Education funding opportunities:
Education is essential to a healthy society and to the lifelong development of individuals who must continually adjust to a fast-changing workplace and an increasingly diverse civil society. Effective education is the bedrock of an engaged citizenry, a high quality of life and a productive workforce.
Achieving these goals requires strengthening education at all levels. This goes beyond high stakes accountability and stand-alone projects. It requires a broad vision and set of aligned strategies. It means developing a comprehensive curriculum and making it available in all schools, with clear sequencing of learning in each subject. It means supporting appropriate learning opportunities from birth to preschool and increasing opportunities for productive postsecondary learning, plus greater coherence across education levels.
Ultimately, we must raise expectations and goals for our educational systems and schools. An example of that effort is the development of the new Common Core Standards. We know what high quality education looks like, because it is offered in some schools and districts nationally and internationally. We assert that that quality of education should be available for all children. Our aim is to strengthen instruction to that level of rigor and expectation in all schools.
To achieve this higher performance and close gaps across income and ethnic groups, we must support the preparation and development of highly skilled and knowledgeable educators. We must develop schools that continuously examine and improve their teaching to ensure that all students receive the support that enables them to succeed. And we need to leverage policies that are informed by research and knowledge about proven effective practice.
Given the breadth of this task, the Trust focuses on strengthening schools and systems and improving preparation of future educators for low-resourced communities in Cook County.
Grant making in Education supports Community Goal #1: Advancing opportunities for human and economic development.
- Evidence of higher standards and expectations in the content areas.
- Increased number of teachers taking courses toward endorsements or advanced degrees in subject areas.
- High participation in professional development that increases teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills in the content areas.
- Evidence of the development and strengthening of school infrastructures, including teacher collaboration and leadership focused on improving teaching and learning.
- Increased number of teachers with endorsements and advanced degrees in subject areas.
- Increased number of students succeeding in algebra.
- Improved student performance in content areas.
- Focus on a subject area;
- Be aligned with the Common Core State Standards and other strong curricular frameworks;
- Use research-based best practices and diagnostic assessments to guide instruction;
- Build teacher knowledge in curricular content through graduate course work and in-school modeling;
- Share practices across and within schools and systems;
- Provide opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively within and across grade levels;
- Build coaching and leadership capacity in schools, areas and districts;
- Provide different levels of support to schools based on their strengths and needs;
- Include strong program evaluation; and
- Include financial and other commitments from all partners.
In its report To Touch the Future, the American Council on Education in 2002 charged college and university presidents to 'put the education of teachers at the center of the institutional agenda and to accept the challenge and responsibility to lead constructive change.' University presidents, provosts, academic deans and deans of schools of education must work together to build this new agenda for teacher and school leader preparation and continuous development.
- Short-term:
- Evidence that departments of Education and Arts and Sciences are working together to strengthen educator preparation coursework in the disciplines
- Evidence that all candidates have opportunity to learn how to understand and effectively support language development as well as students with special education needs
- Evidence that all candidates have opportunity to learn how to understand and effectively support language development as well as students with special education needs
- Partnerships with districts in the support and development of experienced educators with knowledge and skill in providing leadership in and across schools that is focused on instructional improvement in particular disciplines
- Long-term:
- Increased number of teachers prepared to teach core subjects at high levels in all grades for high needs schools and districts
- Increased retention of expert teachers and instructional leaders in high needs schools and districts
- Policy shifts at the university, district and state level that support this work
- Level of university commitment to the institutional changes in policy and practice required to transform their professional education programs
- Evidence of collaboration between schools of education and arts and sciences and/or university-based centers
- Endorsement by leadership of the institution and all pertinent departments/centers
- Explicit plans or evidence of existing efforts to strengthen coursework in the core instructional subjects (literacy, mathematics, science with particular attention to the Common Core Standards) and to increase the knowledge and skills of all candidates regarding language development and how to support it in all subjects as well as regarding special needs students and how to serve them effectively
- Quality of clinical experience plans and supports for candidates in particular in the key disciplines
- Quality of plans for partnerships with schools and districts that support and ensure strong clinical placements and commitments of district leaders
- Quality of plans for internal and external evaluation of the program and plans for monitoring progress with all key players (all projects supported by grants in this priority will be evaluated by an external evaluator determined by The Chicago Community Trust; grant recipients will be expected to participate in the external project evaluation.)
- Financial and other commitments from all partners
