Chicago Hot Dog

Emily lives in Bridgeport. She is a sixth grader at Mark Sheridan Academy and is looking ahead to the selective enrollment decision process. Emily’s mom, Jenny, worries about the impact of the application process on her daughter and isn’t sure about putting Emily through the stress.

Evan is an eighth grader at Taft High School. Evan’s mom Paula is concerned about CPS resources.

Olivia is a freshman at Lane Tech. Olivia’s mom, Anne, is a fifth grade teacher at CPS’ Mary Lyon Elementary School on the city’s west side.

Jessica's mom is concerned about the quality of neighborhood high schools close to their home in Logan Square.  

Trinity tested into her first-choice selective-enrollment high school. But she ultimately chose a high school outside of CPS.

The National Landscape: Atlanta

In 2001 – the year that the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act was passed – standardized test scores in the Atlanta Public Schools began to rise steadily and almost inexplicably.

Memphis

In Tennessee, state legislation and education policy has driven accountability-based reform efforts in urban districts, especially Nashville and Memphis.

In 2011, the State of Tennessee formally implemented a teacher evaluation system – a move that resulted in improved math and science proficiency test scores.

Washington, D.C.

Before she was appointed by Mayor Adrian Fenty in 2007, D.C. chancellor Michelle Rhee taught elementary school in Baltimore through Teach for America, a non-profit organization founded in 1989 “to help lead an educational revolution in low-income communities across the country.”

The National Landscape: Boston

Mayor Thomas Menino and Boston Public Schools superintendent Thomas Payzant led the Boston Public Schools through a decade of reform, notable in part because it didn’t rely on school closings or a massive influx of charter schools to get results.

New Orleans

When Hurricane Katrina hit and the levees broke in 2005, most schools in New Orleans were damaged or destroyed. The State of Louisiana empowered a special Recovery School District (RSD) to take over 114 schools; only 20 relatively high-performing schools remained under the control of the local Orleans Parish School Board.

New York City

With more than a million students in over 1,700 schools, the size of New York City’s school system alone makes it an interesting case study, and is notable because its reform efforts occurred relatively early.

Chicago’s Seven City Halls

Police through the Years

The Story of Chicago in Maps