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by Molly F. Gordon (Author), Paul Moore (Author), Jennifer Cowhy (Author)
Nearly all students displaced by Chicago's 2013 mass school closure enrolled in schools with better academic ratings than their closed school. However, only one-fifth landed at top-tier schools and nearly one-quarter went to schools that were lower-performing than the welcoming schools assigned to them by the district. This report tracks the enrollment patters of nearly 11,000 students required to transition to a new elementary schools after the closings. It also draws on interviews with parents to understand how they navigated the enrollment process and why some students ended up in their assigned school while others ended up in schools that were higher- or lower-rated than those assigned to them by the district.
Author Biography
MARISA DE LA TORRE is an Associate Director at UChicago Consortium. Before joining UChicago Consortium, she worked for the CPS Office of Research, Evaluation, and Accountability. She received a master's degree in Economics from Northwestern University. MOLLY F. GORDON is a Senior Research Analyst at UChicago Consortium. Previously, she was a Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota. PAUL MOORE s a research analyst at UChicago Consortium and is in the process of completing an MA in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. His research interests include quantitative modeling and methodology. Paul earned a BS in Mathematics and Education from Vanderbilt University. JENNIFER R. COWHY is a Research Assistant at UChicago Consortium. She received her BA with distinction from the University of Michigan and an MPP and an MA from the University of Chicago's Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy and School of Social Service Administration. SANJA JAGESIC is a Research Assistant at UChicago Consortium. She holds an MA in Sociology from the University of Chicago and a BA in Sociology and German from Wellesley College. She is currently working toward her PhD in Sociology at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium) builds the capacity for school reform by conducting research that identifies what matters for student success and school improvement. Created in 1990, UChicago Consortium conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. UChicago Consortium studies also have informed broader national movements in public education. UChicago Consortium encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, UChicago Consortium helps to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.
