These are individual school reports—one for each elementary school with an eighth grade and one for each high school. The elementary school reports follow students for five years after they leave eighth grade. The high school reports follow students for five years after they enter high school.

Who do we follow?

• Elementary school reports track students after they leave eighth grade, whether they move on to high school, an Academic Preparatory Center, or drop out.
• High school reports track students who enter ninth grade.

What indicators do we use?

• Outcomes include whether students graduate, drop out, or transfer out of the system.
• Achievement indicators include whether students are on or off track. In order for a student to be “on track” to graduate, he or she must have no more than one “F” in a core academic course and have enough credits to be promoted to the next grade.

Click here for definitions of outcomes and performance indicators.

What years are covered?

• Students from 1997 are followed until 2001.
• Students from 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 are followed for one year.

Do the reports link specific elementary and high schools?

• The elementary school reports show student on-track performance and graduation by the high school or APC students entered.
• The high school reports show students on-track performance and graduation by the elementary school students came from.

More information on CPS schools.

• In the State of Chicago’s Public High Schools 1993-2000 series, we provide trends on high school performance. These include on track rates, student performance on standardized tests, the percentage of students eligible for special education services, and the change in school enrollment.
  
  
  • Student Performance: Course Taking, Test Scores and Outcomes (May 2002) looks at how student performance has changed on a variety of measures
  • Declining High School Enrollment: An Exploration of Causes (May 2002) tracks changes in high school enrollment and their possible causes
  • Changing Special Education Enrollments: Causes and Distribution among Schools (June 2002) examines the increase in the percentage of students eligible for special education services and the distribution of these students across schools
• The Department of Research and Evaluation at the Chicago Public Schools offers information on individual school performance as well as systemwide trends.