COVID-19 created a once-a-century public health crisis that, in turn, created a once-a-century public education crisis. A total of 50 million students nationwide lost the learning equivalent of a half a year of school. The learning losses were even larger—sometimes much larger—among the nation’s most socially and economically disadvantaged children, particularly in low-income communities of color. 

In today’s competitive college admissions landscape, gaining an acceptance to a top-tier college requires more than stellar grades and impressive extracurriculars. It's about the delicate balance between academics, extracurricular activities, and personal development. At the heart of this balancing act lies executive function — the cognitive processes that allow students to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully...

The final, definitive version of this article has been published in Phi Delta Kappan, 105(6), March 2024 by Phi Delta Kappa International. All rights reserved. © 2024

This two-phase study, co-led by the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Center (IWERC), will first investigate the range of Career and Technical Education Pathways and work-based learning opportunities for middle grades and high school students in CPS. This exploratory work will then inform the focus and design of the second phase, a rigorous causal study.

Meril is a Senior Research Analyst at the UChicago Consortium. Previously, she served as the Robert Curvin Postdoctoral Associate at the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark, where she contributed to freshman on-track projects as part of a research practice partnership with Newark Public Schools. Her research focuses on school organizations, with interests in exploring teacher mindsets, enhancing parent-school relationships, and utilizing use of research evidence to improve student outcomes.

Brenda Macias (she/her) is a Research Analyst II with the UChicago Consortium and To&Through Project. In this role, she supports data and analytics projects and manages data tools. Having attended CPS schools from pre-K through twelfth grade, Brenda has seen firsthand the impact of a strong school community. This experience drives her dedication to creating accessible data tools and analyses for youth, parents, educators, and community members. She aims to empower them to make informed decisions that best support their schools.

Chicago Public Schools officials finalized a new security plan Thursday, officially eliminating police officers from school buildings while focusing instead on holistic discipline and safety strategies. 

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a new whole school safety plan, which brings to an end the use of school resource officers (SROs) inside district buildings following a yearslong review of CPS safety protocols and procedures...

Over the last few years, a marked transformation has occurred in education. Long-standing research on how to best teach children to read was acknowledged. School districts around the country embraced the "science of reading" – an interdisciplinary body of knowledge about reading and writing. Thankfully, our local districts have begun to make this long-overdue change. Springfield District 186, for example, will roll out a new K-8 classroom literacy curriculum plus an evidence-based intervention curriculum. The future of literacy looks bright. 

Understanding student discipline and suspensions data and research can empower parents to help their children and school communities flourish. 

This playbook summarizes research and data that shows suspensions negatively affect all students; some students are suspended more than others; the positive effects of restorative justice; and more. It also includes actions parents can take to learn more about their child’s school’s approach to school discipline and school climate. 

Arrests were two times greater in schools with a regular police presence than at similar campuses without one and race, gender and disability were huge factors in which students were detained, according to a new government watchdog report. 

The Government Accountability Office report found that when “race, gender and disability statuses overlap” — a concept often known as intersectionality — students “can experience even greater adverse consequences.”