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
September Data Collaborative | To&Through Project Family Story Series
As one parent of a first generation college student named “it’s not just sending our child, but rather a representative of a whole family.” In this session we will share our qualitative resource: Family Stories, a series dedicated to centering the expertise of parents of first generation college students as they create and pursue their postsecondary goals. We’ll share early drafts of our upcoming series centering Gage Park parents and ideas on next steps for the project.
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 the Milestones Tool can (and can’t) be helpful in your work to strengthen student pathways to and through college.
October Data Collaborative | The Learning Partnership
Steven McGee, President, and Randi McGee-Tekula, Vice President, of The Learning Partnership will present on The Learning Partnership’s research on computer science education in CPS. Their work is part of the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS), which is a partnership with CPS, DePaul University, Loyola University, University of Illinois Chicago, City Colleges of Chicago, and Partner to Improve.
Upcoming Events
September Data Collaborative | To&Through Project Family Story Series
As one parent of a first generation college student named “it’s not just sending our child, but rather a representative of a whole family.” In this session we will share our qualitative resource: Family Stories, a series dedicated to centering the expertise of parents of first generation college students as they create and pursue their postsecondary goals. We’ll share early drafts of our upcoming series centering Gage Park parents and ideas on next steps for the project.
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 the Milestones Tool can (and can’t) be helpful in your work to strengthen student pathways to and through college.
October Data Collaborative | The Learning Partnership
Steven McGee, President, and Randi McGee-Tekula, Vice President, of The Learning Partnership will present on The Learning Partnership’s research on computer science education in CPS. Their work is part of the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS), which is a partnership with CPS, DePaul University, Loyola University, University of Illinois Chicago, City Colleges of Chicago, and Partner to Improve.
November Data Collaborative | HEAR Scholarship Foundation
Vera Pollina, Executive Director, and Laury Wolf, Program Manager, of the HEAR Scholarship Foundation will present on gathering scholar data to drive programming opportunities. They will share about the early stages of surveying their college freshman cohort to determine the unique needs for support in a changing college landscape.
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 for this virtual workshop to practice finding and communicating insights from the Milestones Tool and share potential actions to take with that data.
December Data Collaborative | CPS and Civic Consulting Alliance
From May 2025 to June 2026, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), in partnership with Civic Consulting Alliance, convened a diverse working group of school leaders, teachers, counselors, partners, and central office staff to develop a middle school strategy and plan that builds upon current initiatives as a key postsecondary success commitment.
Past Events
March Data Collaborative - Noble Schools Network
JY Sun (Senior Director of College Analytics & Insights), Sarah MacCallum (Senior Director of College Counseling), and Claire Goodrich (Senior Director of Data) will present on how the Noble Schools network uses their college counseling framework in practice as well as associated KPIs and data systems they utilize to track progress.
Exploring College Success for Black Graduates of Chicago Public Schools
On February 20th, 2024, join us for a virtual presentation and discussion focused on the success of Black college graduates in Chicago Public Schools and the opportunities to strengthen college pathways and outcomes for Black CPS graduates. Following a presentation of data and existing research by Dominique McKoy of the To&Through Project, attendees will be invited to a post-presentation discussion to reflect on the implications and collective opportunities to improve our supports for Black CPS students and alumni.
February Data Collaborative - Kids First Chicago
Jose Pacas, Chris Poulos, and Micaelan Valesky will present key data insights that supported an in-depth report series of parent-led recommendations to help stem Chicago’s Enrollment Crisis. Jose, Chris, and Micaelan are part of the Data Science and Research team at Kids First Chicago.
January Data Collaborative - Evidence 2 Action Workshops
Rosa Ramirez Richter (UChicago Consortium on School Research) and Dom McKoy (The To&Through Project) will present on efforts to share research and data with CPS parent and community LSC members in our new Evidence to Action workshop series. Rosa is the Director of Engagement and Partnerships at the UChicago Consortium on School Research and Dom is the Deputy Director of the To&Through Project.
Research Spotlight: Evidence to Inform Holistic College Admissions Policies
As we continue to navigate a college admissions landscape following the Supreme Court ban on race-conscious admissions and a context that is increasingly test optional, how are we re-thinking what equitable admissions policies can look like? A new report examines the idea of contextualized evaluation to account for the opportunities available within a high school and the broader context of individual schools, which seeks to level the playing field among different applicants coming from starkly different high schools, neighborhoods, and backgrounds.
December Data Collaborative - Embarc Post Secondary Team
Thomas Goodwin (Director of Data & Analytics) and Frank Miller (Lead Postsecondary Success Coach) will provide a presentation highlighting their utilization of Postsecondary Success (PSS) metrics, including non-college options, to drive and enhance Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) outcomes. Additionally, they will explore the reciprocal relationship between SEL measures and the enhancement of the PSS curriculum.
Research Release: The Finishing in Four Years Fallacy: 4-year versus 6-year
On the Dec 5th, 2023 at 2pm join the To&Through Project and UChicago Consortium for the release of a new research brief and student stories series focused on CPS graduates' time to college completion.
November Data Collaborative - T&T Student Stories
The To&Through Project team will present on their expansion of the Student Stories initiative. These stories aim to humanize quantitative To&Through findings by zooming in on individual CPS student journeys to highlight the successes, challenges, and complexities that exist across the many post secondary pathways chosen by CPS graduates.
Inquiry and Action Workshop: To&Through Milestones Tool
Join the To&Through team as we explore new 2022 data on our To&Through Milestone Tool! This 90-minute in-person workshop will allow participants to explore the To&Through Milestone Tool and learn how the data can be used to inform the support efforts of Chicago Public Schools students on their paths to high school and college completion.
October Data Collaborative - Black Researchers Collective
Dr. Glenance Green and Shari Runner will present on the Black Researchers Collective's efforts to train and equip communities with the research tools to be more civically engaged and policy informed. Glenance and Shari are the co-founders of the Black Researcher Collective.