Chalkbeat

On Tuesday, the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research released a long-awaited report on the academic impact of Chicago’s 2013 school closures—the biggest wave of closures in the history of U.S. public education. Research on the academic impact of closures is pretty scarce, which makes the report’s findings relevant beyond Chicago. Test scores declined, particularly in math, but the study takes a wider view, analyzing the impact on absenteeism, suspensions and core GPA. WBEZ highlighted the psychological impact on students and teachers. At 88 pages, the study is a hefty, but compelling, read, detailing how some of the trauma could have been avoided with better planning, a longer timeline, and more sustained funding...