On the Ground: Chicago

Appian Way is, without a doubt, a pretty short street. But its size doesn't define the Ed School's reach, which goes way beyond this tiny section of Cambridge. On the Ground is a feature in Ed. that focuses on one of the many places around the world where we're doing good work as a community. In this issue we look at the Windy City.

CAREER SERVICES The school has maintained a strong connection to Chicago, with heavy recruiting of our students every year by employers. This past semester, 114 organizations from Chicago posted positions with the Ed School. Many of the positions are with Chicago Public Schools, at local colleges and universities, and at various education-focused organizations.

CURRENT STUDENTS Tommie Henderson, Ed.L.D.'13, has spent the last year working for UChicago Impact, an educationbased nonprofit. Second-year doctoral student Eve Ewing is conducting research that looks at the impact of environmental racism in Chicago.

PELP Now celebrating 10 years, the Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) was started as a joint project of the Ed School and the Harvard Business School. The idea was to see how management could help public schools improve student performance. The project initially teamed up with nine urban school districts, including Chicago. Every year since 2003, a team from Chicago has come to Harvard to work with our faculty and with other districts. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was part of the first Chicago PELP team, when he served as CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

ALUMS Many Ed School graduates live and work in Chicago. Among them: Dennis Holtschneider, Ed.D.'97, president of DePaul University; Tim Knowles, Ed.M.'96, Ed.D.'02, professor at the University of Chicago, director of the university's Urban Education Institute, and recipient of the 2011 HGSE Alumni Council Award; Steve Raudenbush, Ed.D.'84, professor at the University of Chicago and chair of the Committee on Education; David Greene, Ed.M.'91, Ed.M.'94, Ed.D.'02, executive vice president of the University of Chicago; and Sonya Anderson, Ed.M.'01, Ed.D.'05, vice president for national affairs at the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a nonprofit that gives kids living in poverty a chance to get a high-quality early education. There are also many alumni working in Chicago Public Schools.

PRINCIPAL PIPELINE In an effort to expand the number of high-caliber principals in Chicago Public Schools, a collaboration was started in 2007 between the Ed School, Teach For America (TFA), Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Public Education Fund, and the Pritzker Traubert Family Foundation. Called the Principal Leadership Development Program, the collaboration allows former TFA graduates to earn master's degrees at the Ed School before becoming principals in Chicago schools. After graduation, participants continue with ongoing professional development through the Ed School's PPE institutes.

PPE In May 2012, Professor Tom Hehir, Ed.D.'90, and Lecturer David Rose, Ed.D.'76, ran a special weeklong session on universal design for learning (UDL) for about 300 staff in Chicago Public Schools. "The district is moving forward on UDL and has committed significant resources to this," says Hehir, who worked with Deputy Superintendent Jen Cheatham, Ed.M.'06, Ed.D.'10. Hehir says they also helped the district recruit a new chief officer of the Office of Special Education and Supports.