D187 Partnership Grant to Prepare, Retain Teachers
NLU, in partnership with School District 187 North Chicago, has been awarded a grant from the Illinois State Board of Education to develop a teacher residency program to prepare teachers who are “day one ready" to bring success to students in high need schools. Only three of these residency development grants were given out in Illinois. “Resources are a major barrier for school districts that want to strengthen their infrastructure for preparing, recruiting, and retaining educators," said State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. “These grants are just one part of the state's efforts to invest equitably in the teaching profession. I applaud the grant recipients and look forward to sharing their work with other districts and postsecondary institutions across the state." The grant will provide $50K for a year of planning and preparation to launch the residency in Summer of 2020; further grant funding follows upon a successful planning stage.
For the National College of Education (NCE) at NLU, this new program, which will focus on recruiting and preparing bilingual and ELL educators, will join a portfolio of NCE-school district partnerships for residency preparation. The NCE residencies are highly responsive to the context of each district partner, while maintaining signature approaches of practice-based, community-focused preparation strategies.
Read more regarding this ISB announcement at US News: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2019-06-19/7-school-districts-get-grants-to-prepare-retain-teachers