After 18 months of virtual learning, Terrence Smith returned to Chicago’s Austin College and Career Academy last year — and was struck by how empty the four-story building felt.

The West Side school lost more than a third of its student body during the pandemic, shrinking to fewer than 160 students, in a campus meant to serve almost 1,900...

Anyone who knows me or has ever heard me speak knows that one of my all-time favorite infographics is the Foundations of Young Adult Success two pager that accompanies the full 2015 report prepared by the UChicago Consortium on School Research.

Chicago students got more failing and incomplete grades during the pandemic, though that increase was much steeper at elementary schools than high schools, a new report out today finds.

But researchers with the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research say COVID-era grading data also offers some bright spots — and clues about how to steer recovery dollars to the schools that need them the most...

The titles of J.S. Puller’s first two books intrigued me so much that I immediately checked them out of the library.

It turns out The Lost Things Club is about a young boy who has stopped talking. His family, cousin, and friends are beside themselves. What will help TJ? Surprisingly, a laundromat, the things that are lost in said laundromat, and inventive friends who create a puppet video series about “The Land of Lost Things.” It’s a book based on today’s headlines, offering comfort and hope...

Chen An is the Managing Director of Statistics and Analysis at the UChicago Consortium on School Research. She provides research and technical support to projects and facilitates the research findings review process. She believes in the power of using rigorous research to drive key decision-making in education to ensure that every student thrives.

Karina Kling is a PhD student and Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Fellow in the Department of Psychology working with Susan Levine in the Cognitive Development Lab. Her research interests occupy the intersection between math, psychology, and education, specifically centered upon student learning processes and instructional strategies; with focused investigations that study the acquisition of specific mathematical concepts combined with contextualization of the learning environment, her research aims to inform practical, equitable, and effective education practices.

Yunzhen (Amy) Liang is a doctoral student in the Quantitative Methods program in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.

Key Findings

• High school students earned more As (by 8-10 percentage points) during remote and hybrid learning than in pre-pandemic years.
• Most of the improvement was among students who had been earning Bs before the pandemic started.
• Failure rates were fairly comparable to pre-pandemic years.,
• More students in grades 4-8 failed classes than pre-pandemic (21 percent in 2021 vs.