• ABOUT US
• R&D DIVISIONS
• CAREERS
• NEWSROOM
• CONTACT US
• HOME

Study of High School Reform in Chicago

Study of High School Reform in Chicago

SRI International and the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are examining the various efforts to improve high schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Under the leadership of now-Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, Chicago supported a variety of schools with different features and programs in order to provide students with a menu of schools from which to choose. The district also employed multiple strategies designed to provide varying levels of support and autonomy depending on the school’s performance and capacity. Thus, some schools retain traditional governance, budgetary, and technical assistance relationships with the district, whereas others were formally given varying levels of autonomy. Each of the major district reform initiatives, Instructional Development Systems (IDS), Renaissance 2010, and Autonomous Performance Management Schools (AMPS), employs different improvement strategies.

The study will evaluate these reforms and the CPS system as a whole to assess student outcomes, school and classroom practices, and systemwide efforts. The overarching question guiding the evaluation is, “Are students in Chicago’s public schools graduating prepared for college and gainful employment?”

The evaluation employs multiple methods, gathering both qualitative and quantitative data. The study includes analysis of the CCSR’s principal, teacher, and student surveys, student achievement analyses, case studies of both the CPS system as a whole and schools participating in high school reform initiatives, and classroom observations of instructional practices.

(Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2006-2009)

Key Staff

Principal Investigator: Patrick Shields

Project Director: Daniel Humphrey

Staff: Maria Abasi, Ashley Campbell, Lauren Cassidy, Raymond McGhee, Haiwen Wang, Marjorie Wechsler, Viki Young