Peggy Mueller is a senior program officer in the education area at The Chicago Community Trust. In that capacity, she manages grants that are focused on supporting strategic and large-scale education initiatives in Chicago and other systems serving predominantly low-income children. Initiatives are developed in partnership with school districts and resource organizations, such as universities, and target the strengthening of educators’ knowledge and school-wide approaches to improving instruction in core curriculum areas. Mueller also works with several collaborative funding groups, donors, and donor groups at the Trust, including the Chicago Arts Education Collaborative.
Prior to being at the Trust, Mueller directed a project at the Spencer Foundation to support the development of national and international research on effective professional development for educators. Her additional experiences in the field include being the director of the Chicago-based urban teacher education program for the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, teaching at elementary, high school and college levels; developing counseling programs for school districts; evaluating education programs; and developing international cultural studies curricula.
Mueller has a doctoral degree in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education as well as graduate degrees in Curriculum and Philosophy of Education, Policy and Administration, and Human Relations/Counseling Services. She has served as a Local School Council member in Chicago, on the founding boards of two new Chicago high schools, and as a committee member in national organizations related to school reform and philanthropy in Education. She has authored and co-authored several publications that were supported by Fulbright and U.S. Japan Foundation grants and has led several teacher groups on Fulbright study seminar in India. A chapter based on her dissertation was published in School Leadership in Times of Urban Reform.
