A Chicago Sun-Times article reported on the decline of minority students in some of the city’s top ranked selective enrollment high schools. Joining Elizabeth Brackett to take a detailed look at selective enrollment schools, their impact, and their effect on racial diversity are John Barker, Chief Accountability Officer for Chicago Public Schools, Steve Tozer, a professor at University of Illinois at Chicago and the founding coordinator of UIC’s Urban Education Leadership program, Lisa Barrow, a research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Dwayne Truss, the Assistant Director of Raise Your Hand Illinois. 

Selective enrollment schools have quotas, and 70 percent of spots at selective schools are based on the tier system. The remaining 30 percent of spots are given to the highest-performing applicants, regardless of where they live in the city.

Chicago Public Schools places each part of the city into one of four socio-economic tiers, which are created by examining each area’s median income, education level, home-ownership rates, single-parent family rates, rates of English-speaking, and neighborhood school performance. Learn which tier you’re in.

The selection process for students includes using the tier system as well as students’ ranks on a 900-point scale, which is derived from admissions test scores, ISAT scores, and final report card grades. Each criteria is worth a maximum of 300 points.

-Map by Kristen Thometz