McCosh Main Page :: Collaborative Learning Centers Project

McCosh Elementary School

6543 South Champlain Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637
773-535-0560

Barbara Eason-Watkins, Principal

McCosh Elementary School is located at 6543 S. Champlain in the West Woodlawn area of Chicago. Its population of 1200 students is more than 90% low-income and nearly 100% African-American. Principal, Barbara Eason-Watkins, has been at the school for 10 years. McCosh joined the CLC project in 1994 as a partner with Roosevelt University. The years spent in the CLC project have seen exciting growth in student achievement and teachers' professional confidence. Although the CLC project has ended, the impact of the project still benefits the school and the McCosh-Roosevelt-Northeastern collaboration continues in new forms.

Principal Barbara Eason-Watkins reads to primary students

The McCosh approach to professional development team formation was unique within the project. Instead of forming small teams of interested teachers, the McCosh administration chose two areas that needed development --primary language arts and middle school math instruction-- and integrated the CLC resources into existing efforts. The resource teachers for those two areas became the CLC teacher leaders and all teachers related to either of the two areas became the professional development teams. The Middle School team was added in the last half of the project.

Professors from Roosevelt worked with the McCosh teacher leaders to develop a variety of professional development activities. Professional development efforts on the three teams followed very different models in response to the needs of the teachers and the demands of the subject area. The work of each team has had significant impact on both teachers'professional development and student achievement.

In Primary Language Arts professional development moved from a traditional approach with the university partner giving workshops on alternative assessment to a more collegial effort in which teachers,with support from the university partner, became resources for each other. The team developed two structures for collaborative professional development--the Breakfast Club and the Teacher Leadership Project.

As a result, teachers restructured the primary reading program, based on local assessments and their investigation of direct instruction.

In Math RU professors began their work by observing classes and diagnosing math students' strengths and weaknesses. Based on this assessment they suggested schoolwide changes to improve math instruction. Through an on-site math methods course tailored to local needs, they helped teachers develop more advanced math skills and increase their facility and comfort using math manipulatives. In the last year of the project upper grades teachers and students published a math magazine for parents. Everyone's hard work paid off--standardized test scores in math increased for two consecutive years!

The already existing Middle School team was added to CLC during the third year of the project, further strengthening the existing relationship between McCosh and Roosevelt. McCosh middle school teachers had been taking endorsement courses through RU as part of the Right Foot Project involving RU and Hyde Park High School. Adding CLC to the mix provided more resources and support to the middle school effort. The team implemented a student advisory program and upgraded their own skills through university courses and professional conferences.

George Olson, former Dean of the RU College of Education and McCosh Principal Barbara Eason-Watkins

In Primary Language Arts professional development moved from a traditional approach with the university partner giving workshops on alternative assessment to a more collegial effort in which teachers,with support from the university partner, became resources for each other. The team developed two structures for collaborative professional development--the Breakfast Club and the Teacher Leadership Project. As a result, teachers restructured the primary reading program, based on local assessments and their investigation of direct instruction.
	In Math RU professors began their work by observing classes and diagnosing math students' strengths and weaknesses. Based on this assessment they suggested schoolwide changes to improve math instruction. Through an on-site math methods course tailored to local needs, they helped teachers develop more advanced math skills and increase their facility and comfort using math manipulatives. In the last year of the project upper grades teachers and students published a math magazine for parents. Everyone's hard work paid off--standardized test scores in math increased for two consecutive years!
The already existing Middle School team was added to CLC during the third year of the project, further strengthening the existing relationship between McCosh and Roosevelt. McCosh middle school teachers had been taking endorsement courses through RU as part of the Right Foot Project involving RU and Hyde Park High School. Adding CLC to the mix provided more resources and support to the middle school effort. The team implemented a student advisory program and upgraded their own skills through university courses and professional conferences.
	George Olson, former Dean of the RU College of Education and McCosh Principal Barbara Eason-Watkins