Youth from families with greater economic means have seen an increase in their participation in extracurricular activities, while the participation levels of youth from working class families have decreased. Knowing the benefits to youth participation in extracurricular activities, communities where youth of marginalized backgrounds reside have an…

This article draws from a Cultural Political Economy framework and an abolitionist lens to examine various understandings of safety within Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We investigate how the Chicago Board of Education (BOE) uses convivial rhetoric and institutional mechanisms to erase the demands of Black and Brown students and ultimately…

College student leadership is common learning outcome in American higher education, but it was not until the past decade when researchers began studying college student leadership using critical theories and perspectives. These scholars criticized that current student leadership models and theories have been representative of White, Eurocentric,…

In part shaped by movements like Black Lives Matter, the crisis of the global pandemic, and the political and social turbulence of recent years, many thoughtful conversations have taken place in the philanthropic sector that question the power and privilege inherent in grantmaking and challenge whether conventional norms and practices in…

Motivational interviewing (MI), a therapy strategy used to guide students to help students better understand how to develop their social emotional learning (SEL) skills to make positive choices that resolve social conflict, bodes promising for helping youth to cultivate the social and emotional skills needed to address bullying, peer drama, and…

This study examines the impact of an alternative to suspension program on second semester office discipline referrals for participating students. The study compares students who completed the intervention program with those who would have qualified during the school year prior to the program being available at the school district. The study was…

This report, part of the Learning Renewal series, seeks to answer the following research question: How are Illinois districts and students recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic? It describes the trends in post-pandemic learning renewal for three key outcomes: standardized test scores, student enrollment and student attendance. The authors focus on…

Bullying victimization remains to be a public health concern in the United States, especially among sexual and ethnic minority youth. However, few studies have examined how school outcomes might be associated with bullying victimization among heterosexual and sexual minority African American youth and the factors that may attenuate that…

In Chicago, despite an increase in high school graduates and college enrollment, only one in four community college students graduate within three years. COVID-19 exacerbated longstanding barriers to college success faced by students from low-income backgrounds, as well as for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. Without proactive interventions…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide concrete examples of what leadership behaviors and strategies look like in high-poverty urban schools in Chicago that are successful at improving student outcomes. We compared the strategies used by principals who were rated by their teachers on annual surveys as being strong instructional leaders…

School choice research is abundant, but rarely incorporates students' experiences or perspectives. This study investigates a diverse group of students' school choice experiences as they applied to, gained admission to and enrolled in high school in Chicago Public Schools, which offers over 130 options. Adapting Ball and colleagues' (2012) concept…

In "Districts That Succeed," long-time education writer Karin Chenoweth turns her attention from effective schools to effective districts. Leveraging new, cutting-edge national research on district performance as well as in-depth reporting, Chenoweth profiles five districts that have successfully broken the correlation between race,…

This study explored racial differences in internalizing and externalizing problems among minority adolescents in impoverished urban communities. The study centered on a sample of 211 participants who were engaged in the 2018 Building Resilience Against Violence Engagement (BRAVE) programs. Their internalizing and externalizing problems were…

Background: The United States does not have a comprehensive, publicly funded early care and education (ECE) system. As a result, disparities in access and participation in quality ECE in the U.S. are well-documented. Low and middle-income families participate less frequently in ECE compared with higher-income families, often due to conflicts with…

Chicago Public Schools (CPS)--like many school districts--faces challenges. These include declining enrollment, budgetary pressures, pandemic-associated learning losses, and the need to staff schools with educators and administrators who can meet the diverse needs of students and families. CPS is also grappling with a changing policy environment.…