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
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.
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.
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.
Upcoming Events
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Past Events
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.
Data Spotlight: Are Colleges Creating Socioeconomic Mobility?
A new data tool from the Postsecondary Value Commission provides vital insights into whether colleges are generating the economic outcomes we care about for students. Join us for a presentation and Q&A with two of the researchers behind the Equitable Postsecondary Value Explorer. They will share key findings from analyses of the data and demonstrate how to use the tool to interrogate whether colleges are opening the doors of socioeconomic mobility for graduates.