Dear Friends and Colleagues:
We hope that you and your families are feeling well and staying safe during this uncertain time. Like many of you, we are working from home, social distancing, and trying to help our neighbors on the South Side and throughout Chicago to meet their basic needs.
The Consortium is working with our funders and partners to continue our research as much as possible. At the same time, field work, data collection, and public release of publications has been halted while educators in the Chicago Public Schools, and school districts across the country, focus on immediate and critical priorities in response to the current epidemic.
We are always in awe of the educators, administrators, staff, and leadership of Chicago Public Schools. But never more so than now, as they virtually mobilize beyond the boundaries of the school building to keep thousands of students safe, fed, and engaged in learning.
Part of the Consortium’s mission is to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters most for student success. This current crisis raises questions about what does matter most for student success when their families are facing extreme hardships; about the need to understand the systems that have put families in such precarious situations that one of the biggest concerns with closing schools across this country has been food; and about how we move forward together in the service of equity for all our students.
We look forward to the time when we can gather together in person again as a community to work on these important issues. Until that time, please stay safe and healthy!