Studies of Massachusetts and Milwaukee school kids suggest that one straightforward way to improve school performance, even on standardized tests alone, is to reduce lead exposure. Read more
Far from the heated rhetoric of the charters-versus-public schools debate, a 2009 paper looking at a decade of charter schools in Chicago suggests that they don't necessarily improve test scores all that much, but that charter high schools are good at sending kids to college, in ways traditional schools might learn from. Read more
Obstreperous, loud, and unscripted, the Chicago Teachers Union president led the city's public school teachers to strike against Rahm Emanuel’s reform agenda—and became a national figure overnight. Who is this person? Read more
Chicago-area schools, compared to their metro peers, are some of the most segregated in the country. By some measures, they're the most segregated. This has broad implications for policy, but no one really has a good sense of what those implications are, or should be. Read more
Rahm Emanuel and Karen Lewis went head to head in labor negotiations unlike any the city had seen in years—because of changes within the union, in the economy, and City Hall. It's a bit too early to fill out the scorecard. Read more
Another poll, conducted three days into the strike, again finds a majority in favor of the teachers—and substantial divides between CPS and non-CPS parents, which parallel the demographics of CPS students. Read more
By Steve Hendershot, Owen Hurd, Geoffrey Johnson, Dennis Rodkin, and Jennifer Tanaka
Despite the strains on public schools right now—especially in Chicago—the best ones still deliver a terrific education. But which ones are the best? Check out our rankings of the 133 top elementary and high schools in the area. Read more
America sweating its spoiled, stupid youth has a long, rich history in journalism and higher education—none richer than in the postwar years, when our nitwit teens were going to get us all nuked to kingdom come. Read more
Research into the mysterious phenomenon of copycat suicides could help explain the recent deaths of three Lake Forest teens who stepped in front of speeding trains Read more
