Vision and Mission

Vision:

The UChicago Network for College Success envisions the transformation of public high schools to communities of powerful learning for students and educators. We imagine schools in which all students excel academically and develop the agency, integrated identity, and competencies necessary to have successful lives as adults.

Mission:

The UChicago Network for College Success works to cultivate postsecondary readiness and success for all students by translating research into practice and supporting high school leaders to organize their schools for improvement and innovation.

Guiding Principles: 

Leaders create conditions to interrupt inequities- Challenging leaders to create the conditions to interrupt inequities in schools and districts is vital to transforming schools.

We want students to become independent learners- Students become independent learners when teachers challenge and develop their intellectual capacity, explicitly grow their academic mindsets and non-cognitive skills, and engage them in building knowledge and competencies.

School-based leaders drive transformation- School-based leaders drive transformation in schools. Leveraging and building their capacity as leaders is an essential lever for school improvement.

Educators can solve their own problems- Educators have the capacity to solve their own problems when they have actionable data, research-based strategies, collaborative teams, and professional trust.

Build trust to collaborate and make practice public- School improvement happens when adults make their practice public and critically examine their work collaboratively. Trust is essential to adults’ willingness to engage in this process.

Data should be used to empower- Data is a compelling tool when it empowers practitioners to surface inequities, trace causes, seek solutions, and guide change. Data can be destructive when it is only used to judge and punish.

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Through our partnerships with schools and districts, we seek to transform educational systems that were designed to exclude and marginalize students of color and co-create anti-racist institutions of equitable learning. Click here to learn about our organizational Equity Stance.