PRINCIPALS

Percentage of principals new since LSCs began hiring them in 1989: 83

Percentage of principals hired from inside the Chicago Public School system: 95

Percentage of principals hired from inside the same school: 90

Source: Financial Research and Advisory Committee

TEACHERS

Courses in reading instruction required to teach elementary school in Illinois: 1

Percentage of Chicago elementary school principals who said half or fewer of their teachers had a good grasp of language arts instruction: 33

Source: “Charting Reform: The Principals’ Perspective,” December 1992. Consortium on Chicago School Research

PARENTS

Percentage of elementary school teachers who say their principals encourage them to communicate regularly with parents: 86

Percentage of 6th- and 8th-graders who say their parents did not talk to their teachers during the past school year: 39

Source: Consortium on Chicago School Research, 1994 and 1995 surveys.

LOCAL SCHOOL COUNCILS

Number of candidates in the first LSC election in 1989: 17,096

Number of candidates in the 1998 LSC election: 7,289

Number of LSC seats: 5,664

Source: Chicago Public Schools

SMALL SCHOOLS

Number of Chicago public schools with fewer than 350 students: 55

Number of Chicago public schools with more than 1,000 students: 53

Percentage of small schools that are majority middle income: 29

Percentage of large schools that are majority middle income: 0

Percentage of small-school students who scored above average in reading: 36

Percentage of large-school students who scored above average in reading: 4

Source: Catalyst analysis of CPS data.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Number of elementary schools placed on probation in 1996 for low test scores: 71

Percentage of those schools whose enrollment is at least 80 percent low-income: 100

Source: Catalyst analysis of CPS data

TEST SCORES

Percentage of 3rd- through 8th-graders scoring at/above average in reading, 1990: 23.5

Percentage of 3rd- through 8th-graders scoring at/above average in reading, 1998: 34.7

Percentage of 3rd- through 8th-graders scoring at/above average in math, 1990: 27.1

Percentage of 3rd- through 8th-graders scoring at/above average in math, 1998: 39.6

Source: CPS data

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