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