National literacy expert Alfred Tatum was one of nine teams asked to participate in a Jobs for the Future Project on student-centered learning. JFF launched the Students at the Center project in 2010, commissioning nine papers from noted research teams to build the knowledge base for student-centered learning. JFF recently released Tatum’s executive summary, Literacy Practices for African-American Male Adolescents that places student-centered learning in the context of race and gender and proposes an improved approach to literacy instruction for African-American males. Read the executive summary here.

Case studies written by COE Research Director Sam Whalen are featured by the Coalition for Community Schools, a national alliance that promotes partnerships between schools and other community resources. As principal investigator for the UIC Community Schools Evaluation Project, Whelan focused on initiatives set in the Chicago Public Schools system. Here, he documents the evolution and success of several urban project. Read his case studies, and learn more about Chicago's community schooling approach.

The College of Education’s EdD program has been awarded $30,000 by the W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation to give fellowships to principals in the program to support early childhood initiatives in their schools. The fellowships are designed to help principals design and maintain exemplary Pre-K programs that focus on continuous improvement strategies. “The  [EdD] program does a fabulous job to help improve schools,” said Sandra Treacy, executive director of the Stone Foundation. The fellowships will be available in the fall.