In the sunlit library at Jorge Prieto Elementary on Chicago’s’ northwest side, an experiment is under way. A provisional classroom has been set up. A white board sits at the front of the room, and 20 eighth-graders are seated at library tables. Math teacher Michael Hock is giving a lesson about the distributive property. Scattered [...]

Nearly seven years ago, Chicago embarked on a bold plan to create 100 new schools. The idea was to open quality schools and close low-performing ones. It’s a controversial strategy that Chicago’s next mayor will decide whether to embrace or reject. Today, WBEZ is releasing the most fine-grained analysis to date of how well Chicago’s [...]

Nearly seven years ago, Chicago launched a plan to create 100 new schools. On February 17th, WBEZ released a school-by-school update on how well those “Renaissance 2010” schools are performing on state tests. We compared them to neighborhood schools to ask: has the school district been successful in creating better options for families in those neighborhoods. [...]

Charter schools are being talked about a lot lately as a strategy for improving urban education. In Chicago, families line up for the chance to get their kids into these schools, drawn by tougher discipline and academic standards; 11,000 kids are currently on waiting lists. But students also leave Chicago charter schools in surprisingly high [...]