<p>
</p>
<p>A college can admit anyone it wants to. Certainly the school has not prepared 100% of its students to the academic level for success in college. And the school is not performing better than any other in the nation, etc., etc.</p>
<p>Make sure you look up the number of these cherry-picked students who were kicked out. Then make sure to look up how many of them ended up dead (literally). </p>
<p>But yes, money helps. The folks at Exeter and Andover have known that for a long time.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Would you mind explaining what you mean by “cherry-picked” students? Is your comment relevant to this school in Chicago?</p>
<p>I’d be more impressed by statistics about how well these kids do in college. How many make it past freshman year and beyond?</p>
<p>That’s what I’m wondering. Where is the story about last year’s graduating class? Who actually completed a year’s worth of college credits?</p>
<p>If even 50% of last year’s class did that, I’ll be very, very impressed with Urban Prep. But no one’s telling us about that.</p>
<p>[Curtis</a> Black: Rahm’s Lie About Charters – And Why It Matters](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Rahm's Lie About Charters -- And Why It Matters | HuffPost Chicago)</p>
<p>Even though it is a public school, it is a charter school with a self-selected population of students. Students who have an initial desire to be challenged enter a lottery to gain admission to it. </p>
<p>The statistic I’d like to see is what percentage of kids who matriculate as freshman end up graduating from this school.</p>
<p>Bookmarked</p>
<p>Lol @ that school acting like sending 100% of it’s graduates to college is an achievement.</p>
<p>Fact: Not every HS senior is ready for college immediately after graduation.
Fact: Not every HS senior needs college to fulfill their goals.
Fact: Not every HS senior needs college at all.</p>
<p>Just saying.</p>
<p>When you have 57% of students started in 2006 graduate four years later, and test scores such as these:</p>
<p>[Illinois</a> Interactive Report Card](<a href=“http://iirc.niu.edu/School.aspx?source=School_Profile&schoolID=15016299025010C&level=S]Illinois”>http://iirc.niu.edu/School.aspx?source=School_Profile&schoolID=15016299025010C&level=S)</p>
<p>I am very skeptical that the achievement gap has been solved.</p>
<p>Let’s just say that I’ am from Missouri on this one.</p>
<p>How ARE these kids all going to college? They’re going to be in for a huge surprise freshmen year…those PSAE pass rates are atrocious.</p>
<p>Mini, is it really so hard to clarify your use of the term cherry-picked?</p>
<p>Ummm, my school is a public school with about 2400 students. We have 98% go to college. Yes not 100%, but still. 10% of my senior class was National Merit Semi-finalists.</p>
<p>These kids come out of the regular public schools with reading levels below the 4th grade. That is the real problem. The ACT test comparison shouldn’t be made to the whole country, but to the local high schools they would have attended. The question should be are these young men better off than those stuck at the local public high school. Yes, these kids entered into the lottery to get themselves out of horrible situations, but wouldn’t you have done the same for yours. 100% off to college is better than 50% drop out rate.<br>
This school is not the problem. The problem is public elementary schools having so many kids who can’t read at grade level. That’s a system failure. Let more people self select to find a fit for their kids.<br>
Here’s a link about Thaddeus Lott in Houston who turned around an inner city school.<br>
[No</a> Excuses | Hoover Institution](<a href=“http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/8110]No”>http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/8110)</p>
<p>I am still amazed on why it is important to dissect this story to find negatives. Isn’t easier to be happy for those students who did follow a path that served them well. Are there winners in this story and in the short life of Urban Prep? And, are there losers? Did the city or state lose any money? Do the donors think they wasted their money? This is not a perfect story nor a dream come through. But it is still a positive one! </p>
<p>Why is it necessary to introduce fabrications and half-truths. Fwiw, while I am NOT a fan of charter schools, I do hope to be wrong and that this mixed model could succeed in the long-run. Inasmuch as I believe that charters represent a bandaid placed on an cancerous leg (and a strong and cynical deterrent to REAL solutions,) I am thrilled to read about the positives changes made in the life of a few hundred students who have graduated from UP. Yes, they lost many along the way, but probably fewer than at the alternative. It is easy to compare UP to the overall statistics of CPS, but how does the school compare to CPS’s success with BLACK MALES from similar districts and SES conditions? </p>
<p>Of course, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. And, in the case of Mini with his (or her) cherry-picking quip, his or her own facts.</p>
<p>Regarding the 100% college, should we not ask ourselved how large the universe of higher education in the United States is? For the students discussed, is there a world beyond the Ivy League, Northwesten, and the Chicago? Although this forum spends more time discussing ACT scores ranging from 25 to 36 and SAT scores above 2,000, there are millions of students who do not come close to such numbers. </p>
<p>Going to college does not always mean going to an institution most CCers dream about. For many students, their dream of going to college means attending an institution that this forum would look at with scorn or derision. Yes, there are plenty of lesser competitive colleges, and plenty of junior and community colleges who DO welcome the students of Urban Prep. And, fwiw, do welcome plenty of graduates of CPS! Yes, it is not unique for a school to see 100% of its graduates go to a college … most schools I know do just that. The difference is that some have 100% of their students go to a 4-year college and others to mostly junior and community colleges. </p>
<p>Further how many colleges are there in the United States that do NOT require ACT or SAT scores? Again, plenty of them, including some very competitive ones.</p>
<p>It proves that if you make education a priority, you get amazing results.</p>
<p>xiggi- thanks for posting and I agree with you re why is everyone so critical here? If you knew the neighborhood you would see what obstacles these students face daily. Good for Tim King and his staff. As for poster #33 - I bet you and your fellow students come from comfortable backgrounds - you are nothing like the kids in this article.</p>
<p>There are a few selective enrollment schools in Chicago, Urban Prep is not one of them.</p>
<p>However they did it, I’m happy for them and it was no crystal stair either.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Because some of us fear the assumption that will be made that this model can be projected onto all public schools with the same results, which cannot happen, due to the selective nature (cherry-picking) of the students. Again, these students enter a lottery to be admitted to this school, so it’s already a self-selecting process of students who want to succeed. Not all students have college aspirations and therefore will not be motivated to take advantage of some of the offerings at Urban Prep. </p>
<p>I’m happy for these kids, too; in fact, I was thrilled to hear the class president express his excitement for his matriculation to Grinnell College. Obviously these students are being encouraged to look beyond the typical flagship and state Us of Illinois.</p>
<p>I met a guy from Urban Prep. Cool dude.</p>
<p>But Whitney Young > All other schools (Nerdside can go to hell).</p>