The impact of the admissions process on school racial climate for Black students at a selective enrollment high school: A case study

Abstract

Chicago Public Schools changed its admissions process for selective enrollment schools in 2009 after a federal consent decree ended that had mandated racial quotas for admission. The district’s new system removed race as a factor for admission and instead focused on census based socio-economic factors. Since that change in admissions, the district has seen a decrease in Black student enrollment at the elite selective enrollment high schools.

This case study examines the decline in Black student enrollment at a particular selective enrollment high school in Chicago Public Schools over a 25-year period. It considers the impact of the district’s change in the admissions process in 2009 on Black student enrollment at the school and how this reduction in enrollment affected the racial climate for its Black students. The purpose of the study is to address the research question: how has the current admission process at this selective enrollment school created a reduction in the number of Black students attending the school? Additionally, it also examines a subset to the main question: how has the reduction in the Black student population at the school impacted the school racial climate for Black students?

The data was based on school enrollment statistics as well as interviews with Black alumni from different time periods between 1995-2020. Themes emerged from the interviews, such as school belonging, relationships with teachers and peers, and hypervisibility. The qualitative and quantitative evidence from this case study determined that there was a reduction in Black student enrollment over the 25-year period which was more pronounced after the new admissions process was in place. The study also concluded that due to this reduction, the school’s racial climate was negatively impacted for its Black students.