Back in 1987, then U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett fingered Chicago public schools as the worst in the nation. Chicagoans may have been tempted to brush off the secretary’s observation as heavy-handed Washington bluster. But Bennett was only repeating what civic leaders, educators, parents, and students there already knew: their schools were failing and desperately needed fresh resources, organization, ideas, and purpose.

Since that time, teachers, school leaders, politicians, researchers, philanthropies, businesses, community organizations, and families have joined in dynamic ways to reform the city’s school system. Through the 1990s, Chicago was willing to try just about anything—and did—to improve its schools. Along the way, each initiative was closely monitored by education researchers.

What lessons can be learned from Chicago’s many successes and mistakes over the last dozen years? Over the past year and continuing into the next, the Harvard Education Letter has examined the Chicago experience. We’ve looked not just at big-picture issues and top-down strategies of reform, but also at the quality of education at the classroom level. We’ve talked with Chicago principals, practitioners, and parents and translated their local experiences into insights and lessons that will help administrators, teachers, school board members, and superintendents across the United States improve the schools in their communities.

Click here for a list of articles in the series.
Click here to subscribe or order.