After months of deliberation and negotiation with Congress, President Biden unveiled the Build Back Better Framework on October 28, 2021. This framework encapsulates tangible legislative actions to see through many of President Biden’s campaign promises, like the proposal to implement universal pre–K for all three-and four-year-olds. Previous research has found that universal access to pre–K has a positive impact on students’ academic performance and can also reap longer-term benefits to the U.S. economy.

In a few recent articles I focused on using maps and community area data to build an understanding of how much extra support youth in different areas need to move safely through high school, post high school education, then into jobs and careers...

Even as more Chicago students go to college, the neighborhood where they live — not just the high school they attend — has a major impact on whether they ultimately attain a degree. New research from the University of Chicago’s To&Through Project shows that community areas have a significant impact on educational attainment outcomes — findings that researchers say underscore the need for deeper investments in housing security, health care access, and transportation to address the barriers facing Chicago students...

As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. And given that children, by age 18, spend more than 13% of their waking hours in school — according to the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) — we as educators collectively recognize the important role we play in their growth and development, and we take that responsibility seriously.

Despite the pandemic’s disruption, Chicago high school students graduated at a record high rate for the second year in a row this past spring, with upticks for students of all races.

Overall, 83.8% of students graduated in five years in 2021, compared with a rate of 82.5% last year, the district said Thursday. That increase comes after a year of largely remote learning, marked by increases in failing grades and drops in attendance, especially for students of color...

As a Research Analyst at the UChicago Consortium, Ella cleans large-scale databases and conducts statistical analyses to help create and maintain resources that support students, teachers, and administrators in CPS. Prior to joining the UChicago Consortium, Ella worked as a Data Archive Research Assistant for the Committee on Education at the University of Chicago. She also previously worked as a lab assistant, behavioral science consultant, and barista. Ella is interested in integrating data-driven research with practice to effectively improve students' experiences.

May Malone is the Senior Public Engagement Strategist at the Urban Education Institute. In this role, May helps to expand awareness of and engagement with the research- and practice-based knowledge that UEI produces. May most recently worked as a Kimpton Fellow at the Urban Education Institute in the department of Stategic Communications and National Engagement. May is an award-winning filmmaker specializing in documentaries and short narratives.

When school buildings shuttered in March of last year and districts were scrambling to connect with students virtually, administrators in the Guilford County Schools in North Carolina started looking for tutors. 

Dominique “Dom” McKoy is the Executive Director of The University of Chicago To&Through Project, which strives to create equitable education outcomes for Chicago Public Schools students by helping educators use data for inquiry and impact. Through his work, Dom aims to ensure education and community leaders in positions to affect student outcomes from the middle grades through college have access to high-quality quantitative and qualitative data to better understand student experiences and to inform the development of responsive student supports.