CPS Launches Program to Help Kids Catch Up Online

Summer Online Credit Recovery Pilot Targets More than 600 First-time Freshmen

In accordance with Chicago Public Schools’ push to get freshmen students on-track for graduation, the district has launched a pilot program that for the first time ever offers online credit recovery to CPS students during the summer.

June 30 marked the first day of Summer Online Credit Recovery, when students started logging onto the Internet and, with the assistance and supervision of a CPS mentor, taking courses and recovering lost credits. The pilot program targets first-time freshmen who have accumulated one or two credits less than what is required to be academically on-track to graduation.

“We must use all available resources to get our students on track, including the summer months when school is out of session and the technology at our fingertips,” said CPS Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan. “We believe that Summer Online Credit Recovery will help us put our students on a path that leads to high school graduation and much, much more.”

The 30 CPS mentors facilitating these courses will support students, at their schools, as they progress through their individual programs of study in a variety of online courses simultaneously in a single classroom. About 600 students from 19 schools are participating in the entirely virtual credit recovery experience. The schools are as follows:

• Austin Polytech Academy, 231 N. Pine Ave.
• Banner Alternative School, 2330 E. 99th St.
• Bowen Environmental Studies Team (BEST), 2710 E. 89th St.
• Carver Military Academy, 13100 S. Doty West Ave.
• Chicago Academy High School, 3400 N. Austin Blvd.
• Chicago Vocational Career Academy Achievement Academy, 8600 S. Chappel Ave.
• Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave.
• Corliss High School, 821 E. 103rd St.
• Crane Tech Prep and Crane Achievement Academy, 2245 W. Jackson Blvd.
• Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, 3000 S. King Drive
• Fenger Academy High School and Achievement Academy, 11220 S. Wallace St.
• Kelly High School, 4136 S. California Ave.
• Kelvyn Park High School, 4343 W. Wrightwood Ave.
• Milburn Alternative High School, 545 E. Oakwood Blvd.
• North Grand High School, 4338 W. Wabasnia
• Phillips Achievement Academy, 244 E. Pershing Road
• Senn High School, 5900 N. Glenwood Ave.
• Simeon Career Academy, 8147 S. Vincennes Ave.
• Wells Community Academy High School, 936 N. Ashland Ave.

Each course taken in Summer Online Credit Recovery represents 60 hours of class time. A passing grade in an online course earns a student half, or 0.5, of a high school credit. A total of 24 credits, or six credits a year, are needed for graduation from high school.

Data shows that credit recovery is most effective in a student’s freshman year. First-time freshmen, who have earned four of six possible credits by the end of their freshman year, have only a 24 percent chance of graduating from high school. However, if these students are able to recover just one of these credits, for a total of five credits by the end of their freshman year, their chances of graduating high school go up to 45 percent. If these students reach a total of six credits, their chances of graduating high school shoot up to 68 percent.

“Summer Online Credit Recovery allows students to work at their own pace, so they can move quickly through the parts that they understand and spend more time on the concepts that they find challenging,” said Rufus Williams, President of the Chicago Board of Education. “This independence gives our students control of their own success.”

CPS students currently can take online credit recovery classes during the school year, but the online credit recovery program never has been used as a summer school program, nor has it ever specifically targeted ninth graders. Funding for the pilot program is provided by the CPS Department of Graduation Pathways.

June 30 also marked the start of Freshman Connection, a collection of programs that for the first time ever is making summer enrichment activities available to all in-coming CPS freshmen.

The Chicago Public Schools is the nation’s third-largest school system. It includes more than 600 schools and serves about 409,000 students.

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