For 29 years, the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium) has informed solutions to the greatest challenges facing urban schools. 

The UChicago Consortium focuses on research that…

• IS RELEVANT. Research must be closely connected over time to the core problems facing practitioners and decision makers.
• CREATES IMPACT. Making an impact means researchers must pay careful attention to the process by which people learn, assimilate new information and ideas, internalize that information, and connect it to their own problems of practice.
• IS DONE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CPS. Building capacity requires that the role of the researcher must shift from outside expert to interactive participant in building knowledge of what matters for students’ success.
• MATTERS NATIONWIDE. Our work is in direct response to questions in Chicago—questions that educators, policymakers, parents, and community members are asking in schools and districts across the country.

Mission

The UChicago Consortium conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We seek to expand communication among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners as we support the search for solutions to the problems of school reform. The UChicago Consortium encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice, but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, we help to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.

Objective & Neutral

The UChicago Consortium strives to observe the highest scholarly, scientific, and professional standards in the collection, analysis, interpretation of data, and reporting of research. Read our neutrality policy to learn more.