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CPS presents mid-year gains in early grades, outlines multilingual pathways
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Summary
CPS officials presented mid-year benchmark gains, noting improvements in K-2 reading and math versus peer districts and reductions in students requiring urgent intervention; the district also described expanded multilingual and newcomer supports.
Chicago Public Schools officials told the Board of Education on April 23 that mid-year benchmark data show measurable gains, particularly in primary grades, and outlined steps to expand world-language programs and newcomer supports.
Acting chief of teaching and learning Dr. Anise Lewis (S50) said K-2 students "are outperforming students in both peer districts" on I-Ready math and showed similar reading gains for early grades. Lewis said the district has moved nearly 2 percentage points more students into the at-or-above-grade benchmark tier in math in the tested cohort and reduced the number flagged for urgent intervention by almost 2 percent (about 1,400 students).
Chief of Multilingual Multicultural Education Dr. Karimia Assaf (S49) described the district's multilingual pathways and newcomer services, including a centralized welcome center and an English-learner toolkit aimed at helping schools provide native-language support and reengagement for students with interrupted formal education.
Board members asked for more disaggregated subgroup data (by race/ethnicity, English-learner status, students with disabilities, and school/network) and for cohort-level growth measures for future presentations. Dr. Lewis said the district can provide those breakdowns in forthcoming briefings and 5x5 (small-group) sessions with trustees.
Why it matters: The findings provide the board with evidence the district's focus on effective instruction and targeted supports is producing gains among the earliest grades, and they highlight multilingual programming as a priority for expanding access and equity.
Next steps: The district will provide subgroup and school-level cohort data to trustees and continue reporting on end-of-year and standardized assessments.
