Most Chicago freshmen fail at least one course, miss substantial school, or earn below a C average in their first year¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? More than half of Chicago freshmen fail a course, about 40 percent miss more than a month of school in the first year, and the average GPA is lower than a C. → Freshman Year: The Make-it or Break-it Year 2007

Evidence¶

Freshman Year: The Make-it or Break-it Year 2007¶

Freshman Year: The Make-it or Break-it Year. (2007). Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. http://ccsr.uchicago.edu

q2 · i? · associational · r?

Descriptive statistics in the brief state that "More than half of Chicago freshmen fail a course," that about 40 percent miss more than a month of school in the first year including class cutting, and that the average GPA is lower than a C. These are descriptive rates, not tested comparisons.

"More than half of Chicago freshmen fail a course."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• CHSRI freshmen earned slightly higher core GPAs than similar students, though averages remained below a C — related
• Ninth-grade GPAs varied substantially by gender, race/ethnicity, neighborhood SES, incoming test scores, course level, and school — related
• Freshmen who miss more than two weeks of school per semester fail at least two classes on average, regardless of incoming test scores — related
• More than 95 percent of Chicago freshmen with a B average or better graduate within four years — related
• Students earned higher average grades in CS courses than in core courses, with few failing CS — related
• Freshman attendance below 85 percent predicts non-graduation even among students with similar grades — related
• Student performance declines from freshman to sophomore year, with course failures rising in every subject and attendance declining sharply — related
• Within every student category, freshman GPA, course failures, and absences are strongly related to five-year graduation rates, with large drops per half grade point, per additional course failure, and per absence band — related
• Freshman failures clustered in math more than English, and many students failed both core subjects — related
• Academic Support students, who attended regularly but earned below a 3.0 GPA, made up nearly 40 percent of students and saw academic struggles persist beyond the middle grades — related
• Despite large increases in course-taking, the science requirement produced little evidence of additional science learning, as most graduates earned Cs or lower — related
• Freshman-year performance of Chicago ninth-graders falls into three tiers, with students two or more years below grade level and students with emotional disturbances performing worst across GPA, course failures, absences, and on-track status — related
• CHSRI freshmen were absent about 10 fewer days per year than similar students at similar non-CHSRI schools, a statistically significant gap in every year studied — related
• Nearly 90 percent of Chicago freshmen who miss less than a week of school per semester graduate, regardless of 8th grade test scores — related
• By spring of ninth grade, 64 percent of CPS ninth graders missed two or more weeks of instruction in at least one major subject — related