In America's urban neighborhoods, gangs and gun violence kill dreams and lives. Up until 2009, Chicago was no different. Some 500 students had been shot in the previous two school years, and over 50 had died. Not surprisingly, such violence was hurting attendance and student performance. Ron Huberman, the former chief executive of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), decided to take on the problem. With the help of Boston Consulting Group, CPS launched a program to identify at risk students and create a mentoring program.
The Challenge: The program started with the development of a special analytical model—the type often used by big multinational companies. In particular, the small number of students who had been shot were compared to the broader high school student body, which numbered 110,000. The findings were surprising: The analysis identified just 200 students who were at "ultra high risk" of being shot. Another 1,000 students were at "very high risk." The real issue became how to better protect the 1,200 students at most risk.
The Solution: CPS adopted a two-pronged strategy for protecting high-risk students. First, the "at risk" students were given special mentoring. It was clear from the analysis that in most cases they didn't have any meaningful adult relationships in their lives. Not surprisingly, they missed a lot of school and tended to get into trouble. Second, CPS tightened security around isolated "hotspots" where students admitted to feeling unsafe. Rather than beefing up security across Chicago's sprawling school system, it focused on providing students with "safe passage" across gang boundaries on their way to and from school. Not only was this more efficient, but it was also more effective.
