Two weeks ago, when I wrote about the proliferation of 50 percent grading floors in K-12 schools, I was shocked that there wasn’t more evidence available to have informed such a systemic change in the first place. The teachers I spoke to for that newsletter felt that this kind of policy — which prevents them from giving students zeros, including, in some cases, when they’ve skipped an assignment — coupled with policies that don’t allow them to factor attendance into grading, left them with few options for holding students accountable.

Public schools continue to face challenges stemming from the pandemic. Many schools opened in fall with teacher vacancies and students performing below grade level. To support school districts’ efforts in learning recovery, faculty members in the UNC School of Education are leading an effort to connect K-12 and higher education leaders and educators, university-based faculty and researchers, and state policymakers.

Caroline Kelly is an Affiliated Researcher at the UChicago Consortium and a PhD Student at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. She is also an Institute of Education Sciences fellow at the University of Chicago. Caroline's research centers on the implementation of Medicaid policy in schools and school-based mental health services. Caroline is a social worker with experience working in Chicago, Detroit, and Bay Area schools.

A rising share of Chicago Public Schools students enrolled in college in recent years, and far more are earning degrees or certificates at two-year colleges.

That’s according to a study released Thursday by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research and the To & Through Project, which tracks college enrollment. Additionally, the study found that more Chicago students than ever are projected to pursue and complete college over the next decade...

Economic forecasts prior to the COVID-19 pandemic predicted that 7 out of 10 jobs would require some form of postsecondary education by 2030. While it is still too early to precisely predict what will happen in the short-term U.S. economy, evidence suggests that the combination of technology and economic forces will favor upskilling in the U.S. workforce.

The evidence was clear: enrollment in full-day preschool had long-lasting benefits for students, especially students who started off the farthest behind. Beginning in 2013, Chicago Public Schools officials invested in new policies and programs that resulted in quadrupling full-day programs, most notably on the West and South Sides of Chicago in primarily Black neighborhoods with the lowest income levels. Full-day preschool enrollment became more equitable, and preschool daily attendance rates rose to their highest levels ever.

Key Findings

• The 2022 CPS high school graduation rate has surpassed pre-pandemic measures after a decline in 2021--reaching its highest rate ever.
  • Among first-time ninth-graders, the high school graduation rate was 84.0% in 2022 vs.

Key Findings

• All parents in our sample had visions for what an ideal learning environment would look like for their child: a school that was safe and supportive, with a strong academic environment which provided their children with the supports and services they needed within an inclusive climate.
• Yet many parents of students with IEPs did not have viable options to engage in school choice. This was partly because:
  • Many parents perceived the short list of school options they received from school- or district-based officials

Enrollment in Chicago Public Schools is flat for the first time in more than a decade, according to preliminary data obtained by Chalkbeat.

New preliminary numbers for this school year show just over 322,500 students are registered at CPS schools. The data represents enrollment as of the end of the day Monday, the 20th day of the school year, when the district traditionally takes its official count. On the 20th day of last school year, 322,106 students were enrolled according to official data...