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Steering Committee Consortium on Chicago School Research John Ayers, Cochair Chicago Postsecondary Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law at the University of Chicago Transition Project George Lowery, Cochair Roosevelt University INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS CHICAGO PRINcipals AND ADMINistratORS Mission From High School ASSOciatiON Clarice Berry The Consortium on Chicago School Research aims to conduct research of high techni- CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS cal quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. Christy Harris By broadly engaging local leadership in our work, and presenting our findings to diverse for the Chicago Board of Education to the Future: audiences, we seek to expand communication among researchers, policy makers, and Daniel T. Bugler Office of Research, Evaluation and practitioners. The Consortium encourages the use of research in policy action, but does A first look at Chicago Public School Accountability not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, we believe that good policy is most graduates’ college enrollment, Barbara Eason-Watkins likely to result from a genuine competition of ideas informed by the best evidence that April 2006 for the Chief Executive Officer can be obtained. Melissa Roderick college preparation, and graduation CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION Jenny Nagaoka Marilyn Stewart Founded in 1990, the Consortium is located at the University of Chicago. from four-year colleges ILLINOIS State BOARD OF EducatiON Elaine Allensworth Cleo A. Boswell for the Superintendent with INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS Vanessa Coca Lauren E. Allen Macarena Correa Ginger Stoker Gina Burkhardt Learning Point Associates Louis M. Gomez Northwestern University Directors Elizabeth Hawthorne Daley College John Q. Easton, Executive Director Consortium on Chicago School Research Timothy Knowles Center for Urban School Improvement Albert L. Bennett Janet Knupp Chicago Public Education Fund Roosevelt University Carol D. Lee Northwestern University Melissa Roderick University of Chicago Deidra Lewis City Colleges of Chicago Penny Bender Sebring Peter Martinez University of Illinois at Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research www.consortium-chicago.org Samuel Meisels Erikson Institute James Pellegrino University of Illinois at Chicago Consortium on James Spillane Northwestern University Consortium on Chicago School Research CHICAGO SCHOOL RESEARCH Josie Yanguas Illinois Resource Center 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Steve Zemelman 773-702-3364 fax -773-702-2010 USCS-Leadership for Quality Education www.consortium-chicago.org 1313 East 60th Street Chicago, Illinois 773-702-3364 Martha Zurita University of Notre Dame Acknowledgments About the Authors Many individuals have helped shape this report and made it possible. Members of our research staff have contributed Melissa Roderick is the Principal Investigator of the Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project. She is a Professor to this report and provided invaluable assistance in the process of editing and preparing this report, including Eliza at the School of Social Service Administration and is a co-director at the Consortium on Chicago School Research Moeller, Jonah Deutsch, Amy Proger, Liz Hogg, and Jamilliyah Gilliam. We are indebted to the staff at the Chicago at the University of Chicago. Professor Roderick is an expert in urban school reform, high-stakes testing, minority Public Schools who provided technical advice, data support, and analytical support and guidance throughout this adolescent development, and school transitions. research, particularly Greg Darnieder, Gudelia Lopez, Melanie LaForce, Ilona Vincent, and Jessica Wallenstein. We are also indebted to the staff at the Consortium for feedback, guidance, and support of all stages of this project, particu- Jenny Nagaoka is the Project Director of the Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project, which is based at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and is a sponsored project of the Consortium. Previ- larly John Easton, Penny Sebring, and Marisa de la Torre. Thanks also to the members of the Consortium’s Steering ously, Ms. Nagaoka was a Research Analyst at the Consortium, where her work included research on the quality of Committee for their comments and feedback, particularly Don Fraynd, Elizabeth Hawthorne, Josie Yanguas, Arie van classroom instruction and an evaluation of Chicago’s summer program. der Ploeg, and Martha Zurita. Finally, the administrative staff at the School of Social Service Administration—Keith Madderom, Beverly Mason, Gidget Ambuehl, and Suzanne Fournier—provided significant support to this work. SSA’s Elaine Allensworth is the Associate Director for Statistical Analysis at the Consortium. Her research focuses on the staff made us feel that our work was always important and that we were never asking too much. structural factors that affect high school students’ educational attainment and the social organizational structures that underlie school development. