Haney came from a school district with an enrollment of 2,938, a student body that is 89% black and with 79% coming from low-income families. Nearly one-fifth of students in SD227 had an individual education plan, according to Illinois State Board of Education data. Of the approximately 216 teachers that had been employed there in the 2019 school year, 57% were white and 37% were Black.

With racial disparity at the front of the nation's consciousness, Lincolnshire's Stevenson High School has hired a director of equity, diversity and inclusion. Veteran Chicago-area educator LeViis Haney will be an advocate for students from diverse backgrounds, and he'll suggest policy changes to promote diversity and inclusion, officials said. Haney also will work with the administration to recruit, hire, and mentor faculty members who aren't white. "Dr. Haney will be instrumental in helping

During a special board meeting Monday, Aug. 3, Stevenson High School board members approved the hiring of LeVis Haney to serve as the director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Division at the Lincolnshire school. Haney will work alongside other administrators to make important decisions related to revisions of school policy and procedures. He will also advocate for students from diverse backgrounds, and collaborate with administration to recruit,

Matt and Courtney continue their interview series with Dr. LeViis Haney, principal of the Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, Illinois. Dr. Haney talks about a bit of his history, why he came to the Joseph Sears School, why the school realized a personalized learning vision is necessary for a school that has been open since 1899. Follow the Joseph Sears School at @SearsSchool on Twitter, and visit their website at https://www.kenilworth38.org/. Dr. Haney gives us his biggest do-do at the end!

Future generations must be equipped to tackle the challenges of tomorrow’s global economy. Ensuring their success is no simple task. And while there are many factors that contribute to childhood success in schools, the impact principals make on students’ lives continue to affect them into early adulthood. In Chicago, this impact is undeniable. In fact, research on Chicago schools tells us that elementary schools with strong leaders are seven times more likely to improve in reading scores and fo

CHICAGO, Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A new analysis released today by LEAP Innovations, a national organization that works with educators to develop, pilot, and scale personalized learning practices, finds that after small upfront costs, personalized learning whole-school models can be financially sustainable innovations that enable learning experiences tailored to a students' specific needs and strengths. The study, conducted by education finance consulting firm Afton Partners, examined six

“If I were to summarize Lovett before, the word I would use is compliance. Kids were required to come in and get ready to receive instruction. Now they have an understanding of their own goals. The “why” comes from the students, and they know what they have to do to achieve those goals.”

How personalization can change teaching and learning Chicago’s Lovett Elementary School teems with energy. On any day, you might catch a presentation called “Real Men Read” or celebrate with the Principal Scholars, students who have earned all A’s in key subjects. Too bad you’ve already missed the Library Makeover Event, at which Lovett’s principal, LeViis Haney, actually built some of the shelves. “They’re a great school,” says Phyllis Lockett, executive director of LEAP Innovations, one of M

Heather Anichini, Kassie Davis, Dr. LeViis Haney, Dr. Janice K. Jackson and Anne Wicks during the Chicago’s Principal Priority — Leading our Nation panel at the City Club of Chicago, October 23, 2017 (City Club of Chicago) This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Heather Y. Anichini is President and CEO of The Chicago Public Education Fund (The Fund), a nonprofit working to more t

As a youngster, LeViis Haney wasn’t the greatest student. In a recent blog for Education Week, he shares his struggle to stay motivated. But thanks to many great teachers who gave him the room to take an active role in his own learning, he chose to enter education, become a school principal and earn a Ph.D. Today, Haney is paying it forward by leading his school, Lovett Elementary on Chicago’s far West Side, into the world of personalized learning. In his second year as Lovett’s principal, he a

I chose a career in education because I wanted to make school a place where students wanted to be. As a student, the traditional educational structures did not work well for me - I was not a motivated learner. But, I grew to love learning due to the many teachers who shaped my classroom experiences in a way that allowed me to play an active role in my own learning process. My experience growing up attending Chicago Public Schools gives me a unique perspective as both a teacher and now as a principal

This is the third post in a series covering my recent trip to Chicago. Begin with CBE in Chicago. During my visit to Chicago, I joined a tour hosted by LEAP to Lovett Elementary School. It was a group tour, so I didn’t have the opportunity to dig in as deeply as I do with other school visits. Lovett is starting with personalized learning as their entry point. They have some of the things one would expect to see in a competency-based school but not all. These are just a few highlights: Lovett

Powerful things happen when learning is student-centered. At Joseph Lovett Elementary School in Chicago, administrators have been working hard to create an engaging learning environment for students. As part of LEAP Innovation’s Pilot Network, Lovett Elementary has adopted a student-centered framework that empowers students to take ownership over their learning, and provides teachers with the resources to meet students’ individual needs. LEAP’s approach focuses on building capacity, piloting ne

Transforming from a one-size-fits-all education system to one that is tailored to the needs and skills of individual learners requires planning, collaboration and professional development support. Participants in the nationally-recognized LEAP Innovations Pilot Network program will offer the educator’s perspective of the journey through implementing and evaluating personalized learning strategies in this session. Led by Amy Huang, LEAP’s Senior Director of Programs, Dr. LeViis Haney, principal of Joseph Lovett Elementary and Ms. Anglense Jones, a teacher at Wendell Smith Elementary will give participants tangible examples of classroom redesign along with the challenges and rewards it represents.

When LeViis Haney took over as principal of Joseph Lovett Elementary School on Chicago’s west side about four years ago, the student failure rate was relatively high, discipline infractions were numerous, and a chief complaint of teachers was that students constantly interrupted class. About two years ago, Haney and his team connected with LEAP Innovations, a Chicago-based, national nonprofit focused on personalized learning. The school team decided kids were acting out because they weren’t eng

A broke Chicago Public Schools touted Wednesday that it will hold per-pupil funding to the same levels as the end of last year, plans no teacher layoffs, and will present a balanced budget in August without borrowing. That’s decently good news from the district that threatened a few weeks ago it might not open at all in September. But with a $300 million gap remaining, it also all hinges on risky assumptions that officials will finally ink a cost-savings deal with the Chicago Teachers Union and

Chicago school principals finally found out on Wednesday how much they have to spend next year and, while it wasn’t the doomsday once threatened, the news was not great. The schools are getting about 7 percent less per student than they got last September, with the average per pupil stipend now $4,087, down from $4,390. In 2013-2014 school year--the first year CPS budgeted per student--schools were funded at a higher level. But CPS CEO Forrest Claypool made an effort to paint the budgets a

Just weeks after warning that a billion dollar budget deficit could prevent schools from opening this fall, the head of Chicago Public Schools says the financial picture is now much better. CPS CEO Forrest Claypool delivered that message Wednesday to hundreds of school principals. "So first of all, phew! We were definitely nervous,” said Lovett School principal Leviis Haney. "I'm very relieved that we are able to protect our core instructional programs." "Hallelujua, right? That's the best ne

Some Chicago Public Schools principals are optimistic about their funding for the coming school year now that they've seen draft budgets from the district. Many principals report it's not as bad as was feared a couple of months ago, when district officials warned schools might not open on time – or they'd face cuts as deep as 20 to 30 percent. Now that the state of Illinois has passed a stopgap budget providing more than $600 million in funding for the cash-strapped district, officials release