or AMPS, in the 2007-2008 school year. That brings the total number of AMPS schools in the system to 108.
AMPS, a designation that went into effect in the 2005-2006 school year, gives high-performing and rapidly improving elementary and high schools increased autonomy from the district’s central office.
“When a school shows effective management and posts strong academic results, the best thing we can do is get out of the way and let the school’s leadership keep the momentum going,” said CPS Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan.
AMPS selection criteria is based in large part on state testing results, so CPS is currently only announcing new elementary school AMPS, upon the recent release of 2006 Illinois Standards Achievement Test scores. The final results of the 2006 Prairie State Achievement Examination, which are still being reviewed, will dictate new high school AMPS selections.
The purpose of AMPS is to recognize and reward high performing and rapidly improving schools by letting them implement any of the following six autonomies: budget autonomy, self-directed operations/maintenance, calendar changes, freedom from the district’s new teacher induction program, freedom from the district’s area structure and freedom from one of the district’s benchmark assessments.
Almost 100 percent of AMPS choose to employ the “budget autonomy” option. Under this autonomy, a school can transfer funds – for the purchase of text books, for example – without first obtaining CPS area-level approval. Schools still must obtain Local School Council approval to move funds.
An autonomy that’s growing in popularity is the “calendar changes” option, which, if approved by the Illinois State Board of Education, will allow schools to “bank minutes” to create entire days off for staff development, rather than half days, which many administrators consider to be less instructionally effective.
Other program goals are to attract high-quality principals looking for increased control, to learn which district services are indispensable to high-performing schools and to focus on schools with greater need.
“Giving our top-performing schools increased autonomy allows the CPS central office to concentrate on schools that need our help the most,” said Chicago Public Schools Chief Education Officer Barbara Eason-Watkins.
CPS invites schools to be AMPS if they demonstrate exceptional academic performance and strong leadership, or if they demonstrate sustained and significant academic improvement, coupled with effective management. A school’s performance is measured, among other criteria, by student attendance and the meeting and exceeding of the standards set by No Child Left Behind.
Schools also can become AMPS by making a case for increased autonomy in an “innovation application.” The applications, new for the 2007-2008 school year, have a March 31 deadline. CPS will interview applicants and select “innovation” schools in April.
AMPS schools are evaluated each year, and the designation can be removed if a school fails to meet AMPS criteria.
The 18 elementary schools that have achieved AMPS status for the 2007-2008 school year are:
- Beaubien, 5025 N. Laramie Ave.
- Decatur Classical, 7030 N. Sacramento
- Ebinger, 7350 W. Pratt Ave.
- Farnsworth, 5414 N. Linder Ave.
- Henry, 4250 N. St. Louis Ave.
- Keller Magnet, 3020 W. 108 th St.
- Lenart, 8445 S. Kolin Ave.
- Mitchell, 2233 W. Ohio St.
- Oriole Park , 5424 N. Oketo Ave.
- Poe Classical, 10538 S. Langley Ave.
- Sabin Magnet, 2216 W. Hirsch St.
- Sauganash, 6040 N. Kilpatrick Ave.
- Skinner, 1443 N. Ogden
- Smyser, 4310 N. Melvina Ave.
- Solomon, 6206 N. Hamlin Ave.
- Stone Academy , 6239 N. Leavitt St.
- OA Thorp Academy, 6024 W. Warwick
- Wildwood, 6950 N. Hiawatha Ave.
The Chicago Public Schools is the nation’s third-largest school district, with 625 schools that serve approximately 415,000 students.
View list of new and existing school AMPS
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