Unpublished Paper
SIR Final Paper 2021.pdf
(2021)
Abstract
We utilized data analytics to investigate potential inequitable practices and policies within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system that may negatively affect underrepresented and disadvantaged students. We focused on factors that contribute to school rankings, standardized testing, and admissions within selective enrollment schools. We also investigated equity concerns regarding CPS’s tier system used to determine admissions to selective enrollment schools and have found flaws in the method used to calculate tiers, suggesting that a better model can be constructed. Additionally, we looked into the use of police notifications in both high schools and elementary schools and found stark racial disparities in the use of police in elementary schools. Schools with higher percentages of Black students have a significantly higher number of police notifications and disciplinary actions of higher severity. We analyzed the data concerning discipline in conjunction with student demographics and test scores per school. These results show severe disciplinary action does not solve the problem of student insubordination, but rather criminalize them for minor misbehavior. Analyses on the CPS’ six-factor socioeconomic tier system revealed that home ownership rates and the percentage of foreign language-speaking families were poor at determining the financial state of neighborhoods. A comparison of the percentages of students on free or reduced lunch across a four year span also echo growing trends of gentrification within Chicago as low-income students are leaving the city and high-income students are moving to more affluent areas within Chicago. Elementary and middle school return rates mirror the lower vaccination percentages and higher death rates in less affluent regions, showing CPS’ and Chicago’s inability to effectively protect disenfranchised students.
Keywords
- Chicago Public School System,
- education,
- charter schools,
- inequity,
- dicipline,
- elementary schools
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer May 15, 2021
Citation Information
Disha Dureja. "SIR Final Paper 2021.pdf" (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/disha-dureja/14/