Rebecca Bancroft
Rebecca Bancroft joined the Center for High School Success in the summer of 2021 after leading similar work in Chicago over the last 15 years. Rebecca was fortunate to have been on the ground floor of improving high school graduation rates through freshman success indicators as both a classroom teacher and school leader. Rebecca has witnessed first-hand the transformation that happens in schools and communities when the right levers are used to support ninth graders' success which not only gets them to high school graduation, but through college graduation as well. She has led the development of school teams, systems, and structures that have resulted in 100% freshman on track rates, 95% high school graduation rates, and 85% college enrollment rates for students in the Back of the Yards community in Chicago. This school community is a living example of how the research from the Chicago Consortium on School Research has transformed the lives of Black and Brown youth.
Rebecca received her Doctorate in Urban Education Leadership from the University of Illinois Chicago with a focus on developing teacher leader capacity through liberatory instructional practices and cycles of inquiry. Rebecca started her career as a special education teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal, and principal. Rebecca has one college-age son and lives in Chicago.
