October 2021 IL Newsblast No images? Click here Teach Plus IL Celebrates Indigenous Peoples' DayTeach Plus Illinois recognizes the diverse cultures and contributions of Americans from Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan backgrounds. Thank you to all of teachers who share history and culture as Indigenous peoples, and to all teachers who serve students from Native backgrounds. We honor you and the legacy of America's first inhabitants. Thank you! From Teach Plus Illinois Dear Teachers, This has been the hardest beginning of the school year we’ve ever experienced -- or at least the hardest since our first year of teaching. Educators from all over the state tell me how difficult it has been to get students accustomed to the routines and expectations of school, not to mention an ongoing series of Tik-Tok challenges that have us, quite literally, watching our backsides. Signed into law in August by Governor Pritzker, Illinois students can now take up to five mental health days each year -- should we extend the same option to teachers? 28% of teachers surveyed for a recent Teach Plus report said yes. We also want to acknowledge two important events this month. Earlier this week we observed Indigenous Peoples’ Day, acknowledging the resilience, strength, and positive contributions of Indigenous people, as well as the policies that for centuries have sought to systematically eliminate or assimilate Native peoples. If the concept of Indigenous Peoples’ day is new to you, the New York Times does a good (short) explainer. But if you want to dive deeper, my favorite book of the year is James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told Me, which dives into how our history courses fail to teach an accurate history of Indigenous people in the Americas. Finally, I want to acknowledge and celebrate the United States Senate’s confirmation of former Teach Plus President and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Rodríguez to serve as Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the United States Department of Education. Prior to his appointment to this role, Rodríguez guided Teach Plus’ work for four years, growing equity-driven teacher leadership across the organization’s policy and instructional programs in 12 states and reaching more than 15,000 educators in the Teach Plus network. We appreciate and look forward to his work in the Department of Education and the opportunity to continue to raise teacher voices at the highest level of government.
Warmly Josh Kaufmann Senior Executive Director The Practice Corner Dear Teachers, When teachers feel empowered and supported to become leaders in their schools, without having to leave the classrooms where they are so effective, big things are possible. Creating opportunities for teachers to authentically lead, whether it's a grade level team, special initiative, or content department, makes schools stronger and allows teachers to feel more effective. Teacher leadership not only positively impacts a school's academic outcomes, but it also serves as a sustainable strategy to retain their most effective teachers each year. I've had the incredible opportunity to work with hundreds of teacher leaders in our various programs. By providing them with the autonomy and support to be a leader in the building, our partner principals are setting their teacher leaders up for success, both in professional growth and in accomplishing school goals. In honor of The Chicago Public Education Fund's #principalpridechi appreciation campaign, two of our alumni wrote touching blog posts about their principal. Jason Feriend, a Change Agent alum wrote about his principal's deep commitment to her staff and students. Emily Gasca, a Kindergarten Readiness Innovator alum and current Change Agent, wrote about how her principal is a powerful role model for their students. Thank you to all of the great teacher leaders and principals who are working together to drive student success! Happy Fall, Kristen Ciciora Director of Instructional Programs OpportunitiesAdvocacy Opportunity! Last week, ISBE released a new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Provider Selection Tool, which largely adopts the recommendations of Policy Fellows Arnetta Thompson, Briana Morales, Dillin Randolph, Elizabeth Fyffe, Emily Biegel, Mackensye Guza, and Shayla Ewing. This tool is designed to help districts choose an effective provider for the state’s required implicit bias training, so the training goes beyond the largely useless online click-throughs that you do while watching TV. Now, the state is looking for districts that are willing to pilot the tool, and you can help by writing to your school or district leaders to ask them to consider being a pilot district. Here’s a sample letter you can adapt. If you choose to do so, please drop me an email to let me know! New Research on English Learners: Policy and Practice Implications: Tickets Available! On Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021 at 10:00 am, the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research, McCormick Foundation, and Latino Policy Forum invite you to come and hear firsthand about cutting-edge research conducted within Chicago Public Schools, which has state and national implications as we consider expanding and transforming preschool services. Access the tickets through Eventbrite, here today! Get a Chance to Preview the Teach Plus Phoenix Project! Teachers' vision for reimagining education - and how you can make it a reality in your school. This winter, 175 educators from 30 states came together for a Design Thinking workshop to reimagine how schools could emerge from the pandemic more equitable than ever before. This led to a vision on redesigning the approach to teaching and learning to ensure students and families thrive. Join the authors - including Teach Plus IL alumni Keisha Rembert - as they introduce the Phoenix Project paper and share how you can ensure teachers' vision is enacted by the Biden-Harris Administration, congressional leadership, and decision makers from schoolhouses to statehouses across the country. Click to register and join us on Thursday, October 28, from 7-8 pm CT. TWO Opportunities to Join the Next Installments of Early Efforts! On Tuesday, November 2 (2pm eastern), we’ll check in with a panel of the field’s leading experts on what the latest science says about The Long-Term Effects of Early Childhood Interventions. We’ll be joined for this important conversation by:
You can register now by clicking the link here. Then on Tuesday, November 16 (2pm eastern) The Hunt Institute’s popular Race and Education series will turn its attention to Supporting Positive Ethnic-Racial Identity formation in Early Childhood, in a session moderated by Dr. Jacqueline Jones of Foundation for Child Development. Dr. Jones will be joined by:
