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Leadership Fund I
Talent.
We know it’s the driving force behind
every successful organization. During Leadership Fund I, we
seeded or launched eight programs and made investments in seven
others, all dedicated to recruiting and developing talented
teachers and principals for our public schools. Leadership Fund
I set out to build a pipeline of talented leaders (new teachers,
master teachers and expert principals) based on a straightforward
idea: a core group of talented people in each school is necessary
to improve student achievement.
To accomplish this, The Fund set out to identify the best people
in the system, and, when appropriate, drive policy changes to
remove barriers for skilled people outside the system to lead
our classrooms and schools. Specifically, we sought to:
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Recruit and develop exceptional new teachers, with an emphasis on non-traditional talent to address critical teacher shortage areas |
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Identify our best teachers and compensate them accordingly |
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Recruit and develop talented principals with management and education expertise to lead effective schools |
Guided by those
objectives, from 2000 to 2004 The Fund:
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Designed, developed
and implemented a “master teacher” strategy
based on National Board Certification; leveraged millions
in pay-for-performance incentives for schools and teachers;
and exponentially increased master teacher ranks - from
10 in 1999 to 377 in 2004, with the potential for 1,200
master teachers by 2008 |
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Drove policy changes that
now require principal candidates to demonstrate competence
and allow talented people with management expertise outside
the field of education to become principals; by 2008,
more than half of Chicago's 600-plus public schools could
be led by principals from principal development programs
we seeded and support |
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Created new avenues for
high-quality, non-traditional talent to teach in Chicago's
classrooms; placed talented new teachers in classrooms
that otherwise would not have been led by a full-time
teacher; and emphasized recruitment in high-need areas
such as math and science |
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Coordinated the most comprehensive audit ever of CPS professional development spending and offerings, resulting in immediate improvements in accountability, budgeting and delivery of professional development |
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Served as a catalyst for
CPS strategic thinking, leading the district to adopt,
implement and co-finance each of our portfolio programs
and incorporate The Fund's strategies into their broader
education plan; for every dollar we invested, CPS invested
at least three |
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Raised $10 million, with
major support from prominent Chicago companies and civic
leaders, many of whom had not previously invested in public
education or not invested at significant levels |
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Leveraged nearly $30 million
in additional public and private dollars |
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Focused the private sector
on a vital priority: improving leadership in public schools |
Learn more about our portfolio programs >
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