Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) mission is to provide high-quality education for every student, regardless of their zip code, that prepares them for college success. Yet it’s been difficult to determine the extent to which a CPS student’s zip code might still matter in whether they graduate from high school and college.

At one Chicago elementary school, educators were so concerned about some students’ lackluster attendance they created a hall of fame — a bulletin board in the main hallway recognizing students who made the most gains in showing up to school.

High school EL students graduate at far lower rates th

Students in CPS, and in many other districts, take a v

This study examines

In collaboration with Steve Rivkin at t

Key Findings

• Most teachers customized category titles.
• Most teachers used two or three grading category families.
• In sections that used mastery-based and weekly category families, almost of all the final grade was determined by those category families.