上周, The Chicago Principal Partnership hosted its first Town Hall to hear directly from principals, principal residents 和 partners committed to principal quality about the tools needed to help make Chicago the best city in the country to lead a public school. Learn more about the Town Hall 和 how you can get involved. 

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Great principals in schools result in better outcomes for students. Fostering an environment where great principals know they can get the professional support they need to keep getting better means attracting 和 keeping high-caliber leaders. Alongside Chicago Board of Education President Frank Clark, CPS CEO Forrest Claypool 和 Chief Education Officer Dr. 贾尼斯杰克逊, principals from around the city assembled at Malcolm X College to discuss why that support is so important to Chicago, as part of The Chicago Principal Partnership’s first Town Hall.

The people who lead 和 comprise The Chicago Principal Partnership (The Partnership) know making Chicago the best city in America to lead a public school takes more than platitudes 和 good vibes – it takes professional development (PD) resources for those who choose to take up the mantle. Unfortunately, sometimes those PD resources don’t match up with what people need in the field. 当校长 里卡多·特鲁希略 和 克里斯多夫戈因 提到的, less than 25 percent of 接受调查的主体 rated their current PD as “very good” or “excellent,” 和 65 percent of 接受调查的主体 said they wanted PD to be tailored to their needs.

The Partnership seeks to collaborate, to design solutions with principals. 为此目的, Principals Goins 和 Trujillo led a presentation of four potential PD tools for development from members of The Fund 和 The Partnership community:

• 学习歌曲 – PD resources organized into areas of choice with topics for your given needs, skills 和 school contexts.
• 百科全书 – An accessible 和 more organized site to search for 和 find resources that are more useful for principals.
• 论坛 – Connecting principals in an online community with live discussion where people are generating their own content 和 sharing it with others.
• 匹配 – (billed as the “eHarmony” of PD) focused on matching principals with PD resources that are aligned to the needs 和 competencies they specify, using survey answers to customize the focus of the resources offered.

Everyone in attendance participated discussed the four proposals, 和 voted for a winner, 哪一个, 绝大多数, turned out to be 匹配. We look forward to seeing what new resources come out of the Town Hall.

Join The Partnership today 和 see how you can continue the work we’ve begun to support our principals. On August 23rd, the Partners Council for Principals will meet to co-create a PD tool for principals. The Partners Council for Hiring’s first meeting to refine existing tools meets on September 21st.

Nothing makes hard work easier than knowing people who are invested st和 with you. In the words of Principal Cynthia Miller, an Advisory Committee Member of The Partnership:

“I’ve been around for a long time 和 I’ve seen a lot, some good 和 some not so good. My experience with the fund has been overwhelming positive 和 the Partnership continues to inspire me to reinvent myself, to make a difference 和 to serve – 和 this is where my faith is…with the Fund 和 the Partnership. Engage with us, connect with us 和 st和 with us as a member of the partnership. Because if not us, then who, 和 if not NOW, then when?”

The Fund is a lead partner in The Partnership to ensure a citywide commitment to strong school leadership.