Monday, December 19, 2011

Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center

Lauri Bauer Flyer 10-11
Several things:

First, we are available at a new location. the Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center/Lauri Bauer Center in Deerfield. See the attachment for more information. 

Also, we have material on the website on grief and holidays. A FAQ, "How do children who have experienced loss react to holidays?" is available at http://www.barrharris.org/faqs.html  ; material oriented to the parent is at http://www.barrharris.org/holidays.html 

We will be offering workshops in March and April, 2012. Check our website later for information on the dates and topics.

Best wishes to you for the holidays,

Eleanor Hall, Webmaster
Barr-Harris Children's Grief Center






Job Announcement


I am looking for an Administrative Assistant. Could you please forward this email to your group. AT this point, I am only accepting resumes by e-mail.

Description
§  Responsible for covering the daily administrative needs of the academic research office 
§  Provide high level administrative support (e.g., gather background information, research issues, prepare executive summaries, meeting summaries and follow-up with participants on action items, and other materials, coordinate with other departments to secure requested materials).
§  Prepare, assemble, edit, format, and contribute to the composition and management of group documents including grant proposals, letters, and technical and/or scientific manuscripts . Ensure all materials meet established standards of appearance and content, are of a consistent style and accurately portrait the goals or ideas of the Institute. File and retrieve documents, records, and reports.
§  Prepare invoices, reports, memos, letters, financial statements and other documents, using word processing, spreadsheet, database, or presentation software. Read and analyze incoming memos, submissions, and reports to determine their significance and plan their distribution.  Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including faxes and email. Prepare responses to correspondence containing routine inquiries.
§  Coordinate the creation of and maintenance of calendars and schedule internal and external meetings and plan as well as coordinate whatever set up is required including location, teleconference, equipment etc. Coordinate the scheduling of international and domestic travel, as well as accommodations for conference attendance. In addition, coordinate accommodations for visiting presenters as well as coordinate their presentation including food, room rental, audio/visual set up and take down and advertising to appropriate student or faculty populations and departments.
§  Screen and coordinate communications, draft correspondence for signature, track and follow up on requests, identifying those of importance which require her personal attention;
§  Track, update, and gather expense data needed for reporting purposes and process reimbursement forms for travel expenses.
§  Assist with various tasks contributing to group and office organization, productivity and efficiency, including ordering supplies, and processing mail.
§  Facilitate a virtual and paperless office, organize and maintain the remaining correspondence and professional files.
§  Greet visitors and determine whether they should be given access to specific individuals.
§  Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.



Catalina Ramos

Institute for Information, Education, and Support

Will Expanded Learning Time = Better Outcomes?

Will Expanded Learning Time = Better Outcomes?

In the fall of 2011, the U.S. Department of Education established a waiver process to help states obtain additional flexibility in meeting No Child Left Behind Act performance standards. The "optional flexibility" choice, also known as Waiver 11, captured the attention of leaders in education agencies, schools and community-based organizations.
Waiver 11 gives states the option to use funds from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to support expanded learning opportunities during the school day – leaving many leaders to wonder if quality afterschool programming would be sacrificed in the name of a slightly longer school day, and prompting discussion about the definition and value of expanded learning time.
Click here to view the webinar
Webinar: Dec. 8, 2011
Experts from the education and youth development fields discussed the implications of this waiver in a webinar organized by three members of the Ready by 21 National Partnership - the Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum), American Association of School Administrators and United Way Worldwide – and moderated by Forum Policy Director Elizabeth Gaines.
Presenters
  • Michele McNeil, Assistant Editor, Education Week
  • Mary Ronan, Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools
  • Lindsay Torrico, Manager, Public Policy, United Way Worldwide
  • Nicole Yohalem, Director of Special Projects, the Forum for Youth Investment
Materials
  • Webinar recording [include video player]
  • PowerPoint presentation [PDF attachment]
  • Presenters’ answers to participant questions [PDF attachment]
Related Documents:
December 15, 2011
AttachmentSize
QandA_from_webinar.pdf199.69 KB
ELO_Powerpoint.pdf1.38 MB

High School Dropouts in Illinois Cost State $10 Billion in Societal Cost


For the record: The costs of high school dropouts 
High School Dropouts in Illinois
Cost State $10 Billion in Societal Cost.
One high school of the 130 in Chicago costs city and state $124 million with no effective plan to change any of this.
Black Star Logo
By Rebecca Harris
December 6, 2011

One in seven Chicagoans age 19 to 24 are dropouts and the costs to the city and state are staggering, according "High School Dropouts in Chicago and Illinois: The Growing Labor Market, Income, Civic, Social and Fiscal Costs of Dropping Out of High School," a report Northeastern University researchers prepared for the Chicago Urban League and released today.

The report will be officially released at a Chicago Urban League forum, which Catalyst Chicago will be live-Tweeting.

The forum will feature CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard, as well as city, county and state elected officials. They will talk about program options for out-of-school youth, which have been curtailed during the recession and state budget crisis. The Alternative Schools Network, an advocacy group, sponsors forums and research to bring attention to the issue of out-of-school youth.

Black and Latino young men are hit especially hard. One in four young African-American men and nearly one in three Latino men are dropouts. Many of the dropouts are incarcerated, according to the report.

They face a grim future. Just half of high school dropouts age 18 to 64 in Chicago were employed during 2010. Of the rest, most could not find work for even a week out of the past year. Those who did work had an average income of just $13,700 (only 40 percent of what those with associate's degrees earned.)

Over a lifetime, that adds up: High school dropouts will earn just $595,000, compared with $1.1 million for high school graduates and $1.5 million for people with associate's degrees.
The disparities also take a toll on children, the report notes. In the 2009-10 fiscal year, one in three families headed by high school dropouts had to rely on food stamps.

 "Children living in families headed by high school dropouts face a substantially above average probability of encountering cognitive, health, housing adequacy, and nutrition problems that will limit their future economic and educational development," the report states. "Their chances of securing a bachelor's degree by their mid-20s are close to zero."

Compared with a high school graduate, each high school dropout costs society more than $300,000, according to the report. Compared with a 4-year college graduate, the cost is $956,000. This does not even factor in the cost of the five-times-higher incarceration rate faced by high school dropouts.

Researcher Andrew Sum tabulated the statewide costs of Illinois dropouts in 2005. The tab? A staggering $10 billion. The Chicago Reporter tackled the topic in its November 2006 issue, "$10 Billion Hole." 

Catalyst Chicago's 2008 story on High School Transformation at Marshall High School noted that dropouts from the school's Class of 2011 would cost society an estimated $124 million over their lifetime. That program was ultimately scrapped, and a tumultuous series of changes at the school ultimately resulted in a fall 2010 turnaround.