Illinois State University’s Center for the Study of Education Policy (CSEP) has been awarded a two-year, $4.3 million Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Renewal grant by the U.S. Department of Education.  The funding will be used to continue the Center’s work through the Together Everyone Achieves More Through Integrated Leadership project (TEAM Lead), to increase principal effectiveness in performance areas that lead to increases in student achievement.

TEAM Lead engages principals and other school leaders from almost 100 public and private high-need schools in rural, suburban, and urban settings across the state. TEAM Lead involves a statewide P-20 cadre made up of Regional Offices of Education (ROEs) out of Quincy (ROE 1), Bloomington (ROE 17), Wheaton (ROE 19), and Atkinson (ROE 28); a network of Catholic schools; and four universities (Illinois State, Loyola University-Chicago, North Central College, and Western Illinois University).  External evaluation of the project will continue to be conducted through the American Institutes for Research (AIR).

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“While we knew how important this project was to the work of school principals, we are reminded of this during COVID-19 as our project principals have leaned heavily on their TEAM Lead coaches and instructional leadership teams. We are extremely pleased to have funding to continue this vital work for two more years and especially during this time of uncertainty for schools where partnership models such as TEAM Lead are of utmost importance,” said Erika Hunt, co-director of TEAM Lead.

For more information on TEAM Lead, check out:

About the center

The CSEP’s faculty and professional staff conduct applied research, manage a variety of grant-funded projects and contracts, and perform program evaluations to inform policymakers and practitioners regarding improvements across the P-20 education continuum.