Chicago Public Schools' three-pronged theory of change

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 5 claims (5 against) · 2 studies (1 associational, 1 design), q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description

A Chicago Public Schools reform framework linking improved classroom instruction, school-level leadership, and differentiated district support to instructional improvement and student learning.

Components

• Chicago's three-pronged theory of change: classroom instruction, schools as the unit of change, and differentiated district support: The district's reform strategy rests on a three-tenet theory of change. The first tenet holds that "improved student learning requires improved instruction" at the classroom level. The second recognizes that "schools are the unit of change for instructional improvement and principals are the leaders of that change." The third holds that area and central offices provide critical support for instructional improvement and differentiate that support based on school performance and need. CPS operationalized this theory through a portfolio approach offering a menu of 144 high schools with different features and programs, plus varying levels of autonomy and support by school performance and capacit (Daniel C. Humphrey (2009))

Claims

• IDS schools showed no differences in EXPLORE-to-PLAN test score growth compared with the rest of the CPS system [-W]
• Across 78 observed classrooms, 46% of teacher ratings were at the unsatisfactory or basic level, with AMPS teachers earning generally higher ratings than IDS and Renaissance 2010 teachers [-W]
• Renaissance 2010 high schools showed a similar pattern of failing to meet EXPLORE-to-PLAN growth expectations [-W]
• Most IDS and Renaissance 2010 teachers fell below proficient on communication skills, and a majority of teachers including AMPS teachers ranked basic or unsatisfactory on quality of questions [-W]
• Chicago school organizational supports (leadership, professional capacity, parent involvement) improved across eras, but instructional quality did not, and student-reported teacher support declined after 2005 [-W]

Related Products and Programmes

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Key Sources

• Daniel C. Humphrey, Patrick M. Shields. (2009). High School Reform in Chicago Public Schools: An Overview. SRI International / Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=High+School+Reform+in+Chicago+Public+Schools+An+Overview

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	chicago-public-schools-three-pronged-theory-of-change
title	Chicago Public Schools' three-pronged theory of change
description	A Chicago Public Schools reform framework linking improved classroom instruction, school-level leadership, and differentiated district support to instructional improvement and student learning.
status	review
moved_from	theory/chicago-three-pronged-theory-of-change
product_kind	framework
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — daniel-c-humphrey-2009

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