While many young people aspire to pursue a college degree and achieve fulfilling careers, not all youth have access to the same opportunities. Black and Latine youth in Chicago face barriers resulting from disinvestment, discrimination and segregation. The disconnect between high school, higher education, and workforce systems adds additional barriers to their pursuit of postsecondary opportunities.  

In 2020, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) launched the Chicago Roadmap to create a cohesive system between K-12 and community college. This initiative eases the transition to community college by aligning instructional practices, expanding early college programming, improving student advising, and supporting career exploration to promote successful transitions and long-term economic mobility for students.  

In partnership with CCC and CPS, the Inclusive Economy Lab is building the data infrastructure and products needed, to inform the design of programs that aim to support young people as they transition from education to employment. This includes a dashboard that tracks labor outcomes for CPS students who attended CCC. The Inclusive Economy Lab has also conducted evaluations of specific initiatives within the Chicago Roadmap, such as CCC’s developmental education reform efforts and CPS’s transitional math course offerings.