Ninth-grade enrollment overall and by school type and accountability rating stayed relatively stable after GoCPS implementation¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2019 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: local conditions change quickly

Subclaims¶

q2 i? First-time ninth-grade enrollment between fall 2017 and fall 2018 was relatively stable overall, by school type, and by accountability rating, and 80 percent of students who accepted an offer enrolled at that school. → Barrow 2019

Evidence¶

Barrow 2019¶

Barrow, L., & Sartain, L. (2019). GoCPS: A first look at ninth-grade applications, offers, and enrollment. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Comparison of CPS Masterfile enrollment data from fall 2017 and fall 2018. The report states neighborhood schools enrolled a similar number of ninth-graders, the share at highest-rated schools was unchanged, and most students who accepted an offer (80 percent) enrolled at the school where they accepted it.

"Overall first-time ninth-grade enrollment stayed relatively stable between fall 2017 (before GoCPS) and fall 2018 (after GoCPS)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Almost all CPS eighth-graders (92 percent) used the GoCPS platform to apply to high school in its first year — related
• Black students and students from the lowest-SES neighborhoods ranked more programs but were less likely to rank a high-accountability school first — related
• Program demand varied widely: 21 percent of programs had more than ten times as many applications as seats, led by arts, CTE, and SEHS programs — related
• CPS Freshman OnTrack rates rose 25 percentage points, from 64 percent in 2003 to 89 percent in 2017 — related
• Many applicants failed to complete post-application admission requirements, with Black and Latino students least likely to complete them — related
• Most GoCPS applicants received an offer from a preferred program: 51 percent from their top-ranked and 81 percent from a top-three ranked choice program — related
• Choice program demand varied widely: 19 percent of programs received more than 10 applications per seat while 8 percent received fewer applications than seats, with demand higher for Arts, CTE, points-based, and highly rated programs — related
• Students overwhelmingly relied on GoCPS, CPS, and school websites to learn about potential high schools, but found websites out of date and lacking student-voice information — related
• Enrollment policies forcing small schools to accept unassigned neighborhood students constrained the benefits of choice and pushed freshman enrollment above the 125-student cap — related
• Ninth-grade enrollment in school types differed by community-area racial/ethnic makeup: 22 of 30 majority-Black areas had at least 25 percent of ninth-graders in charter schools, and no majority-Latinx area had a quarter in selective enrollment — related
• Most GoCPS applicants received an offer from a program they ranked: 93 percent in round 1 (51 percent at their top choice) and 85 percent in round 2 (61 percent at their top choice) — related
• GoCPS did not produce major changes in enrollment patterns, and pre-existing racial/ethnic and income differences in enrolling in high-SQRP schools persisted — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)