Latest Publications

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    NAEP'S HIDDEN POWER: Understanding Achievement at the Intersections
     
    The Council’s latest report, NAEP’s Hidden Power: Understanding Achievement at the Intersections, provides intersectional analyses of NAEP, the only national assessment that allows us to examine what students know and how they perform at key intersections (e.g., SES and race/ethnicity or language and disability), revealing what works, where gaps persist, and how specific groups experience school systems.
    16 pages
    October 2025
     
     
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    Internal Auditing in Great City Schools
     
    The Council of the Great City Schools and the school internal audit experts who assembled this document suggest that strategically deploying internal audit resources helps districts effectively address high-risk areas affecting urban school districts. This white paper provides important information about the Internal Audit Function, and it describes leading practices for school district internal audit functions and the value of each.
    20 pages
    September 2025
     
     
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    Academic Key Performance Indicators, 2025 Report
     
    Over the years, the nation’s large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of
    195 pages
    October 2025
     
     
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    Urban District Superintendents: Characteristics, Tenure, and Salaries
     
    This study focuses on understanding the racial and gender demographics of superintendents, trends in superintendent tenure, the prevalence of turnover within demographic groups as well as the relationship between superintendent and district characteristics and base salaries.
    30 pages
    March 2025
     
     
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    Identifying and Supporting Newcomer Students
     
    Responding to the needs of newcomer students in an appropriate and timely manner requires understanding their educational experiences. This guide supports districts in defining and identifying newcomers and SLIFE, determining what background information is needed, collecting it through a customizable Educational Background Questionnaire (EBQ), and using that information to inform placement decisions, instructional programming, and wraparound supports.
    92 pages
    October 2025
     
     
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    Leadership Transition Guide
     
    Transition in school district leadership is inevitable. The good news? From a communications point of view, naming a new superintendent is an opportunity to build goodwill and community partnerships. It can be a fresh start. It can be time to engage students, parents, and educators with new and exciting ideas about student achievement and stakeholder collaboration.
    31 pages
    October 2024
     
     
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    Academic Key Performance Indicators, 2024 Report
     
    Over the years, the nation’s large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America’s urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others.
    196 pages
    October 2024
     
     
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    Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools, 2024, Results from Fiscal Year 2022-2023
     
    In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives.
    190 pages
    October 2024