Department of Education Awards $2.95 Million Grant to Chicago Partnership to Improve Teacher Quality

Department of Education Awards $2.95 Million Grant to Chicago Partnership to Improve Teacher Quality

CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced today that it has awarded a $2.95 million Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant to National-Louis University’s (NLU) Institute for Urban Education and the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). The grant funds an urban teacher residency (UTR) training program that partners NLU and AUSL with Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

The grant award is particularly significant because it marks the first year that teacher residency training programs were eligible to apply for the DOE TQP grants. Teacher quality is widely acknowledged as the most significant factor in achieving improved student performance, and urban teacher residencies are an innovative training approach that is uniquely successful in urban school districts like Chicago.

“This grant will allow us to build on our track record of success in urban teacher preparation and school turnaround and move forward with innovations to give our children access to the best education we can deliver,” said Alison Hilsabeck, Ph.D., dean, National College of Education at NLU. “Years ago, AUSL and NLU formed a partnership to design the first urban teacher residency – and our commitment to teacher preparation is nationally recognized. This grant will allow us to expand the data-guided, teacher mentoring programs for which the National College of Education at NLU has become well known. We are excited and ready to get to work.”

The AUSL-NLU-CPS TQP grant will expand and improve the urban teacher residency program, an intense, full-year apprenticeship with a mentor teacher at a Chicago public school in which graduates earn their Illinois teaching certification and a master’s degree through NLU. The $2.95 million award funds the first year of a five-year TQP grant.

“AUSL is delighted that the Department of Education has entrusted our urban teacher residency program with this grant,” said Martin J. “Mike” Koldyke, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, AUSL. “Since 2001 we have trained and placed hundreds of new teachers in high need CPS schools. Our 14 schools have provided remarkable classroom improvement for thousands of Chicago children.”

Over the past nine years, more than 300 teachers have graduated from the urban teacher residency program, helping to improve the academic achievement of CPS’ most vulnerable students. AUSL-trained teacher retention is significantly better than the national average, with over 87 percent of the program’s total graduates since 2001 still working in education today. Nationally, half of all new teachers leave the profession within five years.

“This grant is, dollar for dollar, likely to be one of the most powerful means of boosting student performance,” said Congressman Danny K. Davis (7th District of Illinois).

AUSL’s innovative urban teacher residency program has been held up by President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan as a model that can help transform urban schools throughout the nation. Through this grant, NLU and AUSL will further improve student achievement in Chicago by expanding the number of well-qualified and diverse teachers this program can provide to CPS, and by improving the residency program to better prepare teachers for their challenging work in chronically-failing schools.

The Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) [www.ausl-chicago.org] is a not-for-profit that partners with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to transform chronically under-performing schools, typically in high-poverty areas.

National-Louis University (NLU) [www.nl.edu] has been a force for change in American education since its founding in 1886. Known for nearly a century as the National College of Education, it is nationally renowned for its programs in teacher preparation, urban school reform and educational leadership.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) [www.cps.edu] serves approximately 407,000 students in 666 schools. It is the nation’s third-largest school district.

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Learn more about the AUSL-NLU-CPS Teacher Quality Partnership grant.