It’s springtime across America, and the familiar sounds fill the air — birds chirping in the early hours, the cracks of baseball bats on opening day and classrooms filled with utter silence. It’s testing time, one of my least-favorite times of year as an educator and as a parent of elementary school-aged children.

In Chicago and beyond, the pandemic strained the ties between schools and families like never before: Some students tuned out virtual instruction, disengaging from learning completely. Once students were back in the classroom, parents craved information and reassurance about how schools were keeping their children safe amid surge after COVID surge.

Bryan is from Chicago, where he attended the University of Chicago Charter School Woodlawn campus in high school. He currently attends Denison University as a first-year where he majors in politics and public affairs, with a minor in Black studies.

Illinois school districts are reporting a shortage of bilingual education teachers with as many as 100 vacancies, as of October.

To help fill the void, the Illinois State Board of Education announced the launch of a $4 million grant to cover tuition costs for teachers interested in becoming licensed to teach English-language learners...

This study provides a summary of what happened in one district—Chicago Public Schools (CPS)—as district staff and educators worked to promote change in instructional practices in math and science aligned with the new standards.  Researchers used districtwide student and teacher surveys; interviews with educators, school leaders, and district officials; and student achievement data between 2014–15 and 2017–18.

While CCSS-M and NGSS standards were the focus of this study, the findings are broadly relevant to standards-driven instructional change.

Micah Daniels is a Research Analyst. She has been working with the UChicago Consortium since 2020, the year she graduated high school. She began as a youth participant in the NEXT System, then was hired as a research assistant in 2021 and is now a research analyst. She also worked as a Youth Organizing Coach for the National Equity Project from 2020 to 2023, working alongside students, teachers, and administration to create equitable change within their school districts.