In 1988, U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett proclaimed Chicago's public schools to be the worst in the nation. Since that time, Chicago has been at the forefront of urban school reform. Beginning with a dramatic move in 1990 to shift power away from the central office, through CEO Paul Vallas's use of standardized testing to hold schools and students accountable for teaching and learning, and into CEO Arne Duncan's bold plan to create 100 new schools in 10 years, Chicago has attempted to boost academic achievement through a succession of innovative policies. Each wave of reform has brought new practices, programs, and policies that have interacted with the initiatives of the preceding wave. And with each successive wave of reform this fundamental question has been raised: Has progress been made at Chicago Public Schools (CPS)? This study addresses the question by analyzing trends in elementary and high school test scores and graduation rates over the past 20 years. Key findings described briefly in this summary report include: (1) Graduation rates in Chicago have improved dramatically, and high school test scores have risen; more students are graduating without a decline in average academic performance; (2) Math scores have improved incrementally in the elementary/middle grades, while elementary/middle grade reading scores have remained fairly flat for two decades; (3) Racial gaps in achievement have steadily increased, with white and Asian students making more progress than Latino students, and African American students falling behind all other groups; and (4) Despite progress, the vast majority of CPS students have academic achievement levels that are far below where they need to be to graduate ready for college. (Contains 13 figures and 10 endnotes.) [This report was written with Sanja Jagesic. For the full report, "Trends in Chicago's Schools across Three Eras of Reform," see ED524665.]