TALENT INVESTMENTS
Investments in our talent portfolio work to create a high-quality pipeline of teachers and leaders in Detroit. Funding is provided to programs and organizations that support the development and recruitment of quality educators to the city.
Current Talent Investments
School Empowerment Network:
DCF Team Fellows & DCF Leaders Institute
Conducted in partnership with School Empowerment Network, DCF Team Fellows and DCF Leaders Institute are DCF’s signature talent development programs. DCF Team Fellows identifies schools on the cusp of strong performance and works with their existing leadership teams to move their students’ growth from “good” to “great.” DCF Leaders Institute is designed to recruit, develop, and place turnaround principals.
Schools Impacted
Team Fellows partner schools include: Detroit Achievement Academy, Detroit Prep and Mumford Academy; Leaders Institute partner schools include: Cornerstone, Equity and University Prep
Impact
The overarching goal is to significantly impact leadership capacity in the Detroit educational landscape. With a projected benefit to 2,400 students by 2021.
New Leaders: DPSCD Leadership Development Program
Detroit Children’s Fund, in partnership with New Leaders and Detroit Public School Community District, launched two concurrent talent development programs to support the development of DPSCD leadership. The first program focuses on developing current principals working in DPSCD to improve their instructional leadership capacity and drive improved student outcomes. The second program develops current assistant principals who aspire to be principals, to increase the district’s pool of future leaders. Both of these programs will help DPSCD assess their current talent assets and begin to build a “bench” of future school leaders to lead the next generation of Detroit’s schools.
Schools Impacted
All DPSCD schools
Impact
The principal program runs in two five-month waves, supporting a total of 50 participants—25 in the first wave and 25 in the second wave. The assistant principal program supports ~20-30 participants.
MAPSA: Professional Innovators in Teaching | Alternative Certification Program
Detroit Children’s Fund, in partnership with MAPSA, will support an alternative certification program “Professional Innovators in Teaching” for aspiring Detroit educators. The program will be offered to those already working in Detroit schools as paraprofessionals, interventionists, and building substitute teachers. This 36 month program will include 13 months of coursework and 23 months in cohort professional learning networks. Each candidate will receive an individualized plan to integrate them into school-wide initiatives. They will also receive classroom time with students, real time coaching and peer-to-peer collaboration.
Impact
By 2021, a minimum of 100 candidates will be placed in critical high need certification areas of LEAs, impacting more than 500 students.
#Teach313
#Teach313 is the first-ever national campaign to recruit teachers to Detroit. The #Teach313 campaign takes an important step toward ensuring that Detroit is the best city for teachers in the country. Strategic Community Partners (SCP) leads this project, which is co-funded by The Skillman Foundation.
This investment will fund the creation of a branded website portal. The portal will contain links to every teaching opportunity in district and charter schools in Detroit, a package of incentives (housing discounts, car discounts, tax breaks, etc.) to attract current and future Detroit teachers, and videos/testimonials that reshape the narrative of teaching in Detroit.
Impact
#Teach313 will work to eliminate the nearly 1,000 teacher vacancies that exist in schools across Detroit.