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
March | City Colleges of Chicago
DATE CHANGE: Now Tuesday 3/10 at 2pm (changed from 3/17) In FY25, in response to both rising student need and looming federal program cuts, the City Colleges of Chicago launched the Thrive Strategy: an ambitious system-wide commitment to making basic needs support—spanning food security, housing, mental health, emergency grants, and technology—an integral part of the CCC experience.
April Data Collaborative | UChicago UTEP
The UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) will present on a current UTEP project. More details forthcoming. Tinishia Legaux Washington is the Director of UTEP and Kay Fujiyoshi is an Induction Coach and Instructor for UTEP.
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.
Upcoming Events
March | City Colleges of Chicago
DATE CHANGE: Now Tuesday 3/10 at 2pm (changed from 3/17) In FY25, in response to both rising student need and looming federal program cuts, the City Colleges of Chicago launched the Thrive Strategy: an ambitious system-wide commitment to making basic needs support—spanning food security, housing, mental health, emergency grants, and technology—an integral part of the CCC experience.
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 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?
April Data Collaborative | UChicago UTEP
The UChicago Urban Teacher Education Program (UTEP) will present on a current UTEP project. More details forthcoming. Tinishia Legaux Washington is the Director of UTEP and Kay Fujiyoshi is an Induction Coach and Instructor for UTEP.
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
Come mix and mingle with our T&T Data Collaborative community and hear how folks have implemented feedback this year. In-Person!
Past Events
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.
Research Spotlight: The Impact of Ninth-Grade Ethnic Studies on Educational Attainment
How did one ninth-grade class curriculum increase students’ overall engagement in school, probability of graduating, and likelihood of enrolling in college? Join us to learn about new research on how offering an ethnic studies course to ninth-graders in the San Francisco Unified School District fostered these outcomes.
To&Through Data Collaborative: The To&Through Middle Grades Network
Ashley Leonard and Jen Ciok will present on reflection tools being used to help support and codify educator learning through the To&Through Middle Grades Network. Ashley is the Director and Jen is the Lead Coach for the To&Through Middle Grades Network.
Research Spotlight: Student Debt's Disparate Impact on Black Borrowers
Could higher education be exacerbating the racial wealth gap? Join us to learn about Dr. Louise Seamster’s research on how student loans are disparately impacting Black students' lives and how the findings can help reframe who we, as a nation, owe. Dr. Seamster will also present findings from her recent research on the implications of student loan forgiveness options for racial equity.
To&Through Data Collaborative: Northern Illinois University
Alan Clemens will present on the addition of Equity Profiles to the Illinois Postsecondary Profiles (IPP) tool. The IPP provides statewide postsecondary data directly from agency sources designed to support a variety of use cases. Alan is the Director of Illinois Interactive Report Cards at Northern Illinois University and will be joined by other members of the management and development team for IPP.
Annual Update on the Educational Attainment of Chicago Public Schools Students
The To&Through Project and UChicago Consortium will share our newest report on the 2020 Educational Attainment of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Students. Researchers will provide a picture of educational attainment during the onset of the pandemic (which comprises the most recent available data) for students of different race/ethnicity groups, students who began as English Learners, students with disabilities, and Options students.
To&Through Data Collaborative: UIC & Kids First on CPS Accountability Stakeholder Engagement
Natalie Neris and Matt Sweeney will present on the stakeholder engagement process for the CPS Accountability Redesign initiative at our December To&Through Data Collaborative.
Using Community-Based Data for Educational Equity
Join us on Wednesday, November 17 at 11:00 AM (CST) for a panel discussion with leaders from organizations collecting and using data on differences in investments, assets, and educational experiences between communities in Chicago. Leaders will discuss the implications of these data for cross-sector efforts to foster equitable investment in and educational experiences for Chicago Public Schools students.
To&Through Data Collaborative: To&Through on the Middle Grades Data Tool
Alex Seeskin and Thomas Massion will share a working prototype of the To&Through Online Tool that for the first time provides elementary schools with data on their graduates' Freshman OnTrack, high school graduation, and college enrollment rates. Alex is the Director of the To&Through Project and Thomas is a Research Analyst with the To&Through Project.
Community-Based Approaches to Educational Improvement
Join us on Tuesday, November 9 at 11:00 AM (CST) to put CBOs’ work in conversation with new research from the UChicago Consortium and the To&Through Project on differences in educational attainment between Chicago’s community areas. CBO leaders from the South and West Sides of Chicago will discuss the need for a whole-city approach to educational improvement and the collaborations that must be realized to advance educational equity.