CTL Partner in $30 Million Promise Neighborhoods Grant
CTL is a major partner in a five-year $30 million Promise Neighborhoods grant being led by Berea College and announced in December by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Modeled after the work of the Harlem Children’s Zone, the initiative addresses the challenges faced by students and families living in high-poverty communities, and aims to ensure cradle-to-career success with particular focus on education and health through the engagement of broad community resources. The Kentucky project was one of only five in the nation to be awarded implementation funds, of more than 200 organizations from 45 states, American Samoa and Puerto Rico that applied for both implementation and planning grants.
The work supported by the new grant will take place in Jackson, Owsley and Clay Counties in Kentucky, and builds on work completed there in 2011 under a Promise Neighborhoods planning grant also led by Berea College. Under that grant, CTL collected data on school readiness, classroom rigor and the college-going culture of the public schools, and piloted professional development models that support teaching and learning and showed promising results.
CTL’s work under the new grant focuses on professional development K-12 and includes implementation of a professional development model that boosts knowledge of foundational literacy instruction among English and language arts teachers; implementation of an original CTL model that uses children’s literature about the arts to develop early literacy; implementation of CTL’s Mathematics Literacy Model, which provides training, coaching and support for mathematics teachers and school administrators; and formal and job-embedded instructional coaching and leadership development, including both on-site and distance support. Some 175 teachers and administrators in the three rural counties are expected to participate in the work over five years.
In addition to Berea College, CTL, and the Jackson, Owsley and Clay County Public Schools, partners in the Berea College Promise Neighborhood initiative include the Cumberland Valley District Health Department, Save the Children which provides extended day services and tutoring to students, and the Kentucky Folklife Program. The management board of the grant also includes area residents and parents of students who attend the schools to be served.
In a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Duncan stated, "Promise Neighborhoods recognizes that children need to be surrounded by systems of support inside and outside of the classroom to help them be successful in school and beyond.” The funded Promise Neighborhoods projects will also benefit from resources of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Justice, aimed at strengthening communities through affordable housing and public safety initiatives.
For more information on CTL's work with the Berea College Promise Neighborhood Initiative please contact:
Ashley Perkins, Promise Neighborhoods Project Manager
502.895.9500 x340
Ashley Perkins, Promise Neighborhoods Project Manager
502.895.9500 x340