At the To&Through Project, we convene stakeholders from across our system around important ideas, research, and data that can help us improve equitable outcomes and experiences of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students from middle grades to college completion. Join us for our events this fall and be part of that community collaborating toward data-driven impact. Read more about each event and RSVP below! |
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To&Through Spotlight: Sparking Engagement in the Middle Grades Tuesday, September 9 | 3:00-4:00 p.m. | Virtual Post-Discussion 4:00-4:30 p.m. Adolescence is one of the most critical periods for brain development and learning. Research also indicates that student engagement drops dramatically during this time. This is why the middle grades are a period of vulnerability but also of tremendous opportunity. This is a cornerstone of the work of our To&Through Middle Grades Network. Join us as we spotlight our colleague Jennifer Ciok’s new book: The Meaningful Middle School Classroom: How to Spark Engagement That Fosters Deep Learning. This event will feature a panel of educators and experts, in conversation with the author, to delve into strategies that build positive relationships and foster a sense of belonging to better support engagement of middle school students. We believe in creating space to bring people together to collaborate around ideas, research, and data in order to drive action, so we invite you to join for a post-discussion—immediately following the webinar from 4:00-4:30 p.m.—to keep the conversation going on key takeaways and potential actions. RSVP for this virtual spotlight here. |
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100th Data Collaborative + To&Through Higher Ed Tool | September Data Collaborative Tuesday, September 16 | 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. | Virtual Come celebrate our 100th To&Through Data Collaborative! We’ve been hosting these data-centered collaborative spaces since 2017 and we are reaching the milestone of hosting our 100th Data Collaborative! Join us for a highlight of the impact of our Data Collaboratives over time AND join Alex Ritson and Dominique McKoy from the To&Through Project to provide input on the rollout of our new Milestones Tool lens showing outcomes for Chicago Public Schools students filtered by higher-ed institutions. RSVP for this virtual Collaborative here. |
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To&Through Milestones Tool 101 Workshop Tuesday, September 23 | 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. | In-Person UtmostU at Impact House 200 W. Madison St, Chicago, IL 60606
In this 90-minute introductory and interactive workshop, participants will dive into the To&Through's online public data tool, which shows CPS students' outcomes on key academic metrics from the sixth grade through college. You'll understand our specific philosophy on data use, learn about the different “lenses” of available CPS outcomes data, and how this Milestones Tool can (and can't) be helpful in your work of strengthening student pathways to and through college. Alongside To&Through staff, you'll explore trends in a specific school or community you're interested in and find connections to your own work and story. We will be hosted by UtmostU at Impact House at 200 W. Madison St, Chicago, IL 60606. Who should attend? This workshop is geared toward people who are new to the To&Through Milestones Tool and do work to support CPS students. Attendance is limited, so please confirm your RSVP ASAP to reserve your spot RSVP for this in-person workshop here. |
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To&Through Spotlight: Exploring pathways from high school to career and their payoffs in Illinois Tuesday, November 4 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. | Virtual Post-Discussion: 3:00-3:30 p.m. Does higher education still pay off for students? How have students from low-income families in Illinois fared after high school, and how do their education and earnings outcomes compare to more economically advantaged students? What education and employment opportunities best support upward economic mobility for Illinois students? Join us to discuss the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) and the UChicago Consortium for School Research’s new reports from their Illinois High School to Career Series: Precarious Prospects (Part One) and Promising Pathways (Part Two, release forthcoming). Sarah Cashdollar, Associate Director of Research at IWERC and Jenny Nagoka, Deputy Director at the UChicago Consortium will share findings from the report and discuss potential implications for action. We believe in creating space to bring people together to collaborate around ideas, research, and data in order to drive action, so we invite you to join for a post-discussion—immediately following the webinar from 3:00-3:30 p.m.—to keep the conversation going on key takeaways and potential actions. RSVP for this virtual spotlight here. |
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To&Through Milestones Tool Superuser Workshop Wednesday, November 5 | 12:00-1:00 p.m. | Virtual Calling all To&Through Milestones Tool fans! We want to delve deeper into the hidden features of the Tool that only superusers know about, and collaborate around use cases for the Tool and the CPS student outcomes data found there. Join us in this virtual workshop to practice finding and communicating insights from the Milestones Tool and share potential actions we want to take with that data. Who should attend? - Anyone who has attended a previous Milestones Tool workshop AND/OR
- Anyone who is a user of the Milestones Tool and wants to unlock the next level of features and collaborate with others around tool usage!
RSVP for this virtual workshop here.
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The To&Through Data Collaborative is a virtual community for the presentation and discussion of new work in education data in Chicago. The group meets to learn about and give feedback on an organization’s problem of practice or a project. As we mentioned above, we are also celebrating our 100th Data Collaborative this fall! RSVP for our Data Collaboratives below. If you want to be added to our Data Collaborative listserv, please email Alex Ritson at aritson@uchicago.edu. |
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August Data Collaborative | Project OneTen Tuesday, August 26 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. Adrian Villarreal from Project OneTen will walk through their Student Engagement Dashboard, powered by Airtable, and show how they use real-time data to track participation, growth, and retention. They’ll highlight our Flag System, a key tool to ensure students receive timely support and stay on track, activating staff and partners as needed. Adrian Villarreal is the Director of Operations & Impact at Project OneTen. RSVP here. |
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October Data Collaborative | CPS Academic Progress Indicator Tuesday, October 21 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. Peter Leonard and Kevin Shallcross will share how Chicago Public Schools has developed and is implementing the Academic Progress Indicator (API), the "Student Growth to Proficiency" measure in the Continuous Improvement and Data Transparency Policy (CIDT). The API uses shifts in standardized achievement to provide an understanding of student progress over time. Peter Leonard is the Executive Director of Student Assessment & MTSS and Kevin Shallcross is the Manager of Data Quality in the Department of School Quality Measurement & Research. RSVP here. |
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November Data Collaborative | Chicago Youth Boxing Club Tuesday, November 18 | 2:00-3:00 p.m. Noah Pickens and Adrian Guzman, from the Chicago Youth Boxing Club (CYBC), will present on their efforts to develop a competency-based evaluation protocol that captures the holistic impact of their year-round boxing and mentorship programs. Their approach centers youth and community transformation, and they are seeking ways to improve our ability to capture a blend of quantitative, demographic, and developmental data to measure change over time. As a sports-based youth development organization, CYBC’s continuous programming model offers unique insights into how consistent engagement fosters meaningful outcomes for young people across Chicago. Noah Pickens is the Executive Director and Adrian Guzman is a volunteer for the CYBC. RSVP here. |
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December | Kids First Chicago: The State of Chicago Public Schools Tuesday, December 16 | 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Kids First Chicago (K1C) will present its latest State of Chicago Public Schools report—an annual data-driven review of how CPS students are doing both academically and socioemotionally. The report highlights key indicators such as student proficiency, growth, on-track rates, chronic absenteeism, post-secondary outcomes, and parent engagement. Join Micaelan Valesky (Manager of Data Science), Mariam Raheem (Applied Data Fellow), and Hal Woods (Chief of Policy) as they share insights from K1C’s five-part interactive series designed to help families, policymakers, and advocates understand where CPS students are making progress—and where attention is still needed. RSVP here. |
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