Urban Education Initiative

The state of our urban public schools is one of the most urgent problems facing the country. Research conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research shows that only 8% of Chicago Public School students who started as high school freshmen in 1998 received college degrees by age 25. Such sobering statistics are repeated throughout the nation and indicate the magnitude of the challenge facing our communities and school systems.

The Urban Education Initiative (UEI) is committed to meeting that challenge by uniting rigorous research with exemplary practice to address the most significant problems of urban education.

• In University of Chicago-operated charter schools, we are putting to test the best ideas about how children learn, how to support learning through school and classroom organization, how to promote the incentives and management practices that support effective practice, and how to mobilize social services in school settings to advance children’s social development.
• In a broader network of collaborating schools, we are examining how training of incumbent teachers, social workers and school leaders can improve practice and deepen student learning.
• In the Urban Teacher Education Program, we are testing our knowledge of how best to prepare new teachers with the skills necessary for successfully meeting the demands of urban schools.

Through these efforts, UEI is developing a distinctive Chicago Model for Urban Schooling. The aims are to transform conceptions of what urban children can learn and to clarify the measures needed to organize schools to make this learning possible.

In bringing to bear the resources of a leading research institution on critical problems of urban education, UEI is not only contributing to the solution of these problems but also creating a fundamentally new conception of the role of a University in improving K-12 education.

About UEI's components

Through the Urban Education Initiative, the University of Chicago is a leader among institutions of higher education in understanding and addressing the challenges in urban education facing this nation. Combining rigorous, multi-disciplinary inquiry with the highest standards of practice, we are providing an education for children that empowers their future while advancing fundamental knowledge about how to improve urban education.

Robert J. Zimmer
President,
University of Chicago