Chicago Public Schools Launches Long-Awaited Site To Show How Schools Are Doing

The New Profiles Are 5 Years In The Making

Chicago Public Schools launched new school profiles on its website, a milestone in the district’s five-year push to change how it portrays the quality of its campuses. The new profiles went up in mid-December, the day after the window to apply to the district’s selective and magnet programs closed.

The new school accountability dashboards replace the district’s controversial number ratings for schools, which CPS put on hold and then scrapped during the pandemic. Those ratings had drawn the ire of educators and some community members, who said they unfairly stigmatized campuses that serve students with high needs.

The new profiles are designed to provide a more holistic view of school performance, incorporating a wider array of metrics beyond traditional measures like test scores and graduation rates. The dashboards include information on student growth, chronic absenteeism, and school climate, among other factors.

The District Aims To Better Measure The Student Experience

Like districts across the country, CPS is still grappling with how to measure the student experience on campus more fully. The district has given students a survey called Cultivate, which was developed by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research. However, this survey was designed to give teachers information about students’ experiences in their classrooms – not as an accountability tool for families and others.

The district also explored how to best present another key piece of the student experience: extracurricular activities. The district could likely do more than simply listing the activities a school offers. The new dashboards show the portion of students who participate in any activities. However, are these activities high-quality? Are outside partners chipping in?

Feedback from Parents

Some parents who’ve provided feedback on the shift said families welcome having a one-stop repository of information on school performance again. However, they said they’d like to see simpler, more accessible language in information about the metrics the district included to put the numbers into context. And they noted that a busy parent must click repeatedly to get to each metric – only to find out in many cases that these numbers aren’t available yet.

Claiborne Wade, the father of four CPS students, served on a district committee that provided input on the new accountability system. He said he is a big believer in the district’s efforts to take a more holistic look at school performance. “It’s more than test scores and attendance rates and graduation rates,” he said. “Those are important, but so is making sure we have funds for extracurricular activities and parents have a seat at the table.”

Conclusion

The new school profiles are a significant step forward for CPS, providing a more comprehensive view of school performance and student experience. While there is still work to be done to perfect the platform, the district is on the right track. With the addition of new metrics and data, parents and students will have a better understanding of what makes a school successful and what areas need improvement.

FAQs

* Q: What metrics are included in the new school profiles?
A: The profiles include traditional metrics such as test scores, chronic absenteeism, and graduation rates, as well as new metrics that get at the student experience, such as student growth and school climate.
* Q: Why did the district scrap its previous school ratings system?
A: The district’s previous system was criticized for unfairly stigmatizing campuses that serve students with high needs.
* Q: What is the Cultivate survey, and why was it developed?
A: The Cultivate survey was developed by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research to provide teachers with information about students’ experiences in their classrooms. However, it was not designed as an accountability tool for families and others.
* Q: How will the district continue to improve the school profiles?
A: The district will continue to work on improving the platform, adding new metrics and data, and making the information more accessible and user-friendly.