November 27, 2002 ADEPT Minutes

Agenda

1. Updates
2. Create outlines for AR
3. Other items: Consolidation of teacher contact database

Updates

1. Steve let the team know about the contact we have been having with Albert Delgado over at Whittier. He asked what we knew about electronic portfolios, and Steve replied that he did not know much, but that he could ask the CTC listserv. There were several interesting responses (which will be posted to the weblog at a later time). Steve also updated the team about the meeting of the MacArthur Foundation sub-committee of the Leadership Team. They decided that we should approach the MacArthur Foundation for funding to actively link the Summer Institute, Summer Academy, YAL, and Leadership Conference with the hope of developing this series into a way to connect all the pieces of CTC's work.
2. Sheila wrote a press release for the work going on over at Lozano Elementary School. She talked to Wendy about the lack of media contact that we have and volunteered to do it. She then sent it over to Mike Martinez over at the Chicago Tribune. Sheila mentioned that the Yellow Book we have is old and we need an updated copy. She also talked about how we need to have a centralized way of collecting this information. She is going to work on developing a press release for the Middle Passage performance over at Wells. Steve suggested that she send her press release to the ADEPT Weblog for publishing
3. Emelda is still trying to get information from the Program Directors she was assigned to. She has had the most trouble getting advance notice of events as most programs do not plan that far in advance. Program reports also seem to be difficult to get.
4. Amy noted the same difficulties as Emelda. She also reported that the meeting with Lipman-Hearne was postponed until after December 13th so Deon can attend. She has talked with Tom, the CEO, and they are still interested in working with us.

Discussion:

1. Sheila would like to add to a future ADEPT agenda a discussion about how to consolidate the various teacher contact databases across CTC. Sheila has already talked in a preliminary way with Melinda about this. Some of the highlights of that conversation:
   • If we want, we have a way to communicate with all teachers at CPS via inserts into their paycheck. This should be used sparingly.
   • Sheila has had experience sending things via CPS Mail Runs. This requires knowing which teachers at which schools you want things sent to. The upside is that it is free.
   • CTU newsletters could also be a convenient way of getting information to teachers, as well as the Catalyst "Eye on Education."
   • Another common PR tactic is to get a teacher to write a letter to the editor talking about CTC and its work.
2. The Annual Report ideas developed by individuals were discussed by the team. Read below to see what individuals came up with and the final proposed AR outline, and then come back to this section to read the general discussion:
• Shelia included a staff listing in the AR because people that work at an institution like CTC like to see their names in the AR. It makes them feel appreciated and a part of something larger than themselves.
• Steve included a section on strategies and impact because, if we want to focus on what we do as a whole, it is important to be strategy- and outcome-based. There was some disagreement with this focus as it can lead to generalizations about CTC that leave out the important details of our work. The program based way of sorting the information is a more personal approach, but the strategies-based sorting gives a sense of a broad foundation. Can we combine the two?
• We agreed that impact should be a major focus of the AR. It will tell the story of people helping people. We could even find a way to weave in our schools directly. We should start with a broad impact statement and then move toward several illustrations from the major programmatic areas of our work from high profile schools.
• A way of possible combining the specificity of programs with the breadth of strategies is to use strategies as the main organizing principle and then illustrate each one with the programs that best meet that strategy.
• The history of how we work is so tied in with what we do. This is an organic place to work in - the programs are constantly morphing but there is a stable core of beliefs and approaches that can be underscored. We are a "learning" organization, always adapting.

Sheila's Proposal

1. Introduction to CTC
   • Mission and Goals
   • History of Chicago Teachers' Center
2. Itemized list of all programs with the following under each program:
   • Relationship of program to goals and mission
   • Summary of purpose of program
   • Achievements of program
3. List of CTC staff
4. Financial Statement

Steve's Proposal

1. Executive Letter
2. Introduction to CTC
   • Mission and Vision
   • History of Chicago Teachers' Center
3. Summary of Strategies and Impact Made:
   • Learning Communities
   • High Student Achievement and Responsibility
   • Inquiry-Based Teaching
4. CTC Goals and Objectives
   • Current
   • Future/Wishlist
5. Financial Statement

Amy's Proposal

1. Letter from the Director
2. Picture collage
3. Program area statements: How many, of whom, did what, accompanied by pictures
4. Financial Statement
5. Funders: Who and what funding programs
6. Join us this year: Calendar of upcoming opportunities

Click here to read ADEPT's Final Proposed Outline for the Annual Report as we combined them on the whiteboard (thanks to Emelda for writing while we talked).

Next Steps:

1. Steve and Amy will present the options we discussed to the Leadership Team.
2. Steve will post to the weblog the way to subscribe to the CTC listserv.
3. Steve will enroll the weblog in a edublog webring
4. Sheila will email the Lozano press release to the weblog.

Agenda for next meeting (December 18 @ 10:30)

1. Refine AR outline and start copywork
2. Discuss possibilities for consolidating teacher contact databases
3. Other items