COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION of TEXAS
2014 Impact Report
In July 2012, CFT announced its first round of middle school teacher and school leader pipeline and professional development grants totaling more than $2 million, and in 2013 it awarded an additional $1.3 million in pipeline and professional development grants.
Activities Activities in the at-risk middle school Community Impact funding area include Middle School Teacher and School Leader Pipeline Grants and Middle School Teacher and School Leader Professional Development Grants. Table 1 lists the grantees, along with the use of the grants and the amounts. We then summarize the programs funded as part of the middle school investment strategy. Table 1. At-Risk Middle School Community Impact Funding for Teacher and School Leaders
PIPELINE GRANTS Grant Recipient
Use of the Grant
Teaching Trust, Aspiring Principals Program
Preparation of principals to lead and develop effective teachers and establish a school culture that supports high achievement for all students Funding of the highly successful UTeach STEM teacher preparation program that originated at The University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas, UTeach Dallas
Grant Amount $500,000 over two years
$500,000 over three years
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS Grant Recipient
Use of the Grant
Teach for America (TFA)
Implementation of an innovative Middle School Partnership Plan (MSPP) at Dallas Independent School District’s (DISD’s) Ann Richards Middle School Creation and implementation of a Teaching Artistry Fellowship program Provision of intensive professional development for sixthgrade teachers, building on the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) training that seventh- and eighthgrade teachers at Plano’s six highest-need Title I middle schools Convening of a team of Dallas-based middle school teachers and an instructional designer to revise and enhance NAPE’s existing professional development program for high school teachers Support for the creation of a Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (or SMART) Community at Thomas A. Edison Middle Learning Center in West Dallas Creation and implementation of a high school readiness program to address current gaps in the achievement of Uplift’s middle school students Award of a planning grant to KIPP DFW to partner with Southern Methodist University’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development to explore the possibility of establishing a professional development school in conjunction with KIPP’s teacher residency program
Big Thought Plano ISD Education Foundation
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity Education Foundation (NAPE) University of Texas at Dallas, Center for BrainHealth Uplift Education KIPP DFW
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Grant Amount $350,000 over two years $450,000 over two years $280,560 over two years
$153,972 over two years $250,000 $250,000 $19,000