Peoria Public Schools and Illinois State University are partnering in an effort to attract and retain dedicated, culturally competent teachers.
The District 150 board approved to participate in the US Department of Education Urban Center Grant that would create a pipeline for ISU education students to complete their student teaching in District 150 schools.
Interim Superintendent Sharon Kherat says the hope is they’ll continue to teach in the district long after graduation.
“We're anticipating that maybe in year three or four, we can literally benefit from having graduates take on positions in our district, which is really exciting, so we’re investing in the future.”
Venus Evans Winters, an associate professor of education at ISU, presented the collaborative project to the board on Jan. 11. Williams said the urban focus of the program aims to prepare young teachers for the sociological challenges that often arise in high-density, low-income communities.
"It's not always about teaching what's going on in the classroom," Winters said. "It's also about what's going on in the community."
Winters says cultural competence is another key focus of the teacher training. She says even a top-notch teacher can struggle if they don't understand their surroundings.
"They may not know adolescent culture, or they may not know particular ethnic groups ways of learning." Winters said.
The Chicago Teacher Education Pipeline was established in 2004 to serve to connect student teachers to high-need urban communities on the Chicago, including Pilsen and East Garfield Park.
CTEP received an additional $10 million grant in 2015 to expand to Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, Decatur and Peoria.
Peoria School District 150 has about 50 full and part-time teacher vacancies.