University of Chicago Steps Up Work on City Schools

The University of Chicago, criticized a few years ago for closing its venerable education department, has lured a prominent education scholar to join its faculty this fall to head a new interdisciplinary committee focused on improving urban schools.

The hiring of Stephen W. Raudenbush, an expert on education research methods from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, marks the university’s latest step to re-engage itself in K-12 education and carve out a new mission focused specifically on improving public schooling in Chicago and other large cities.

“We’re in an environment where city officials and the civic community are hungry for the capacity to improve public education, and we think we have better capacity for improving education than any other institution,” said Richard P....