Cooper Elem Dual Language Academy, Chicago IL

Original Research by School Decision on Cooper Elem Dual Language Academy

Cooper Elem Dual Language Academy is a public elementary and middle school serving grades pre-K through 8 in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, located on West 19th Street. The school enrolls a small student body that is heavily Hispanic, with nearly all enrolled students identified as Hispanic and a smaller representation of other racial groups. The school operates as a regular Chicago Public Schools campus within the district's neighborhood school system.

The school's core mission centers on dual-language education, offering instruction in Spanish and English across grade levels. For families seeking this bilingual pathway, the school provides a continuous sequence from early childhood through middle school, allowing students to develop and maintain Spanish-language skills while advancing in English literacy and academic content.

State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year show weak academic proficiency across tested grades and subjects. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from very low in grade 3 (under 10 percent) to somewhat higher in grade 5 (just over 20 percent), with most grades hovering between 8 and 19 percent proficient. In English language arts, results are similarly low, with grade 3 proficiency near 18 percent, but improving somewhat in grades 5 through 8, where rates reach the high twenties to mid-thirties. Science proficiency in grade 5 stands at 25 percent, and grade 8 science proficiency is near 19 percent. Across the school, fewer than one in five students meets proficiency on most assessments. Statewide data on scale scores was not available, so trends over time and the distance students are from proficiency could not be assessed.

When placed against districts across Cook County, the school's overall proficiency index falls into the bottom quartile, meaning the vast majority of county schools show stronger results. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the trajectory of proficiency gains, the extent to which dual-language instruction affects the timeline and pathways to English-language proficiency, and what additional academic supports are in place for students who are early in their English development.

The school does not currently report free-and-reduced-price lunch eligibility or special education enrollment rates, so the economic and support-service context could not be described from available data. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staff composition were also unavailable. The school's neighborhood in Pilsen is largely residential with immigrant-serving commercial corridors and sits within Chicago's transit-connected urban fabric. Housing values in the school's zip code are modest relative to the broader Chicago area, and rental costs are lower, reflecting the neighborhood's affordability. The broader Chicago housing market has been growing modestly and remains relatively balanced between supply and demand.

For families drawn to dual-language education and committed to bilingualism as a long-term family goal, Cooper offers continuity and structure from early childhood through middle school. For families prioritizing near-term academic proficiency gains on standardized assessments, the data suggest this would be a school to investigate carefully, asking the administration directly about the school's trajectory, the extent to which early dual-language learners show catch-up growth, and how results compare to other dual-language programs in the district.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 38% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 29% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 24% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 68%

School 8% · District 23% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 27% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 23% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 36% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 39% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 43% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 45% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 46% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 48% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 29% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 31% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolChicago Public Schools Dist 299, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.