The school didn't feel we were out here by ourselves. The whole community was behind us. The efforts paid off when Cook became one of 37 Chicago schools released from the state's warning list this year. Cook is also continuing to provide professional-development opportunities for its faculty as a way to sustain growth. The entire system is now on high uniform standards.
Teachers know what they ought to be teaching.
Students know what they should be learning. The extra resources have been so helpful that nearly all of the schools that worked their way off the list this year plan to continue to work with the state teams, Ms. Poggi said. They also remain eligible for state grants. At 300-student Madison, Ill., High School in the southeastern part of the state, administrators tapped state aid to provide professional development, buy new curricular materials, and offer summer school to students needing extra help, Principal E. Jill Schott said. The school has increased the number of students who meet state test requirements by almost 20 percent in the past two years, falling just one percentage point shy of the mark necessary to leave the warning list this year.