These documents are essential to your successful administration of your CDL debate program.
Student Rosters — District and Charter Schools
Knowing officially which students are participating in the Chicago Debate League, and how many hours they are being taught or supervised by teachers, is a bedrock requirement of all schools, according to both CPS and the CDC. Both partners are committed to using the Cityspan database for this purpose, since it is (a) required by the city of Chicago of all youth development service-providers, and (b) connected to a larger CPS student database, which includes data might be useful in demonstrating the positive outcomes produced by competitive academic debating.
All district and charter schools in the CDL must enter their student rosters in Cityspan. Each school defines what constitutes involvement in its debate program, but all tournament participants must be included. District and charter schools must also enter data on their weekly debate meeting attendance, and their tournament participation, in Cityspan, on a weekly basis. Schools must be current in Cityspan in order to (a) receive coach stipends (for district schools), and (b) be eligible to receive CDC coach incentive and coach compensation payments (for district and charter schools).
Cityspan is easy to use. Please follow the directions laid out in this Cityspan Orientation so that you can (a) enroll your participating students, (b) add your debate meeting days/times, (c) add your tournament dates, and (d) track the attendance at your meetings and tournaments. Coaches need to enter “debate tournaments” as a separate Cityspan activity from “debate practices.”
Two Frequently Asked Questions documents should help you address any challenges you face:
Cityspan FAQ — District High Schools
Cityspan FAQ — Charter High Schools
Still have a challenge, and would like to talk with a helpful person? The CPS Office of Pathways to College and Career’s Christine Koh is a Cityspan expert — cekoh1@cps.edu, 773-553-5152.
Student Rosters and Meeting Attendance — Guest Schools
Guest schools are required to use the Guest School Student Roster and Meeting Attendance Template to submit their official debate student roster and tracked meeting attendance. Be sure to download the document so that you can complete it by clicking the downward-pointed arrow in the lower-right corner of the page that appears after you click the link. Note that the meeting attendance section stops in mid-October — you’ll need to fill in the remaining weeks. If a student attends a portion of the meeting time in a given week, indicate that in the appropriate cell. We will be asking guest schools when their regular weekly meeting times are.
Guest schools are required to submit their Student Roster and Meeting Attendance Form, including meeting attendance tracking that is updated and current, by November 9th. Thereafter, guest schools will only be eligible to compete at tournaments, and receive CDC coach incentives and compensation, if they have submitted an updated student Student Roster and Attendance Form.
Submit the Student Roster and Meeting Attendance Forms to christinehorst@chicagodebateleague.org.
Coach Stipend Allocation System — District Schools
The SY2013 Coach Stipend Allocation System explains the amounts and timing of coach stipend loading into payroll for district high school coaches.
SY2013 CDL Guidelines and Policies
The 2012/13 CDL Guidelines and Policies lay out the league-specific rules in the CDL, guided in their creation by coach determination and decision-making, and reviewed and modified by the CDL Coaches Council.
Squad Objective and Squad Guidelines
Successful CDL debate squads often establish Squad Objectives, to help plan, guide, and measure their success. We strongly encourage you to adapt this template, creating your own squad objectives. Many utilize and establish their own full set of Squad Guidelines.
Coach Tax Information Form
All CDL coaches — district, charter, guest school — are required to submit a Tax Information Form to the Chicago Debate Commission each season in order to receive coach incentive payments. Please download the document, complete it, and return it to CDC Accounts Manager Donna Montgomery — donnamontgomery@chicagodebateleague.org — so that you become eligible to receive CDC incentives and compensation.
Get the Chicago Debate Chronicle e-newsletter
