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
August Data Collaborative | Project OneTen
Adrian Villarreal from Project OneTen will walk through their Student Engagement Dashboard, powered by Airtable, and show how we use real-time data to track participation, growth, and retention. We’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.
To&Through Spotlight: Sparking Engagement in the Middle Grades
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.
September Data Collaborative | To&Through’s 100th Data Collaborative
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 CPSChicago Public Schools students filtered by Higher Ed institutions.
Upcoming Events
August Data Collaborative | Project OneTen
Adrian Villarreal from Project OneTen will walk through their Student Engagement Dashboard, powered by Airtable, and show how we use real-time data to track participation, growth, and retention. We’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.
To&Through Spotlight: Sparking Engagement in the Middle Grades
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.
September Data Collaborative | To&Through’s 100th Data Collaborative
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 CPSChicago Public Schools students filtered by Higher Ed institutions.
To&Through Milestones Tool 101 Workshop
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.
October Data Collaborative | CPS Academic Progress Indicator
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.
Exploring Pathways From High School to Career and Their Payoffs in Illinois
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?
To&Through Milestones Tool Superuser Workshop
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?
November Data Collaborative | Chicago Youth Boxing Club
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.
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.
Past Events
To&Through Data Collaborative: Barrington Price
Barrington Price will present on Dominican University's use of student & faculty survey data informing their first-year student retention strategy. Barrington is the Vice President for Student Success and Engagement at Dominican University
To&Through Data Collaborative: Poverty Lab and To&Through Project
The University of Chicago's Poverty Lab and the To&Through Team will host a community discussion about using data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to understand students’ postsecondary trajectories and outcomes. This session will provide attendees an opportunity to share how each other are navigating decision rules, data quality, and limitations of this data.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Alex Seeskin, Alex Usher & Shelby Mahaffie
Alex Seeskin, Alex Usher and Shelby Mahaffie will present work on the development of a Sophomore OnTrack indicator. Alex S. is the Director of the To&Through Project (T&TP), Alex U. is the Associate Director of Data & Research at T&TP, and Shelby Mahaffie is a Research Analyst at T&TP.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Jen Wenner
Jen Wenner presented High Jump’s research-based system for using focus groups as tools for problem identification, progress monitoring and summative evaluation. Jen is the Director of Program Evaluation and Quality Improvement at High Jump.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Dom McKoy and Alex Usher
Dom McKoy and Alex Usher presented an early look at a new version of the To&Through Community Areas Tool that tracks CPS high school and college attainment by Chicago neighborhoods.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Kirat Doshi
Kirat Doshi presented on work around the "My Options" tool, a project to provide OneGoal Fellows with real-time feedback around the development of their college lists. Kirat Doshi is the Managing Director of Analytics at OneGoal.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Nate Flint
Nate Flint presented National Louis University's undergraduate coaching/advising/career milestones, and the data dashboard used to manage them. Nate is the Manager of Undergraduate Analytics at National Louis University.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Patrick Milton
Patrick Milton presented on Chicago Public School's "LEARN. PLAN. SUCCEED. Progress Reports", which provide personalized overviews of potential college options and each student’s level of competitiveness based on available academic metrics. Patrick is the Executive Director of the Office of School Counseling & Postsecondary Advising at Chicago Public Schools.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Megan Lane
Megan Lane shared analysis on current teacher retention measures and trends in CPS, along with plans for building an "on-track indicator" to predict teacher attrition to inform recruiting and school match. Megan is a Strategic Data Project Fellow at Chicago Public Schools.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Jon Furr and Charlie Rosemond
Jon Furr and Charlie Rosemond presented the initial public version of the Illinois Postsecondary Profiles, a new online resource for information and data describing higher education institutions across Illinois. Jon is the Executive Director of Education Systems Center and Charlie is the Data and Outcomes Manager.