Study: No real progress in CPS grade school reading in 20 years

BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter rrossi@suntimes.com September 30, 2011 1:12AM

So after waves and waves of reform, you thought Chicago public elementary schools had made tremendous progress in the last 20 years?

Think again.

Despite millions of dollars in fixes and programs, Chicago’s elementary grade reading scores have barely budged over the last two decades, a new report by the University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research has found.

Math scores improved only “incrementally” in those grades, and racial gaps in both subjects increased, with African American students falling the most behind other groups, especially in reading — an area pushed heavily under former Mayor Richard M. Daley.

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