Extra Curricular Activities

Issues in Illinois Public Schools

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

What is Extra Curricular Activities?

Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education.

Debate clubs Sports Newspaper

What is Co –Curricular Activities?

Co-Curricular are activities that happens within the during normal class time.

Band Choir Drama Art Computers (Technology)

PURPOSE

Extracurricular activities are an intricate part of education.

Improves school’s performance Reduce grade retention Increase student attendance Interest in school Emotional Growth

BENEFITS Explore physical activities Social Political Interest Career Interest Students are more engaged in the

classroom Positive Support among peers and adult

staff

Issues of Extra Curricular Activities

Budget Faculty (Staffing)

Seek Volunteers or Local Colleges and Universities

Class Time Planning Evaluation

Issues in Illinois Public School

High School Reform

Home Schooling Issues and Extra Curricular Activities

High School Reform Issues Achievement is too low

Making schools more accountable NCLB Government-driven, top-down

High School is a bore Prevent drop outs Maximize completions by making the high school

experience more appealing Allow students to move at their own pace Recovery programs for drop outs

High School Reform II One size does not fit all

Devise new institutional forms Using current technology Smaller Schools Give students a choice:

high-tech schools, virtual high schools, charter schools, KIPP Courses are too easy and pointless

Broaden access to Advanced Placement courses Strengthen state standards Revise textbooks Blend higher education’s expectations with modern jobs

Status of Reform in Illinois Governor Blagojevich signed legislation to

strengthen Illinois high schools by increasing class requirement for graduation

SB575, Higher Standards, Better Schools plan and budget More foreign languages, arts, and music Training opportunities for career-track students Advanced Placement classes

Status of Reform Illinois Juniors take the PSAE ISBE (Illinois State Board of Education) adopted

rules that outline the standards for Illinois teacher to become “highly qualified”

CCSSO a five year collaborative project to identify best practices that transform promising schools to great high schools (funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation)

Project Lead the Way (PLTW): technology

Illinois Public School of Choice Provides option for students in schools that have

not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)

Gives students in schools identified in school improvement the opportunity to attend a public school that has made AYP in the same district NCLB Component

Homeschooling and The Law Compulsory attendance law

New England colonies (17th Cent.) Requires public or approved non-public school attendance for children

ranging from ages five to sixteen in the area of education and public schooling (Gordon, Russo, &Miles, 1994)

Parental failure to comply with the law can result in criminal penalties

Common School Movement Jorgenson (1987) defines as “a series of state movements occurring

roughly during the period 1830-1860” Government-differentiate

Public Non-public

Landmark Decision I Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)

The Supreme Court clearly established that compulsory attendance laws had to accommodate both public and non public schooling

Require all school aged children to attend only public school 14th Amendment

The statute infringed upon the rights of parents to choose schools where their children received both an appropriate education and religious training

Court confirmed the right of individuals to establish and maintain both private non-sectarian and private religious schools, and the right of the state to require attendance at a school did not include the include the right to preclude attendance at non public schools

Landmark Decision II Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

State control over education The court recognized the rights of devout Amish parents

not to send their children to school after the 8th Grade Parents were able to demonstrate that secondary schools

were in direct conflict with Amish beliefs in “cooperation, piety, and simple, agrarian life style”

The court reaffirming the State’s responsibility for the education of its citizens, but used the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment rather than the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

Landmark Decision III Johnson v. Board of Education (1983)

Refused an Amish Exception to Baptist who wished to educate their children in their own schools staffed by non certified teachers

Baptist ministers argued that since they were fundamentalists similar to the Amish

Refused to grant them the same exemption would be denial of equal protection

The Eighth Circuit rejected their argument holding that, unlike the Amish, these Baptist children lived in ordinary residential neighborhoods interacting with others not of their faith (Gordon, Russo, & Miles, 1994)

Landmark Decision IV People v. Levinson (1950)

Illinois defining case for homeschoolers More liberal position on the spectrum of academic equivalence Parents of a seven year old girl were convicted of violating the

state’s compulsory attendance law Levinson appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court

Evidence indicated that the mother had been teaching her daughter at home for five hours a day and the child had demonstrated “proficiency comparable with average third-grad students”

The mother is the best teacher The education in competition with other students produces a

pugnacious character The Court did not believe that the home school parents had

violated the compulsory attendance law

Illinois Homeschooling Change Individual home schools may operate as private

or church schools Section 26-1 of the Illinois School code

If a child is “attending a private or parochial school where children are taught the branches of education taught to children of corresponding age and grade in public school

and where instruction is in the English language, the child is in compliance with Illinois compulsory attendance law.

Home School and Extra Curriculum Activities in Illinois Home school and Sports Participation

Home school enjoys the same status as the public school system

Not all Illinois schools allow home schools to participate in extra curriculum activities

Home school are entitled to participate in any “for credit” class that is offered by the public school

The state’s interest in ensuring that all children have an access to an education

Homeschoolers and SportsIllinois High School Association (IHSA)

Interscholastic high school sports are guided by the IHSA, which is an organization independent of the public

schools with its own rules Any school, public or private may belong

May form its own teams to play in the IHSA league (Home schools usually join with neighborhood team or other home schools

Home Schooling Can not participate science fair Can participate in interscholastic high

school athletics Parents must make a request to the Chief

Education Officer Must meet the requirements determined

pursuant to the by laws of Illinois High School Athletic Association and the Chicago Public High School Athletic Association

REFERENCEShttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracurricular_activities

Finn,C. E.,(2006). Things are Falling Apart, Education Next, pp. 1-2, Winter 2006

Smith, B.,(1998). It’s About Time: Opportunities to Learn in Chicago’s Elementary Schools, Consortium on Chicago School Research, December 1998

http://wwww.illinoishouse.org/a09.htm

Buser, R.L. & Humm.W.L. (1980). Special Report on Cocurricular Offerings and Participation, Springfield, 111.:Illinois State Board of Education, 1980.

http://www.cps.k12.il.us/About CPS/PressRelease/Septemer 2005/hs plan.htm

http://www.smallschool.cps.k12.il.us/grants/html

REFERENCES CONTINUE Lett, D. (1999). Home Schooling and the request

for access to public school extracurricular activities: A Legal and Policy Study of Illinois (ED 450470).

Gordon, W.M., Russo, C.J., &Miles, A.S. (1994). The law of home schooling. Monograph of the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education.