MOVING IN/ON Former state Sen. Arthur Berman has been appointed to Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Education Accountability Task Force, which will have input into restructuring the state Board of Education. Berman is a legislative policy advisor for CPS. Click here for a complete list of task force members. … The International Reading Association has elected University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) family literacy expert Timothy Shanahan as its vice president. Shanahan, professor of urban education at UIC, will serve as the association’s president-elect in 2005, and as president in 2006. … Karen G. Foley, formerly the executive vice president of corporate development at CNA Insurance Co., was named president of Scholarship Chicago, a local nonprofit that provides grants and other resources to high school students. Foley succeeds John Mitola, who had held the post as a volunteer. Mitola, CEO of Electric City Corp. and chair of the Illinois Tollway Authority, will remain on Scholarship Chicago’s board. … George Schmidt, former teacher and editor of Substance newspaper, was named director of the Chicago Teachers Union’s department on safety and security.
PRINCIPALS Former Acting Principal Georgette Watson of Brentano Math & Science Academy has been awarded a four-year contract. … Former Assistant Principal Maria Pheifer of Boone Elementary School has been named acting principal. She replaces Karen G. Carlson, who is now associate superintendent for bilingual and special education for Waukegan district public schools.
LSC ELECTIONS A total of 6,970 candidates ran in elections to fill approximately 5,800 slots for local school council members. Elections were held on Apr. 21 and 22.
SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS Fifteen winners of the CPS student science fair will compete against others from across the state in the Illinois Junior Academy of Science Symposium. The top three students are Lasun Oladeji, Schar Gafoor and Daniel Blumenthal, all from Lincoln Park High. Other schools that will be represented include Lane Tech High and Walter Payton College Prep.
ARTS PARTNERSHIP The Redmoon Theater selected Audubon Elementary for a year-long arts integration partnership to begin next fall. The theater group will work collaboratively with teachers to create a curriculum for each grade level. Audubon was chosen from among 30 CPS schools that applied.
AWARDS The American Educational Research Association has awarded the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the curriculum field to William Schubert, professor and chair of curriculum and instruction in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Education. The award recognizes “outstanding scholars with a strong continuous record of accomplishment” in curriculum studies. The American Educational Research Association represents approximately 22,000 professionals who conduct research and evaluation in education.