The UChicago Network for College Success (NCS) 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.
To represent and actualize our mission, NCS is intentionally led across racial difference. Our staff is, by design, diverse in race, gender, ethnicity, and LGBTQIA identities. Our community embodies a wide array of religious and spiritual traditions, languages, and professional experiences. Our team includes staff who bring a wide variety of expertise to the organization, from data strategy to events management; former principals, counselors, and teachers; former Chicago Public School (CPS) students and current CPS families.
NCS developed out of a growing need for research-based education reform in Chicago. In 2006, Professor Melissa Roderick answered the call for real change when high school principals approached her to improve their school outcomes regarding academic achievement and graduation.
NCS employs experts in professional learning as facilitators of professional development and as coaches. NCS coaches have been successful in the classroom and/or as school leaders, and are given the professional learning necessary to translate that success into capacity building.
NCS partners with a committed and diverse group of CPS high schools across the city. Leaders within and across our schools work collaboratively to improve and sustain student outcomes. In SY22, NCS is working with three distinct cohorts, serving 38 schools.