Today, the Chicago Board of Education will vote on whether to turn around or close more than a dozen schools as part of its Renaissance 2010 reformation plan. Earlier this week, new Chicago Public Schools CEO Ron Huberman spared a few schools. But these others might not be so lucky. For the “turn-around schools,” the non-profit Academy for Urban School Leadership steps in to train new teachers and implement efforts to increase test scores and attendance. They say the program works. But a recent study from the University of Illinois at Chicago questions that success, and the methods CPS uses to decide if a school is not using its full capacity.

Pauline Lipman is one of the researchers from UIC’s Data and Democracy project that produced the report.

Music Button: Ohn, “Ijo People”, from the CD In The End All Things Begin, (ill Dough records)