North Lawndale Cluster Initiative (NLCI)¶
Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 9 claims (3 for, 3 mixed, 3 against) · 2 studies (2 causal),q2· 0 of 2 report an effect size · 9 claims rest on one study
Description¶
AUSL's foundation-funded initiative coordinated schools, pre-k, professional development, mentoring, social-emotional supports, transition services, and college counseling across a North Lawndale school cluster from 2013–14 through 2018–19.
Components¶
Claims¶
- Elementary attendance and school climate improved over time at NLCI schools but not significantly more than at comparison schools [~W]
- Eighth-grade graduates fared better in the transition to high school over time, but Freshman OnTrack rates were not consistently higher than at similar schools [~W]
- Full-day pre-k funding significantly raised pre-k attendance at NLCI elementary schools relative to matched comparison schools [+W]
- NLCI high school outcomes were lower than those of similar students at other CPS schools for most years of the initiative [-W]
- High student mobility limited the vertical-integration strategy: only about one-third of the 2014-15 NLCI pre-k cohort remained at NLCI schools by second grade [-W]
- Test scores in grades 2-8 at NLCI schools improved at rates similar to the district, so gains cannot be attributed to the initiative [-W]
- Four schools that converted half-day pre-k to full-day showed attendance about 4 percentage points higher than propensity-weighted comparison schools after expansion [+W]
- In the first year of NLCI expansion, the attendance advantage over similar schools (3.8 percentage points) was not statistically significant [~W]
- Students in full-day pre-k programs had significantly higher attendance rates than students in half-day programs across all study years [+W]
Related Products and Programmes¶
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Key Sources¶
- Elaine M. Allensworth and Andrew Zou. (2020). Supporting Neighborhood Schools from Pre-K through High School: Successes and Challenges of the North Lawndale Cluster Initiative. UChicago Consortium Research Report. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/supporting-neighborhood-schools-from-pre-k-through-high-school
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
product |
id |
north-lawndale-cluster-initiative-nlci |
title |
North Lawndale Cluster Initiative (NLCI) |
description |
AUSL's foundation-funded initiative coordinated schools, pre-k, professional development, mentoring, social-emotional supports, transition services, and college counseling across a North Lawndale school cluster from 2013–14 through 2018–19. |
status |
review |
moved_from |
element/nlci-vertical-integration-cluster-initiative |
product_kind |
programme |
generated |
by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — elaine-m-allensworth-and-andrew-zou-2020 |
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