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology. The study is funded by grants from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. The contents of this report were also developed under a planning grant from the Carnegie Corporation Vanessa Coca is a Research Analyst at the Consortium. She received her B.A. from the University of Chicago and her of New York. Masters of Public Policy degree from the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Currently she is involved in research on the availability and use of technology in the Chicago Public Schools. Macarena Correa is a Research Analyst at the Consortium. Ms. Correa received her B.A. in Psychology from Harvard College and her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Ginger Stoker is a Research Assistant with the Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project. She is also a Ph.D. student at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Chicago Postsecondary Transition Project From High School to the Future: A first look at Chicago Public School graduates’ college enrollment, college preparation, and graduation from four-year colleges Melissa Roderick Jenny Nagaoka Elaine M. Allensworth with Vanessa Coca Macarena Correa Ginger Stoker April 2006 Table of Contents Introduction . 1 Chapter 1: College-Attendance Rates and College-Going Patterns of Chicago Public School Graduates . 9 Chapter 2: How Qualifications Shape Chicago Public Schools Graduates’ Access to College . 35 Chapter 3: Graduation Rates of Chicago Public School Alumni in Four-Year Colleges . 65 Interpretive Summary . 85 Appendices . 92 Works Cited . 103 Update (October 2006) Introduction ur high schools were designed fifty years ago to meet the Oneeds of another age. Until we design them to meet the needs of the 21st century, we will keep limiting—even ruining—the lives of millions of Americans every year … Today, most jobs that allow you to support a family require some postsecondary educa- tion … This could mean a four-year college, a community col- lege, or technical school. Unfortunately, only half of all students who enter high school ever enroll in a postsecondary institution. That means that half of all students starting high school today are unlikely to get a job that allows them to support a family. — Bill Gates, Speech to the National Governors Association, February 26, 2005 I know you can’t get a good job without going to college, so that’s basically why I want to go. — Clifton, Chicago Public School junior From High School to the Future | Other Chicago Public School juniors on their reasons for Nationally, between 980 and 00, the percentage of wanting to go to college: tenth-graders stating that they hoped to complete a bache- lor’s degree or higher nearly doubled from 4 to 79 percent Because I think nowadays it’s necessary to get a good (see Figure I-). These rising aspirations are shared across job … just a simple high school diploma won’t get racial and ethnic groups, with the largest increases docu- you anywhere … you need to go to college to get a mented among low-income students. These increases have good job ... to find something that you like, not only translated into growing numbers of racial/ethnic minority because of the money. and low-income high school graduates enrolling in college, – Leah, Latino female student although their enrollment rates continue to lag behind those of middle- and higher-income students (see Figure To succeed in life … Cause you know, I want to I-). Rising aspirations are also reflected among students go to college to be able to get my degree to be able in Chicago. In the 005 Consortium on Chicago School to get a good job, you know, a high paying job, so Research survey of high school seniors, 78 percent stated that I can be able to in the future have a family, be that they hoped to complete a bachelor’s degree or higher, able to support them and not struggle working in similar to the national data, and an additional 4 percent factories or anything. hoped to attain a two-year or vocational degree.2 – Jaime, Latino male student The Aspirations-Attainment Gap So I can extend my opportunities for my career, The problem, however, is that too often students’ aspira- because I just know, basically you can’t do much with tions are not translating into college success, even for stu- just a high school diploma. I mean even McDonalds dents who enroll in college. Among students who plan to wants you to have at least some college degree to even attend a four-year college, racial/ethnic minority students work there. are much more likely to end up attending a two-year col- – Dani, African-American female student lege or not attending college at all.3 Most A good life, and I also want a good life for my par- In the 2005 Consor- importantly, rising col- ents, ‘cause they work for me and they work hard, tium on Chicago School lege enrollment is not they both work in factories ... I want to get a good Research survey of high translating into concom- job, have a good life and if I don’t get good grades, school seniors, 78 percent itant increases in degree can’t get into a good college.

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