Elevate
In partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the Education Lab evaluated a whole-school personalized learning reform model to bolster student achievement, particularly in high-need communities.
Challenge
Differences in academic achievement across student groups are persistent (and worsened in the pandemic), but research has shown that individualized instruction can be effective in rapidly improving academic achievement, offering one potential solution for closing educational gaps. However, these programs have historically been relatively small in scale.
Opportunity
To accelerate learning using an evidence-based approach, Chicago Public Schools launched an ambitious $25 million effort to embed personalized learning into elementary schools in low-income neighborhoods in Chicago. The Elevate model, implemented over 2.5 years, embeds a student-centered instructional model that infuses personalized learning practices into elementary schools on a scale not previously attempted by a large urban school district. The Education Lab conducted an implementation evaluation and randomized controlled trial to determine the impact of the Elevate initiative on student experience and achievement in three cohorts of schools across a 2.5-year period.
Project overview
Many education reforms focus on addressing differences in academic achievement between students with different backgrounds. Research in Chicago and elsewhere has shown that individualized instruction can be particularly effective in improving academic achievement. In light of this, in 2015, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) launched Elevate, an ambitious $25 million effort to embed personalized learning into elementary schools in low-income Chicago neighborhoods. Schools participating in Elevate received resources to develop the personalized learning environment, including intensive professional development support for administrators and teachers, technology devices to achieve 1:1 device-student ratios, education technology programs, and both a CPS Instructional Coach and a CPS social/emotional learning Coach to provide in-school support for individualized instruction and culture.
The University of Chicago Education Lab is currently evaluating the impact of the Elevate model on students’ learning and behavior with a randomized controlled trial of 45 elementary schools. This evaluation also includes a three-year implementation study by partners at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). Findings from AIR’s implementation study suggest consistency in the delivery of district-level supports to participating schools over the entire span of Elevate since these categories had the highest implementation fidelity for both cohorts and all participation phases. Moreover, the findings also highlight the need to re-examine the implementation of teacher training for any continued implementation or expansion of Elevate since this category has the lowest implementation fidelity for both cohorts and all participation phases.
The Education Lab is currently analyzing the impact of the Elevate model on student outcomes.
Years Active
2017 – present
Topics
Project Leads
Salman Khan
Research Director
Fatemeh Momeni
Research Director
Monica Bhatt
Senior Research Director
Jon Guryan
Faculty Co-Director
Overcoming Pandemic-Induced Learning Loss
The Education Lab’s faculty co-directors, Dr. Jens Ludwig, professor at the University of Chicago, and Dr. Jon Guryan, professor at Northwestern University, published a paper commissioned by the Aspen Economic Strategy Group for its 2023 policy volume.
Personalized Learning Initiative Research Brief
Overview of the Personalized Learning Initiative, a nationwide R&D initiative to scale the benefits of tutoring.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
Read our academic paper on the early Saga studies published in the American Economic Review.
Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents
National Bureau of Economic Research working paper that evaluates the effectiveness of an innovative intervention, focused on personalized, intensive, in-school tutoring, in improving academic outcomes for adolescents who are academically behind in school.