(Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

Students across Chicago Public Schools recorded some of the largest post-pandemic academic gains in reading and math, according to a new national study.

District officials are lauding the findings from Harvard and Stanford researchers, which showed CPS was first in reading recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic among large school districts across the country, and 13th in math.

“CPS students outpaced the state as a whole in similar districts,” CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova told WTTW News. “CPS actually lost more ground during the pandemic than the state as a whole and also similar districts. So we had a lot more to recover, but also we are excited that we came out on top of this and accelerated the growth past the pandemic.”

The study examined test scores from approximately 8,000 school districts in 30 states to measure changes from 2019 to 2022, and then from 2022 to 2023. For Chicago and Illinois schools, researchers relied on results from the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, which is administered to kids in grades 3-8.

(Education Recovery Scorecard)

Overall, the study found that only students in Alabama exceeded their pre-pandemic achievement levels in spring 2023 testing, while students in Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana matched pre-pandemic levels in reading.

Between 2022 and 2023, CPS made up 35% of a grade equivalent in math in a single year after losing three-quarters of a grade equivalent during the pandemic, according to the study. In reading, achievement in Chicago now exceeds 2019 levels.

According to Chkoumbova, Chicago’s Black students showed the greatest growth and gains among large urban districts, emerging from the pandemic two-thirds of a year ahead in reading compared to 2019.

Latino students in CPS saw the second-highest growth and the highest net gains among similar districts, Chkoumbova said.

(Education Recovery Scorecard)

Part of the reason for this growth and recovery, according to Chkoumbova, was that CPS “doubled down” on supports for students who were falling behind. That included hiring full-time interventionists and tutors, as well as hundreds of instructional coaches for teacher professional development.

“It is really important to continue to gain support and momentum to sustain the efforts we have put in place and actually continue to accelerate growth for students so we can actually get to a higher proficiency,” she said. “We are not there yet. We have a lot more work to do.”

But those programs were only made possible due to the billions of dollars in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds CPS received during the pandemic. Chkoumbova said the district stretched those dollars as far as they would go, but with the funding set to run out, the district could soon face a nearly $400 million budget shortfall.

She called on state, federal and local leaders to step up and provide CPS with the necessary funding to sustain that achievement.

“We have a strong plane that is flying right now, but what we really need is to add more fuel to the plane so we can not only continue to accelerate speed, but also to gain altitude,” she said. “We must protect and sustain this investment.”

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431