Record number of CPS students graduate with college, career credentials

The number of Chicago Public Schools graduates leaving high school with early college and career credentials has hit a record level, district officials said Friday.

CPS said 46.6 percent of students graduating in 2018 earned such credits, up from 43.4 percent last year. The figure represents a 50 percent increase from 2014, when less than a third of graduates had such credentials.

The majority of the growth came among African-American students, district officials said, although growth occurred among all racial groups. African-American students earning credentials increased by 4.4 percentage points, while Hispanic students increased by 2 percentage points over 2017.

CPS noted that there were some schools where more than 90 percent of graduates earned credentials or credits. They included Devry, Walter Payton, Phoenix Military, Prosser, Instituto Health, Legal Prep, Jones, Kenwood and Marine Leadership.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel also touted achievements in the district’s math and reading scores on standardized tests, which were announced earlier this week. A record of 56.6 percent of students met or exceeded the national average in math scores, and 61.4 exceeded the average in reading scores on the 2017-18 NWEA MAP assessment. However, the gains were slight, as math scores increased by .7 percentage points and reading scores remained unchanged from 2017.

Last year, CPS announced new graduation requirements for the class of 2020 that will make “having a plan for post-secondary success” a graduation requirement. In order to graduate, students will be required to present a letter of acceptance from a four-year college; a community college; the military; or a trade.