Chicago Foundation for Education
NEWS & NOTES
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- Greetings from CFE
- ARLI Applications Now Open
- ARLI Fellow Shares Research Study
- A Gathering for Good Makes a Difference
- Teacher Highlight
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Murphy Elementary School students travel back to 1865 to experience pioneer school life.
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Dear Friends,
As the school year ends and summer vacation begins, it’s a good time to reflect on how much we have accomplished this year and focus on all that we can and still need to do for Chicago Public School (CPS) teachers and students.
During this past school year, the Chicago Foundation for Education awarded 504 grants and fellowships to teachers representing 202 schools. We also held a professional development workshop, which attracted 235 educators for a day of informative sessions and panel discussions featuring key opinion leaders in education.
We are responding to changes in school district dynamics and are listening to teachers as they share their greatest needs and concerns. Teachers today are expected to do more with less, which is why CFE remains a vital resource and partner to those who value education.
As we look to our future and begin implementing our 2018-2019 programs, we embrace the direction we are headed and know we could not achieve our goals withour the support of our donors, volunteers and teachers.
With warm regards,
Susan Frankel
Executive Director
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Action Research Leadership Institute (ARLI)
Fellowship Applications Now Open
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At the Chicago Foundation for Education (CFE), we strongly believe in the value of action research,
a systematic process in which teachers analyze the effectiveness of their instruction through data collection, evaluation and reflection.
To help Chicago Public School teachers conduct this type of research, CFE offers Action Research Leadership Institute (ARLI) Fellowships to the district’s most outstanding PreK-12th grade teachers.
2018-2019 ARLI Fellowship applications are being accepted now through July 9, 2018, and we encourage teachers to apply and share this news with colleagues who might be a fit for the program.
Selected teachers are awarded grants of $1,250 and receive
intensive professional development throughout the academic year. At the end of the school year, ARLI Fellows share their research findings and recommendations through a presentation and written paper.
For more information and to access the application, visit
www.cfegrants.org, and contact our office at 312-670-2323 with any questions.
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ARLI Fellow Shares Research Findings
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CFE’s ARLI Fellowships provide an opportunity for CPS teachers to explore critical questions based on their classroom experiences and ultimately put their findings into practice. The research studies are designed by teachers for teachers, and take into consideration the complexities of teaching.
In June, CFE supporters were treated to in-depth presentations by the 12 ARLI Fellows from the 2017-2018 class. Educators shared their key research findings, discussed their recommendations and answered questions from attendees.
For Jessica Wong, a PreK teacher at John Spry Community School in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, the ARLI program allowed her to research the role of nature play in early child education.
Jessica set out to understand how nature play – experiences in parks and other areas that borrow features, such as balancing logs, from the natural world – impacts language development of children in low income and low resource communities.
Jessica chronicled the interactions, language and social emotional development of three students in various settings: the school playground, classroom and Jardincito Nature Play Garden.
Her findings were remarkable. For one, the average number of words uttered by all three students in the Jardincito Garden was significantly higher than in the other settings. This natural setting fostered a greater use of language. Furthermore, in both the playground and classroom, students expressed primarily minimal language. Conversely, at the Jardincito, the kids engaged mostly in cooperative language and pretend play, which are
rich languages, full of complex ideas and thoughts.
Jessica confirmed that nature play - more so than the classroom or traditional playground - provides the unstructured environment for children to use rich language. She encourages teachers and parents to bring their children to outdoor spaces where they can explore, be creative and develop their language skills.
Congratulations 2018 ARLI Fellows and thank you for your dedication to your research projects and ultimately students.
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A Gathering for Good Helps CFE Make a Difference
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On June 7, 2018, CFE supporters enjoyed a night of celebration, food and fun at Fig & Olive in Chicago. With the patio doors open and a cool breeze filling the beautiful space, attendees mingled and learned more about the impact CFE is making in CPS schools.
Fund for Teacher (FFT) Fellow Laura Nunn of Bernhard Moos Elementary School entertained guests with stories from her fellowship, exemplifying the importance of organizations like CFE.
As an FFT Fellow, Laura relived the linguistic and cultural experiences of Homer’s The Odyssey through Turkey, Italy, Sicily, Malta and Greece – from Troy to Ithaca. The experience allowed her to navigate through the exact sites her students read about in books and reminded her why she’s an educator – wonder, awe, and autonomous learning.
CFE Board Member Brian Duwe also spoke to the crowd about the organization and the ways that CFE programs are supporting and encouraging teachers. Thank you to all who joined us and contributed to A Gathering for Good.
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Alisa Lee - Murphy Elementary School
Small Grant Recipient
As a 1
st through 3
rd grade teacher, Alisa Lee wanted to teach about changes of family life now and in the recent past. To engage her students, Ms. Lee knew she needed to incorporate a fun, hands-on element to her lesson plan.
Ms. Lee designed a unit around pioneer school life. She included a visit to a reconstructed one-room schoolhouse at The Grove in Glenview and a costumed schoolmarm led students through geography, history, spelling and math lessons. In addition, her lesson plan featured time travel to a school day in 1856 where students wrote on slate boards and used quill pens. Recess in the schoolyard featured pioneer toys and old time games.
To help off-set costs, Ms. Lee applied for a CFE Small Grant and was awarded funding to help support this creative project.
Her students gained an understanding of the terms “then” and “now”, “past” and “present” and are able to match things and events with the period in which they occurred. The concept of “generations” was introduced as the children explored how school life has changed since their parents and grandparents were students. Through interviews with their own grandparents, the students identified ways that school life has remained the same as times have changed. Finally, an elderly guest visited the classroom to share about his own childhood.
CFE’s Small Grant applications will open on August 20, 2018 and be available on the
CFE Website
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Connect with Our CFE Team
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