The School Project is a Chicago-based documentary series that is tracking the past and present status of the city's public school system. The sixth and final episode examines education reforms and teaching philosophies.

On Thursday, May 21, a film screening and community discussion on effective teaching strategies in Chicago Public Schools will be held at 5:30 pm at the University Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Chicago Schools: The Worst in the Nation?Chicago's School ClosingsThe School Project: Restoring JusticeThe School Project: Testing SeasonThe School Project: UnChartered Territory

Watch the final episode.

Teaching – Effective Education

Many methodologies and teaching philosophies came out of the effective schools movement of the 80s and 90s. This segment of The School Project explores one mode that has quietly been getting results year after year.

Watch The School Project's the five previous episodes below.

Chicago Schools - The Worst in the Nation?

In 1987, U.S. Secretary of Education William Bennett made headlines when he claimed that Chicago had the worst school district in the nation. Why did his comment have so much staying power, and what has it meant for school reform in the last two decades?

Chicago Public Schools: Closed

In 2013, Chicago Public Schools announced that an unprecedented 49 neighborhood schools would be permanently closed. Follow Rousemary Vega, a parent turned activist, through the maze of hearings and protests that preceded the largest school closings in American history.

Chicago Marches Against the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Malcolm London and Project NIA organized a march from a closed school to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, as part of the National Week of Action Against Incarcerating Youth.

Testing Season

Chicagoans are opting out of PARCC in record numbers and taking a stand on standardized testing. This documentary looks at diverse opinions on whether and how much testing is worthwhile.

UnChartered Territory: The Future of Charter Schools in Chicago

What are charter schools and where did the concept come from? The fifth episode of The School Project explores the unlikely history of charters and arguments for and against the charter movement.