Chicago Public Schools improved dramatically between 1987 and 2017, with the biggest gains among students of color and low-income students¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2027: local conditions change quickly

Subclaims¶

q2 i? By 2017, elementary students gained 1.2 years of learning per year of instruction, graduation rates rose from 50% to 80%, and students of color and low-income students made the biggest gains. → Sharon Greenberg & Anthony S. Bryk 2024

Evidence¶

Sharon Greenberg & Anthony S. Bryk 2024¶

Sharon Greenberg & Anthony S. Bryk. (2024). Change that matters: Progress made by Chicago Public Schools shows that successful change takes time, focus, and patience. Kappan, V105 N6. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/change-that-matters

q2 · i? · review · r2

The article reports district-level outcomes documented in the authors' 2023 history of Chicago school reform, citing research that in 2017 found the district among the nation's most improved, with "Graduation rates had climbed from 50% to 80%".

"Elementary students were gaining 1.2 years of learning for each year of instruction. English learners were making rapid progress. Graduation rates had climbed from 50% to 80%, even as academic requirements became more rigorous. Students of color and those from low-income families made the biggest gains."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Chicago's Algebra Initiative raised the 8th-grade algebra pass rate from 4% in 2002 to about 20% by 2017 and closed two-thirds of the NAEP gap — related
• The study examines charter high school effects on educational attainment in two settings, Florida and Chicago — related
• Double-dose algebra was discontinued before its benefits were documented, though subsequent research found long-term benefits — related
• Over two decades, Chicago teachers reported increasing program coherence and higher trust in their principals — related
• Chicago's public school system moved from among the most troubled in America in 1987 to among the most improved thirty years later — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Intellectually Challenging Assignments Remain Variable and Not Widespread in Chicago Elementary Schools — related
• Chicago high school graduation rates improved dramatically over 20 years without a decline in average high school academic performance — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• On the current path the U.S. will miss its 2020 graduation rate target by 310,000 students, most from low-income families — related
• In the decade or so to 2017, Chicago Public Schools saw large rises in freshman on-track rates (2006 to 2017), graduation, and college enrollment, with the greatest on-track increases among Black and Latino males — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• CPS Freshman OnTrack rates rose 24 percentage points, from 64 percent for the Class of 2006 to 88 percent for the Class of 2019 — related