Executive Summary
For Chicago to remain an economic powerhouse, Latinos must prosper through quality educational experiences, community programming, postsecondary and career training, and employment opportunities that provide livable wages. In other words, a college and career-ready workforce will be essential to the city’s future. Building a college and career-ready workforce begins with meeting community residents’ social, emotional, and educational needs. A comprehensive needs assessment is the first step in assessing the educational needs and opportunities in a community.
Explore the executive summary from the needs assessment that addresses five main areas EduDream conducted in 2019.
1) Understanding Latino families
2) Community Assets
3) Challenges for Latino Families
4) Educational Needs of Children
5) Youth Basic Needs of Children and Youth
To understand the unique context of the seven predominantly Latino communities in Chicago, we began by examining data trends across four key topics — population and demographics, social and economic conditions, health outcomes, and crime and violence. We also examined publicly available education data (K12 and postsecondary) to understand the educational landscape as well as education options available for children in the seven communities.
This report presents findings from deep dives into three focus communities: Chicago Lawn, Little Village, and South Chicago. The findings emerged from in-depth data collection from 79 community stakeholders including community leaders, educators, and parents.
