Marisa de la Torre
Julia Gwynne
Research Report
c c s r
CONSORTIUM ON
CHICAGO SCHOOL RESEARCH
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
URBAN EDUCATION INSTITUTE
October 2009
When Schools Close
Effects on Displaced Students in Chicago Public Schools
2
When Schools Close
We would like to acknowledge the many people who helped make this report
possible. Our colleagues at the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the
University of Chicago Urban Education Institute gave critical feedback at each stage
of this project. In particular, Marshall Jean helped us with preliminary analyses. In
addition, Elaine Allensworth, Penny Bender Sebring, Melissa Roderick, Sue Sporte,
Chris Mazzeo, and Diane Rado each provided us with thoughtful comments on this
manuscript. We are also indebted to members of the Steering Committee and others
who gave us very useful comments on this work. Donald Fraynd, Josie Yanguas, and
Arie van der Ploeg performed careful reviews of this manuscript. Claire Durwood
was instrumental in helping us edit and produce this report. We also thank Amy
Proger who provided a thorough technical read of the final report.
We have also benefited from discussions with Chicago Public Schools (CPS)
senior staff. Our work would not have been possible without the student record
data archive provided by CPS. In particular, we thank the CPS staff at the Office of
Research, Evaluation, and Accountability for their efforts.
This study was made possible by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation.
Acknowledgements
2
Table of Contents
consortium on chicago school research at the university of chicago
Executive Summary ...................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................5
Chapter 1: School Closing Policy in Chicago ...................................................9
Chapter 2: Where Do Displaced Students Go? A Look at Receiving Schools ....1