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
Spotlight on Student Voice: Centering Young People as Experts in Student Experience
How can we better put student voice and student feedback into action? Join us on May 2nd at 2:00pm (CST) to engage in discussion with Middle Grades Network (MGN) Student Fellowship and its alignment with one of their partner schools, Sumner Math & Science Community Academy. Participants will learn about the process of student voice implementation and understand how direct feedback from students can be used to shift practice.
May Data Collaborative - The People’s Music School
Natalie Butler and Marc Wilson will present on The People's Music School's use of quantitative and qualitative data analysis to deepen student impact over a long-term journey with the school. The People's Music School is one of the nation's only and largest free music schools, partnering with CPS schools to provide high quality after-school music programming in Chicago's historically underserved communities. Natalie is their Dean of Learning & Teaching and Marc is the Chief of Strategy and Partnerships.
Kegs & Cases: Supporting CPS students in their journeys after high school
Join us in-person for our second annual To&Through Kegs & Cases event at Guild Row (3130 N Rockwell St, Chicago, IL 60618). We will share our latest Learning Case– a qualitative look at how practitioners are supporting CPS alumni in their postsecondary journeys in the first two years after high school graduation. Come participate in a facilitated case learning experience, learn about how this resource can support the learning communities you engage with, and network with our To&Through community with drinks and snacks!
Upcoming Events
Spotlight on Student Voice: Centering Young People as Experts in Student Experience
How can we better put student voice and student feedback into action? Join us on May 2nd at 2:00pm (CST) to engage in discussion with Middle Grades Network (MGN) Student Fellowship and its alignment with one of their partner schools, Sumner Math & Science Community Academy. Participants will learn about the process of student voice implementation and understand how direct feedback from students can be used to shift practice.
May Data Collaborative - The People’s Music School
Natalie Butler and Marc Wilson will present on The People's Music School's use of quantitative and qualitative data analysis to deepen student impact over a long-term journey with the school. The People's Music School is one of the nation's only and largest free music schools, partnering with CPS schools to provide high quality after-school music programming in Chicago's historically underserved communities. Natalie is their Dean of Learning & Teaching and Marc is the Chief of Strategy and Partnerships.
Kegs & Cases: Supporting CPS students in their journeys after high school
Join us in-person for our second annual To&Through Kegs & Cases event at Guild Row (3130 N Rockwell St, Chicago, IL 60618). We will share our latest Learning Case– a qualitative look at how practitioners are supporting CPS alumni in their postsecondary journeys in the first two years after high school graduation. Come participate in a facilitated case learning experience, learn about how this resource can support the learning communities you engage with, and network with our To&Through community with drinks and snacks!
June Data Collaborative: OneGoal
Susie Tovar, E.M. Saunders, Veronica Nieves and Drew Stricker will share about the OneGoal organization and recent quantitative analysis about postsecondary outcomes for students “in the middle” academically (GPA: 2.25-2.99). OneGoal is a postsecondary access and success organization working with schools and districts to transform postsecondary advising so that all students can define their futures. Susie is the Senior Director of Teacher Support, Junior Year of High School; E.M.
Past Events
To&Through Data Collaborative: Hope Chicago
Dr. Janice K. Jackson and Michele Howard will present and seek feedback on Hope Chicago's two-generation, debt-free college scholarship and support program for Chicago Public Schools students. Dr. Jackson is the CEO of Hope Chicago and Michele Howard is the Chief Program Officer.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Project OneTen
On August 23 at 2 PM (CST), Dirrick Butler will present on how Project OneTen is working to measure relationship development and student growth for ninth-grade young men in their program. Dirrick Butler is the founder and executive director of Project OneTen, a mentorship and academic coaching program for Black and Brown boys in Chicago.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Teach Plus
Josh Kaufmann, Kristen Ciciora, and Teach Plus teacher leaders will present on their work to codify best practices for improving teacher diversity at all parts of the teacher pipeline, from what it takes for students of color to consider education as a career to how schools need to change in order to better support their educators of color. Josh is the Executive Director and Kristen is the Senior Director of Instructional Programs at Teach Plus Illinois.
To&Through Data Collaborative: The Network for College Success
The Postsecondary Team at Network for College Success will present on the Developmental Relationships Survey tool as a first step in identifying what support and guidance young people receive from all adults at the high school level as young people discover who they are, develop abilities to shape their own lives, and learn how to engage with and contribute to the world around them on their postsecondary journey.
Research Spotlight: Chicago's Enrollment Crisis
How are equity issues in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) exacerbated by the reality of declining student enrollment? Join us on Thursday, June 9 at 2 PM (CST) to learn about Kids First Chicago's latest report exploring the root causes of CPS's enrollment decline. Kids First Chicago's (K1C) Chief of Policy Hal Woods will review the key drivers behind the decline and share how K1C is engaging parents and communities in identifying potential solutions to keep more families in Chicago and enrolled in CPS.
To&Through Data Collaborative: University of Illinois at Chicago
Sue Farruggia and Jeremiah Abiade will present on the support of Black enrollees at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the development of the DuSable Scholars program.
Research Spotlight: Helping Homeless Students “Beat the Odds”
What strategies or practices can schools implement to better support homeless students? Join us on Tuesday, May 10 at 12 PM (CST) when researchers Dr. Shantá Robinson and Dr. Kelly Hallberg will share findings from a recent qualitative and quantitative study that highlights service gaps and suggests potential interventions for students and their families who are experiencing homelessness.
Research Spotlight: Using Incentives to Boost Attendance
Do awards motivate student attendance? Do different types of awards have different impacts? Join us on Tuesday, May 3 at 2 PM (CST) to learn about recent research on attendance incentives and the implications for practice. Study author Dr. Carly Robinson, who is now a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Brown University, will present astonishing findings that were featured in NPR, The Hechinger Report, and more.
To&Through Data Collaborative: The MAAFA Redemption Project
Marshall Hatch, Jr. will present the MAAFA Redemption Project's efforts to reimagine the language used to describe BIPOC youth and young adults (e.g., “at-risk”, “high-risk” and “highest risk” ) and evaluate violence prevention efforts on the West Side of Chicago. Marshall Hatch, Jr. is the Executive Director of the MAAFA Redemption Project.
To&Through Data Collaborative: A Better Chicago, Thrive Chicago, & the Chicago Public Education Fund
Presenters on behalf of A Better Chicago, Thrive Chicago, and the Chicago Public Education Fund will share an in-progress Youth Opportunity Index that aims to track and report a set of cradle-to-careers and resource-access metrics. The metrics map across the city of Chicago and are disaggregated by demographic and socioeconomic factors.