CUEL’S DR. STEVE TOZER TO PARTNER WITH INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION EDUX TO SUPPORT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT IN MONTERREY, MEXICO

CUEL Affiliate and Emeritus Professor Dr. Steve Tozer and UIC College of Education Dean Emerita Vicki Chou will collaborate with Mexican educational consulting group EDUX to support school leader development and instructional improvement in Monterrey (Nuevo Leon), Mexico. The partnership is an outgrowth of a long-standing relationship between EDUX, CUEL, and the UIC College of Education. Work began in February 2023, when Tozer and Chou visited a network of four EDUX-affiliated private schools seeking to improve in multiple ways. Chou and Tozer conducted instructional rounds in over 95 classrooms in grades P-9 and provided an analysis of how the schools might move forward using a combination of continuous improvement methods and leadership coaching at the school and network levels.  The next phase of work now underway will engage five UIC-prepared leaders who will serve as leadership coaches:  Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez (PhD Curriculum and Instruction, and UIC Superintendent Program graduate), and four graduates of the UIC Ed.D. Urban Education Leadership Program: Drs. Olimpia Bahena, Patty Barrera Brekke, Terri Campos, and Minerva Garcia-Sanchez.  While much of the coaching will occur virtually, plans are being made for leaders of Colegio Cambridge de Monterrey to visit Chicago, and for UIC leadership coaches to visit Monterrey. All five coaches are Spanish-speaking and bring extensive experience with school-based continuous improvement to the project. Drs. Alvarez and Garcia-Sanchez are currently district Superintendents in Forest Park and DeKalb, respectively.  Drs. Bahena and Brekke are veteran CPS Principals (Talcott Elementary and Back-of-the-Yards High School), while Dr. Campos is now a UIC leadership coach after serving successfully as CPS principal of Lozano Elementary for 11 years.