The To&Through Project’s events are intended for a diverse cross-section of education leaders and partners from the K-12, higher education, nonprofit, and civic communities. Presenters and panelists come together to share new research findings as well as share ideas and strategies for helping Chicago’s under-resourced students succeed in high school and college. The To&Through Project also hosts monthly Data Collaboratives designed to elevate and promote dialogue around new and emerging work focused on applying data to youth development efforts. You can watch recordings of our previous events on YouTube.
Events
Featured Events
December | Kids First Chicago: The State of Chicago Public Schools
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.
To&Through Milestones Tool 101
Learn how to use our online tool! In this 90-minute introductory, 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.
January | The To&Through Project
The To&Through Project, will present the newest edition of our iconic Myth & Facts. The new resource is titled Numbers & Narratives. It blends both quantitative and qualitative data into an interactive website, highlighting important educational facts starting from the middle grades, all the way to college graduation.
Upcoming Events
December | Kids First Chicago: The State of Chicago Public Schools
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.
To&Through Milestones Tool 101
Learn how to use our online tool! In this 90-minute introductory, 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.
January | The To&Through Project
The To&Through Project, will present the newest edition of our iconic Myth & Facts. The new resource is titled Numbers & Narratives. It blends both quantitative and qualitative data into an interactive website, highlighting important educational facts starting from the middle grades, all the way to college graduation.
Beyond Income: How Wealth Can Better Target State Funding for Higher Education
State post-secondary aid systems assess a student’s ability to pay for college by focusing on their household income, but overlook household wealth. This approach obscures the significant challenges faced by dually disadvantaged students—those who are both low-income and low-wealth.
February | Hope Chicago
Megan Lane Conklin and Deanna Stewart will present on Hope Chicago's effectiveness at increasing college enrollment and retention for over 2,600 students from underserved Chicago Public High Schools. Specifically, they will discuss the role student engagement plays in success and what types of student engagement are correlated with higher outcomes. Megan is the Director of Data and Deanna is a Program Manager at Hope Chicago.
Supporting College Success for Black Graduates of Chicago Public Schools
In 2024, 57% of Black CPS graduates successfully enrolled in college in the fall immediately after high school graduation. When we look at college completion for the most recently available 6 year graduation cohort however, we see that for the class of 2018, 40.% of those Black young women and 27% of Black young men who enrolled have actually walked across the stage with their college diploma or certificate.
March | City Colleges of Chicago
In FY25, in response to both rising student need and looming federal program cuts, the City Colleges of Chicago launched the Thrive Strategy: an ambitious system-wide commitment to making basic needs support—spanning food security, housing, mental health, emergency grants, and technology—an integral part of the CCC experience. Thrive is rooted in the belief that when students’ basic needs are met, they are empowered to persist, complete their programs, and graduate into upwardly mobile, family-sustaining careers.
To&Through Milestones Tool Superuser Workshop
Calling all To&Through Milestones Tool fans! 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?
Past Events
To&Through Research Spotlight: Linking SEL to Long-Term Success
John Q. Easton and Shanette Porter joined us to share emerging research on the relationship between social emotional development, long-term outcomes, and the impact of schools.
The Education Debt for Young Black Men of Chicago Public Schools
This panel discussion featured Dr. Maurice Swinney, Chief Equity Officer for Chicago Public Schools (CPS); Dr. Shawn Jackson, President of Truman College; and Dr. Kyle Westbrook, Executive Director of the Partnership for College Completion. The panel discussion centered on the K-12 and higher education experiences of Black male students from CPS.
To&Through Data Collaborative: To&Through Project Team
Alex Usher and Shelby Mahaffie will share an early look at the To&Through Project’s thinking about National Student Clearinghouse data on 2020 college enrollment. Alex Usher is the Associate Director of Data and Research and Shelby Mahaffie is a Research Analyst II for the To&Through Project and UChicago Consortium.
Introduction to the Postsecondary Attainment Index
The To&Through Project and UChicago Consortium shared the purpose behind the new Postsecondary Attainment Index and demonstrated for non-profits and school districts how to calculate their own PAI using the PAI Calculator Tool.
To&Through Data Spotlight: Emily Oster on National COVID-19 School Response
Professor Emily Oster will join us to share the National COVID-19 School Response Dashboard that tracks COVID-19 rates in schools across the country. She will also demonstrate Stats iQ, a new statistical analysis tool tied to the dashboard.
Annual Update: The Educational Attainment of Chicago Public School Students
The To&Through Project and UChicago Consortium shared the newest report on the Educational Attainment of Chicago Public School Students along with new updates to the To&Through Online Tool. For the first time, the report and the Tool include outcomes from 2-year colleges and a new Postsecondary Attainment Index.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Moon Lee
Moon Lee will share the Noble Network of Charter Schools’ new Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) data system developed specifically for remote learning. Moon is the Chief Data and Innovation Officer at the Noble Network of Charter Schools.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Jessica Cañas & Michael Johnson
Jessica Cañas and Michael Johnson will present on emerging community-based research efforts in Little Village and Englewood. Jessica is the Postsecondary Manager for Enlace Chicago, and Michael is the EQLP Project Manager for Teamwork Englewood.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Cason Brunt
Cason Brunt will share a curriculum overview, metrics, and outcomes associated with the Empowered Leader Experience, a brand new high-impact leadership development experience offered to college-aged Chicago Scholars. Cason Brunt is the Director of College Success and Postsecondary Leadership Development at Chicago Scholars.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Nour Abdul-Razzak & Max Lubell
Dr. Nour Abdul-Razzak and Max Lubell will present on the UChicago Crime and Education Lab’s evaluation of Choose to Change (C2C), a program offered by Children’s Home & Aid and Youth Advocate Programs. C2C offers youth intensive wraparound and intensive mentoring services that focus on addressing each young person’s specific needs, with trauma-informed CBT that helps youth process their trauma and develop a new set of decision-making tools.