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
Annual Middle Grades Network Celebration of Learning
Join us to celebrate the remarkable work of our partner schools in the To&Through Middle Grades Network (MGN) at our annual celebration of learning. This virtual session will feature reflections from current partner schools on the process of testing change ideas and the impact of co-creating these ideas with their MGN Student Fellowship.
May Data Collaborative | Chi-Rise
Erin Estrada and Kate Cronin will present on Chi-Rise's use of program level student data and counselor insights to drive a rigorous college list building process during the 2025-26 academic year. This process brings together multiple quantitative and qualitative data sources across the program's Finance, Fit, Finish trajectory. Erin Estrada is the Chi Rise Program Officer at Crown Family Philanthropies, and Kate Cronin is the Data and Strategy Analyst at Crown Family Philanthropies.
To&Through 2025-26 Data Collaborative In-Person Celebration
Based on feedback from our brilliant Data Collaborative community, we want to create one opportunity during the year to bring our data community together in person. Whether you’ve been an active Data Collaborative member, presented or attended a session this year, or are simply curious about the work we’re doing, we’d love for you to join us for a collaborative gathering where you can:
Upcoming Events
Past Events
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! If you've been a part of Data Collaboratives in years past, we would love to see you there.
Join us as we highlight some of the data story and the impact of our Data Collaboratives over time and provide us with essential feedback to shape what the future Data Collaborative should hold.
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.
The To&Through Project: Kegs & Cases
Join the To&Through Project for our third annual Kegs & Cases at Cruz Blanca Taproom. We will share our latest Learning Case– a qualitative look at the experiences of Diverse Learner students as they navigate decision making, enrollment, and persistence at their chosen post-secondary pathways. Come participate in a facilitated case learning experience, meet & collaborate with stakeholders supporting CPS students, and network with our To&Through community over beers and snacks!
June Data Collaborative - Mikva Challenge
Mikva Challenge's Student Advisory Councial youth will present their Student-Led Local School Council (LSC) Toolkit, which is explicitly designed for student representatives. The toolkit will cover: building confidence; public speaking tips; leadership empowerment strategies; effective communication with teachers, administrators, and peers; conflict resolution and finding common ground; resources on LSC student member voting privileges; ways to elevate student voice in LSC meetings.
Partnership for College Completion’s College Transfer Report
The Partnership for College Completion will present findings from their recent report, Seamless Success: Transforming College Transfer for Greater Equity, which delves into the barriers faced by transfer students in Illinois, with a focus on community college students striving to transfer to four-year institutions. Informed by student perspectives, the report highlights challenges such as financial stress, administrative burdens, and inequities in transfer pathways, which disproportionately impact students from low-income backgrounds and students of color.
May Data Collaborative - Noble Schools
D. Nigel Green & Tyler Portis will present on Noble Schools’ Campus Equity Story dashboard, a newly introduced data tool that measures which campus subgroups have experiences furthest from “promised” goals within the Family, Staff, and Student communities. This dashboard takes information from multiple data tools to narrow the focus to where strategic planning could be better focused. D. Nigel Green is Senior Director of Equity and Tyler Portis is Senior Data Analyst within Noble Schools.
To&Through Milestones Tool 101: Exploring CPS Student Outcomes Data
In this 90 minute introductory workshop, participants will dive into the To&Through's online public data tool that shows CPS students' outcomes on key academic metrics from the sixth grade through college. You'll understand T&T's specific philosophy on data use, learn about the different “lenses” of available CPS outcomes data, and how this Tool can (and can't) be helpful in your work of strengthening student pathways to and through college.
Annual Middle Grades Network Celebration of Learning
Join us to celebrate the remarkable work of partner schools in the To&Through Middle Grades Network (MGN) at our annual celebration of learning. This virtual celebration will feature reflections from our MGN schools on their overall MGN experience, breakout sessions highlighting change ideas tested by schools, highlights from the MGN Student Fellowship.
Middle Grades to College: High School Views on Building Foundations for Postsecondary Success
The CPS Office of School Counseling and Postsecondary Advising and Success Bound will join the To&Through Middle Grades Network to host a panel of high school practitioners who will share advice on how to best support middle grades students in the transition to high school and the foundational skills necessary for postsecondary success. This session is geared towards elementary school practitioners supporting middle grades students and those interested in strengthening the connection between the middle grades and postsecondary success.
April Data Collaborative - UChicago Inclusive Economy Lab
Emileigh Harrison and Kelly Hallberg from the UChicago Inclusive Economy Lab will present research on the impact of the Star Scholarship in Chicago, which offers free community college tuition to high school graduates with at least a 3.0 GPA. Using a regression discontinuity design, their findings suggest that free community college increases overall degree attainment without causing students to substitute 4-year degrees for 2-year degrees.