UIC College of Education’s Urban Education Leadership program will soon be bringing new principals and assistant principals to Chicago Public Schools to help transform struggling city campuses.
The college’s nationally recognized program this month was named a partner of the new Chicago Leadership Collaborative, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard’s initiative designed to develop a pipeline of highly effective school leaders. The CLC’s goal is to create powerful instructional systems, champion teacher excellence, build a culture of excellence, empower families and their communities, and graduate college- and career-ready students. UIC joins three other university- and nonprofit organizations in the effort.
“We at UIC are excited to be a part of this, and we look forward to breaking new ground with all of our partners,” said Steve Tozer, CUEL director and coordinator of UIC’s EdD program. “It’s highly likely that in ten years, the CLC will no longer be unique — it has the potential to change what’s normal in school leadership development if we can produce the results we expect to.”
UIC is well poised to produce those results. The program already has a proven track record of lifting high-need schools to new heights. For example, elementary schools led by UIC principals are narrowing chronic achievement gaps in elementary schools at twice the rate of CPS schools as a whole.
Those schools also produce annual achievement gains that exceed those of the CPS system—even first-year principals show such gains.
The CLC partnership is the latest move in a long history of collaboration between the college and CPS. Since 2002, the college has supplied the district with more than 80 principals and assistant principals who improve culture, climate and student outcomes. More than 75 UIC-trained principals and assistant principals now serve the district.
CLC partners also include Loyola University Chicago, New Leaders and Teach for America/Harvard.
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