Career Development in Chicago Public Schools: Advancing Equity in Opportunities and Outcomes

About the Research Study

There has been a culture shift in secondary education in recent years, from a strong emphasis on “college readiness” to “college and career readiness.” In Chicago, decades of investment in and intentional focus on college readiness has led to the district’s highest college enrollment rates ever, with 2 out of every 3 Chicago Public Schools (CPS) graduates enrolling in college. While college-going is still a priority, CPS is now in parallel investing heavily in career readiness. They are currently implementing a “reimagining” of their career development opportunities (CDOs) across the district to provide high quality and equitable career development to all students.

This two-phase study will advance the field’s understanding of the current state of career development in secondary schools, specifically the CDOs that are being offered and their relationship to student outcomes. The first phase will document the range of CDOs offered by CPS, a large, diverse, urban district, and analyze student participation and outcomes. These CDOs include over 30 career and technical education (CTE) pathways offered across over 80 high schools and work-based learning (WBL) experiences that start in the middle grades and span the WBL continuum of career awareness, exploration, and development. Exploratory research activities and results will inform the design of the second phase, a rigorous causal study of a to-be-determined CDO.

Study period: 4 years (9/1/2024–8/31/2028)

This project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305N240051 to University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

CTE 2.0

As Chicago reimagines career development opportunities, it is a critical moment for clear understanding about the past and current states of CTE. We are excited to deepen our partnerships with Chicago Public Schools and IWERC – and our longstanding role supporting the postsecondary success of Chicago’s youth – with this rigorous examination of the implementation and impacts of CPS’s career development opportunities. I know other districts will look to our study for insights relevant to their own CTE, too.

Amy Arneson, PhD

About the Research Team

This study is a collaboration among two research-practice partnerships--the UChicago Consortium on School Research and the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC)---and Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The UChicago Consortium was founded in 1990 and has inspired close to 50 other cities and states to create similar partnerships. In particular, IWERC launched in 2020 as a research-practice partner to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). This study will provide to CPS--and the field at large--information to support decision-making about policy on, resources directed to, and implementation of secondary career development.