Chicago Students Poorly Prepared For College

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

(Crain’s) — Chicago Public Schools are doing a poor job in putting students, particularly Latinos, on track to succeed in college, according to a report issued today by a University of Chicago research group.

The university’s Consortium on Chicago School Research found that though 80% of Chicago high school seniors say they expect to graduate from a four-year college, only one-third actually enroll in such institutions within a year of graduation. Only 35% of the latter set earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.

Moreover, the colleges and universities that CPS graduates attend tend to be less selective in their admissions policy, the consortium concluded, which termed the overall situation “discouraging.” And the situation is particularly bad for Chicago’s Hispanic students, who trailed their peers nationally in college-success rates far more than African-American or white students.

“What we are seeing is a significant gap between students’ aspiration and their college access and performance,” said Melissa Roderick, principal investigator of the consortium’s Postsecondary Transition Project.

It appears that Chicago might not be the model for educating students.