Case Study: Boston Consulting Group & Chicago Public Schools

The Boston Consulting Group and Chicago Public Schools Work Together to Formulate New Strategy for Public High School Improvement Initiative.

The Opportunity

Like many major U.S. urban education systems, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) suffered from low test scores, high drop out rates and significant achievement gaps. At the end of 2004, the system’s leadership, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, decided to launch a comprehensive ten-year program to improve the city’s high schools. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) was selected as a strategic partner in the effort and was charged with helping to formulate the overall strategy and drive its implementation.

BCG’s Pro Bono Investment

BCG and CPS worked collaboratively. First, the joint team of BCG strategic consultants and CPS representatives laid the groundwork by engaging stakeholders, establishing clear objectives, and assigning roles and responsibilities. Then it conducted diagnostic analysis, performing quantitative and qualitative assessments of the schools, the district, and the national landscape. Next, the team helped the organization envision its future by specifying a desired end state and identifying the core strategic requirements to get there. Once the goal was set, the joint team provided detailed planning, creating a road map of the specific activities, milestones, responsibilities and timelines. The final step was to set the plan in motion.

The Impact

The implementation effort, still in its early stages, has already yielded several successes, among them the launch of a performance “scorecard” for every CPS high school. The scorecards were designed to create transparency by helping parents and students more easily obtain and understand performance data for the schools and to keep all eyes focused on what matters most. A second win is the development and initial rollout of a holistic instructional system for high school English, mathematics, and science. The system includes vertically integrated curricula that are aligned to state standards; all classroom materials and instructional supports; professional development and coaching for teachers; and end-of-course tests to measure progress. The system was rolled out to approximately 4,000 ninth-graders in 14 selected schools during the 2006-2007 school year and will expand over the following years with a target of reaching approximately 50,000 students within five years. Finally, early success of the effort has led to additional backing for CPS from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

About Chicago Public Schools

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

About Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group’s mission is to “help the world’s best organizations make decisive improvements in their direction and performance.” Leading corporations are no doubt an obvious and important focus of our efforts, but our mission applies equally to the relationships we have formed with our partners in social impact. Since these partners are indeed world-class organizations in their own right, we aspire to help them take the next big step or steps towards their goals.