(110 ILCS 48/20)
Sec. 20. Selection of grantees. The State Board shall award grants to up to 10 qualified consortia that reflect the distribution and diversity of target hard‑to‑staff schools across this State. In awarding grants, the State Board shall select programs that successfully address Initiative criteria and that reflect a diversity of strategies in terms of serving urban areas, serving rural areas, the nature of the participating institutions of higher education, whether participants will be trained at the baccalaureate or master's level, and the nature of hard‑to‑staff teaching positions on which a program is focused.
The State Board shall select consortia that meet the following requirements:
(1) A consortium shall be composed of at least one |
|
4‑year institution of higher education with an accredited teacher preparation program, at least one school district or group of schools, and one or more community organizations. The consortium may also include a 2‑year institution of higher education or a school employee union or both.
|
|
(2) The 4‑year institution of higher education
|
|
participating in the consortium shall have past, demonstrated success in preparing teachers for elementary or secondary schools serving a substantial percentage of low‑income students.
|
|
(3) The consortium shall focus on a clearly defined
|
|
set of target schools serving a substantial percentage of low‑income students that will be the primary focus of the program. The consortium shall articulate the steps that it will carry out in preparing teachers for its target hard‑to‑staff schools and in preparing teachers for one or more hard‑to‑staff teaching positions in its target schools.
|
|
(4) Student participants in a program under the
|
|
Initiative must hold a high school diploma or its equivalent and must meet either the definition of "parent and community leaders" or the definition of "paraeducators" contained in Section 10 of this Act.
|
|
(5) The consortium shall employ effective procedures
|
|
for teaching the skills and knowledge needed to prepare highly competent teachers. Instruction shall include on‑going direct experience in target schools and analysis of this experience.
|
|
(6) The consortium shall offer the program to cohorts
|
|
of students who begin by moving through the program together. The program shall be offered on a schedule that enables students to work full time while participating in the program and allows paraeducators to continue in their current positions. The consortium shall guarantee that support will be available to an admitted cohort through the cohort's full period of training. At the beginning of the Initiative, programs that are already operating and existing cohorts of students under this model shall be eligible for funding.
|
|
(7) The institutions of higher education
|
|
participating in the consortium shall document and agree to expend the same amount of funds in implementing the program that these institutions spend per student on similar educational programs. Grants received by the consortium shall supplement and not supplant these amounts.
|
|
(8) The State Board shall establish additional
|
|
criteria for review of proposals, including criteria that address the following issues:
|
|
(A) Previous experience of the institutions of
|
|
higher education in preparing students for hard‑to‑staff schools and positions and in working with students with non‑traditional backgrounds.
|
|
(B) The quality of the implementation plan,
|
|
including strategies for overcoming institutional barriers to the progress of non‑traditional students.
|
|
(C) If a community college is a participant, the
|
|
nature and extent of existing articulation agreements and guarantees between the community college and the 4‑year institution of higher education.
|
|
(D) The number of participants to be trained in
|
|
the current cohort or cohorts and the capacity of the consortium for adding cohorts in future cycles.
|
|
(E) Experience of the community organization or
|
|
organizations in organizing parents and community leaders to achieve school improvement and a strong relational school culture.
|
|
(F) The qualifications of the person or persons
|
|
designated by the 4‑year institution of higher education to be responsible for cohort support and the development of a shared learning and social environment among participants.
|
|
(G) The consortium's plan for collective
|
|
consortium decision‑making, including mechanisms for community and participant input.
|
|
(H) The consortium's plan for direct impact of
|
|
the program on the quality of education in the target schools.
|
|
(I) The relevance of the curriculum to the needs
|
|
of targeted schools and positions, and the use in curriculum and instructional planning of principles for effective adult education.
|
|
(J) The availability of classes under the program
|
|
in places and times accessible to the participants.
|
|
(K) Provision of a level of performance to be
|
|
maintained by participants as a condition of continuing in the program.
|
|
(L) The plan of the 4‑year institution of higher
|
|
education to ensure that students take advantage of existing financial aid resources before using the loan funds described in Section 25 of this Act.
|
|
(M) The availability of supportive services,
|
|
including counseling, tutoring, and child care.
|
|
(N) A plan for continued participation of
|
|
graduates of the program in a program of support for at least 2 years, including mentoring and group meetings.
|
|
(O) A plan for testing and qualitative evaluation
|
|
of participants' teaching skills that ensures that graduates of the program are as prepared for teaching as those from the conventional teacher training program of the 4‑year institution of higher education.
|
|
(P) A plan for internal evaluation that provides
|
|
reports at least yearly on the progress of participants towards graduation and the impact of the program on the target schools and their communities.
|
|
(Q) Contributions from schools, school districts,
|
|
and other consortia members to the program, including stipends for participants during their student teaching.
|
|
(R) Consortium commitment for sustaining the
|
|
program over time, as evidenced by plans for reduced requirements for external funding in subsequent cycles.
|
|
(Source: P.A. 93‑802, eff. 1‑1‑05.)
|