CPS rolls out Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency indicators and highlights student recommendations from roundtable

The Chicago Board of Education on Jan. 30 heard district leaders describe the first public release of indicators from the Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency (CIDT) policy and received a student presentation on recommendations to shape implementation.

The district posted initial CIDT indicators on new school profile pages at cps.eduforward/schoolprofiles and said more measures will be added by this fall. Pedro Martinez, chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), said the CIDT work is intended to make the district’s accountability practices more “transparent” and to shift emphasis toward district and school supports rather than a single high‑stakes label.

CPS officials published evidence and practice indicators including student proficiency measures, English‑learner progress, chronic absence, 4‑year graduation, and several practice indicators such as high‑quality curriculum and balanced assessment systems. The district said it will release a new Growth to Proficiency metric in February.

Why it matters: CIDT is the district’s attempt to align school accountability with an equity framework and to give school teams actionable data and district supports. Board members and parents will use the new pages and monthly briefings to track whether indicators encourage targeted help for schools and groups of students.

Key details

- OnTrack metrics: CPS replaced a complex elementary OnTrack metric with a simpler categorization it says is easier for schools to act on. At the end of the second quarter the district reported 52% of elementary students “on track,” 10% needing attendance support, 25% needing academic support, and 13% needing both attendance and academic support.

- Ninth‑grade OnTrack: For high schools CPS now requires 9th graders to earn 6.5 credits and show no more than one semester failure to be counted as on track. For semester 1 of 2024–25 the district reported 81.7% of ninth graders on track, 5% on watch (one semester failure) and 13.3% off track (more than one semester failure).

- Chronic absence and out‑of‑school time (OST): CPS reported chronic absence at 32.9% districtwide for the current year, down modestly from last year but still well above pre‑pandemic levels and short of the Together We RISE plan’s five‑year target (a 15% reduction). OST participation fell to 27% of students this year (Q2) from 32% at the same point a year earlier; the district attributed the drop primarily to central budget reductions for OST programming and said it is prioritizing program quality and equitable distribution going forward.

- Student voice and the Cultivate survey: CPS said it administered the Cultivate student‑learning conditions survey (designed by the University of Chicago) this fall to fifth through 12th grades; 549 schools participated and roughly 82% of eligible students completed it. The district reported that 80% of respondents said they believed their answers “will be used to make my school better.” University of Chicago researchers supplied early validation results, which CPS said show the survey reliably captures learning‑condition data and that improvements in those conditions are associated with stronger student attendance and long‑term outcomes.

Student recommendations

Two student presenters — Carolina Carchi, the honorary student board member, and Naomi Glanton — summarized recommendations gathered at a November roundtable of 16 students (eight middle and eight high school students, representing 11 schools). Highlights:

- Multilingual pathways: provide newcomers more school‑day and after‑school language support, and include student voice when deciding language course offerings. - Post‑secondary success: expand the definition of success beyond selective four‑year colleges, introduce career and trade options earlier (by 5th grade), and amplify neighborhood school successes through alumni stories. - Students with disabilities: increase IEP/504 awareness and access, include students in IEP goal‑setting, and expand district‑wide adaptive athletics so all students may participate.

Carolina Carchi told the board: “We stand in the gap for a cross section of parents to make sure they have access to information to make the correct choice on where to place their most important asset, and that’s their children.”

District supports and next steps

The board heard that CIDT indicators will continue to be refined through technical and transparency committees that include parents, school staff, students and outside researchers. CPS said its next implementation steps include: releasing the Growth to Proficiency metric in February, posting additional CIDT indicators across practice domains by the fall, expanding school‑level coaching for instructional leadership teams, and sustaining the Cultivate survey as a twice‑annual measure to inform school improvement cycles.

CPS leaders emphasized the portal is intended to serve school teams first; district staff said some data will be kept at the school level for teacher teams to use in learning cycles rather than immediately elevated to high‑stakes public ranking.

Ending note: Board members asked for ongoing briefings on OST funding, chronic‑absence interventions, and the forthcoming Black Student Success rollout in February. CPS said monthly progress monitoring updates tied to the five‑year strategic plan will continue at board meetings.