In 2001 and 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded two grants totaling $19.6 million over several years to raise student achievement rates by converting poorly-performing Chicago public high schools into clusters of small schools of no more than 500 students each. The initiative was designed to generate new models of how high schools can and should be organized, staffed and operated. A group of Chicago foundations, including the Polk Bros. Foundation, matched the 2001 grant with a pooled contribution of $6 million and joined with the Mayor’s Office, Chicago Public Schools, Board of Education and Chicago Teacher’s Union to form the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative (CHSRI). Since 2002, CHSRI has opened 22 new small schools in partnership with the Chicago Public Schools. Compared to similar students in other schools, students in CHSRI schools are absent fewer days, less likely to drop out of school and more on track to graduate. Click here for a progress chart.
Related links:
http://smallschools.cps.k12.il.us/
Gates Foundation Brochure