Record number of Chicago public school students on track to graduate

Record number of Chicago public school students on track to graduate

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Almost 75 percent of the sophomores in Chicago Public Schools are on track to graduate this year, according to their freshman year performance. 

The district says that’s the biggest percentage since itt started keeping track in 1997, and the increase follows an upward trend that began in 2007.

The University of Chicago’s Consortium on School Research developed the “on track” calculation, which looks at credits and grades in the first year of high school. If a student has at least five credits and no more than one ‘F’ in a core subject, like English or math, they are considered “on track,” which makes them at least three times more likely to graduate.

District officials also say they saw the lowest percentage of kids dropping out this year—about 7 percent filed paperwork to drop out during the last school year. However, that data is different from what’s traditionally considered the dropout rate, which calculates how many students start high school but do not graduate within four years.