You can register now by clicking the link here Good Reads Teach Plus IL ILSTOY Fellow and 2020 Illinois Suburbs Regional Teacher of the Year Aimee Park published an op-ed featured on Project Forever Free's forum. Her piece, "The Pandemic Showed Us It’s Finally Time to Restructure Schooling" observes how much students and teachers have been trying to understand the new meaning of "normal" in their schools. "Most students certainly learn best in-person among their peers. But the traditional eight-hour school day, rigidly divided by bells, has long failed to serve all students. Rethinking the structure of the school day means offering more choice. Students might choose evening or asynchronous courses or take remote coursework not available in person. More flexible schedules would allow students to seek extra help or pursue personal passions and allow teachers much-needed time to collaborate to better meet student needs." Read the full op-ed here. Teaching Policy Fellowship alumna Gina Caneva shares her stance on banned books as a high school librarian for the Chicago Sun-Times in her op-ed, "Fighting the Good Fight as a School Librarian during Banned Books Week." "The last week of September brings images of autumn leaves starting to change, high school football games lighting up small towns, and yellow police caution tape lining book displays in libraries and schools. No, crimes aren’t being committed in libraries, but this last week has been Banned Books Week in America. Educators and librarians across the country have been leading the charge against a fierce enemy: censorship." Read the rest of this op-ed here. A new report from Teach Plus and the Center for Black Educator Development lays out five conditions for creating school cultures that affirm and support Black teachers. The new report, "To Be Who We Are: Black Teachers on Creating Affirming School Cultures" examines the experiences of Black educators and proposes necessary conditions and recommendations to affirm and retain Black faculty. Teachers expressed that for them, as for their students, representation matters greatly; a diverse faculty is a key reason why Black teachers feel their identities are affirmed. They also made it abundantly clear that principals need to be intentional in co-constructing a climate that allows their identities to be valued. Furthermore, a culturally responsive curriculum is a particularly important condition for affirming Black teachers because it validates their struggles, challenges, and celebrations and inspires growth mindsets that lead to systemic changes for them and their students. For example, one teacher in the study said, “Cultural, racial, and ethnic affirmation to me is giving me the freedom to use social justice/culturally relevant instruction to empower my students to be critical thinkers.” Access the rest of the press release and report here. Teach Plus IL in the News Teach Plus Applauds Confirmation of Roberto Rodriguez to Serve as U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy DevelopmentTeach Plus applauds the United States Senate’s confirmation of former Teach Plus President and Chief Executive Officer Roberto Rodríguez to serve as Assistant Secretary for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the United States Department of Education. Prior to his appointment to this role, Rodríguez guided Teach Plus’ work for four years, growing equity-driven teacher leadership across the organization’s policy and instructional programs in 12 states and reaching more than 15,000 educators in the Teach Plus network. “Roberto is a true champion of students and educators, and has always put their experiences and expertise at the center of his work. His leadership is needed now more than ever,” said Lindsay Sobel, Teach Plus Interim CEO. “His commitment to and passion for educational equity and teacher leadership will be an invaluable asset to Secretary Cardona, the U.S. Department of Education, and our educational system.” From Teach Plus Illinois, Congratulations, Roberto! Read the full Teach Plus press release here. The Educators Rising Illinois held its Fall Conference, led by Policy Fellowship alumna Lindsey Jensen, included conversations with Teach Plus alumni Justin Johnson, Bill Polasky, Steve Elza, Sara Magnafichi, Bill Curtin, and Corey Winchester. 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Fellowship Senior Fellow Briana Morales was featured in theSTL, a local magazine, for her amazing contributions to her local high school English class. Briana has a hygiene and food supply closet running out of her classroom. "Every year I make hygiene kits for my students complete with essentials like shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrush, and other necessities. My neighbors and local Buy Nothing community have joined me in this endeavor to make sure our young people have the supplies they need to flourish." If you or someone you know would like to donate towards things her students have wished for, please visit here. 2021-2022 Teaching Policy Fellowship Fellow Kim Tate was given the opportunity to interview Varian Johnson for the National Writing Project's The Write Time radio show. Access the entire interview here! Alumni Spotlight Teach Plus Illinois Policy Fellowship alumni Erica Abangan, Jeanette Delgado, Jay Mehta, Irene Post, and Lisset Rosales presented their work on retaining teacher candidates of color to representatives from 25 different Illinois teacher preparation programs as part of an Illinois pilot program with state universities to diversify the teacher pipeline. Congratulations, Alumni! On October 6, Teach Plus Senior Policy Fellows gathered for the first National Senior Fellow Collaborative. This session reinforced and grew skills that will help them lead their working groups to policy impact this year, and provided an opportunity to collaborate across regions with others working on similar impact areas. One Senior Fellow who attended said, " I came away with some leadership ideas/strategies and had fun connecting with four senior fellows around topics related to my working group's focus." This group will continue to meet every other month to provide support and resources to Senior Fellows throughout the year. If you are an alum of any of our Teacher Leadership programs (K-12 Policy Fellowship, ECE Policy Fellowship, Change Agent Fellowship, or partnered school) please share your good news with us. Promotions, and other celebrations of note may be emailed to cjameau@teachplus.org. |