1. How did Chicago Public Schools use practical data to successfully improve high school graduation rates?
Nobody knew how to improve graduation rates in the 1990s. The answer did not come from the design of a successful program, or from a planned out research study. Instead, beginning in the 1990s, the answer slowly developed over time through an iterative process involving research, policy, and practice. As city and district officials tried to develop strategies to improve graduation rates, they asked researchers at the UChicago Consortium to do research on questions that developed. Over the course of fifteen years, an empirically grounded theory of improvement and associated data systems developed that transformed the ways in which educators support students’ successful completion of high school.
The system eventually included a number of different data elements, and systems for using data. These included: 1) the end-of-year Freshman OnTrack indicator which signals a student is likely to graduate and is used for goal-setting and accountability; 2) real-time practical data reports (Freshman Success reports) used by school staff to monitor and support ninth grade students throughout their freshman year so they end up on track at the end of the year; 3) school diagnostic data reports that show patterns of grades and attendance by student backgrounds, and changes over time, for school improvement planning; 4) research reports about what matters for high school graduation that provide the evidence behind the data tools; and 5) supports for school staff to use the practical data reports to keep students on-track during their first year of high school.
"Using the Freshman On-Track Indicator to Improve High Schools in Chicago" is Chapter 5 of Measuring to Improve: Practical Measurement to Support Continuous Improvement in Education (Continuous Improvement in Education Series) edited by Paul G. LeMahieu, Paul Cobb, and Anthony S. Bryk. The full book is available from Harvard Education Press.
About the Book
In Measuring to Improve, Paul G. LeMahieu, Paul Cobb, and contributors introduce educational practitioners, administrators, and policymakers to the foundational elements of practical measurement to support continuous improvement efforts in K–12 schools. They begin by defining practical measurement as data collection and analysis that is relevant to practice, useful to practitioners, and designed to guide and even be integrated into practice. LeMahieu and Cobb discuss the importance of practical measurement as it relates to and informs the core principles of improvement science.
Contributors present five detailed case studies of practical measurement in action across a variety of contexts and improvement efforts in districts throughout the United States. The outcomes of these research-practice partnerships show how solutions to issues—including increasing high school graduation rates, improving college entrance rates, redesigning mathematics instruction, enhancing student literacy and writing skills, and redressing systemic inequities—can be informed by practical measurement. And they describe proven approaches for the design and implementation of measurement systems that align with a validity framework. They provide actionable suggestions for core elements such as tracking, testing, administering exit tickets and surveys, and collaboration.
This useful work provides a blueprint that can guide practitioners in incorporating practical measurement as a central element of educational improvement efforts.