Student Performance in Chicago Up, Study Finds

Test scores and graduation rates have improved in Chicago since the city's sweeping school-reform law was passed, an independent analysis of state and city data has found.

The study--by Designs for Change, a research and advocacy group--examined two sets of achievement-test results and the four-year graduation rate for 1990-93. Since 1991 was the first year that school-improvement plans were in place, the analysis says, 1990 can be used as a baseline for judging progress during reform's first three years.

The analysis examined scores on three standardized tests administered to Chicago students at various grade levels. Of the 25 sets of test results available for different grade levels, scores rose in 18 cases, declined in six, and remained...