Freshman OnTrack is a data point that changed adults’ focus, school practices, and student outcomes—including high school credit accumulation, grades, test scores, and graduation rates, and college enrollment and graduation rates.

Educators in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have used Freshman OnTrack data, together with their own information and insights, to organize work and focus resources since the early 2000s.

"On track" metrics are now used in grades 3-12 in Chicago, and also used widely across the country.

This 2-page overview shares: 

Amid growing calls for redefining the high school experience, there’s a critical missing link that is often overlooked: principals and assistant principals. Despite their influence over how time is used, which courses are offered, how teachers and counselors collaborate, and which business and college partners can engage with students, most school administrators simply aren’t trained, supported or held accountable for transforming their high schools.

Key Takeaways for Policymakers: 

Event Overview

What can schools learn from their 5Essentials data and how can it be used to inform school improvement plans? 

Hear from UChicago Consortium and UChicago Impact staff, a veteran Chicago Public Schools (CPS) principal, and CPS data staff on how principals can make sense of their 5Essentials data and use it to strengthen school improvement planning. 

This recorded discussion took place on November 19, 2025.

Key Findings

• A near-record high number of CPS students from the class of 2024 graduated from high school (84%) and immediately enrolled in college (66%).
  • The 2024 high school graduation rate is approaching the national average of 87%.
  • CPS out-performs the most recent national college enrollment rate by 5 percentage points (66% vs.

Almost a decade ago, No Child Left Behind was replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and with that change, Illinois overhauled its school accountability system. Instead of judging schools on how many kids passed a standardized test, we moved to look at many other ingredients of school quality. (Here’s a throwback to our cake video from that era!) 

The Chicago Board of Education continues to grapple with handling charter school closures. Yesterday, the board approved an early termination of its charter renewal agreement with EPIC Academy, a high school in the South Chicago neighborhood. It also approved supporting EPIC with $1.4 million to ensure it can operate through the end of the year, preventing a midyear closure. 

The Illustrative Scope & Sequence includes: 

• Sample timeline of activities
• Detailed overviews of each suggested activity or session, including relevant resources
• Examples of how actual schools used Cultivate in one or more improvement cycles
• Resource library 

Who are these resources for? 

Key Points