ACI Center for Success in High-Need Schools
ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need Schools has convened 17 member colleges and universities in authentic partnerships with 38 high-need Illinois school districts, and 106 high-poverty Pre-K-12 schools. Center Partnerships have engaged more than 8,500 teacher candidates, teachers, school leaders, and faculty who touch the lives of more than 77,000 children.
Since the Center began its curriculum transformation initiatives in 2004, ACI colleges and universities have increased the number of candidates they certify by more than 110%. This accounts for more than 27%, or 3500 of all certified teachers in Illinois. Recent independent studies reveal that new teachers prepared through ACI’s Center colleges and universities are rated very highly by their supervising principals and make a significant difference in their school communities. Program graduates agree, reporting high levels of confidence in the quality of their preparation and clinical experiences. Nine of ACI’s Center partner colleges and universities made such significant impact on their partner K-12 schools, they were granted “spotlight school status” by the State Board of Education.
The Center has assembled the expertise of its member colleges and also secured over 17 million dollars in funding. The Center has been a catalyst in engaging the member colleges to partner with high-need schools and prepare effective teachers and leaders for schools serving students in impoverished communities. Today, 55% of new ACI teachers go to work in high-need schools, compared to 35% in 2002. The rigorous curriculum transformation in these colleges and universities is systematic, and produces long-term sustainable solutions to challenging problems in Illinois and across the nation.
ACI Success Story
"Learning about the inequalities in education has given me a need to address these issues and help those students who need to be helped the most."
Ellen knew she wanted to teach in a high-need school – but she also knew she needed some direct exposure to the challenges high-poverty schools face. To get that experience, she signed up for ACI’s High-Need Schools Internship while she attended Knox College. This ACI internship provides junior and senior education majors and minors with an immersion experience in an academic day camp serving low-income and minority youth.
A program of ACI’s Center for Success in High-Need Schools, which seeks to close the achievement gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers, reinforced Ellen’s commitment: “Learning about the inequalities in education has given me a need to address these issues and help those students who need to be helped the most,” she says. Ellen graduated from Knox College with a degree in secondary education, has launched a successful career as a high school teacher in the Chicago Public Schools and now participates in ACI’s Alumni Coaching program for new teachers.