Teacher Residency Planning Grant Request for Proposals

The FY 2022 Teacher Residency Planning Grant provides funding for institutions of higher education (IHEs) with approved teacher preparation programs and their Local Education Agency (LEA) partner(s) to develop the partnership’s capacity to design, prepare for, and implement innovative approaches to fieldwork in the form of a teacher residency. Offering a year-long teacher residency program requires careful collaborative planning and partnership between an IHE and an LEA. In turn, this will provide residents rich and extended opportunities to work with, learn from, and hone their craft alongside practicing teachers.

This program was identified in the Illinois ESSA State Plan and aligns with Goals 3.1, 3.3, and 3.4 of the agency Strategic Plan. Research shows that residency programs are more successful than traditional programs in recruiting diverse candidates and in retaining teachers once in the profession.

The program will award three educator preparation provider partners and LEA partner(s) funds to develop residency programs to prepare teacher candidates. Programs must adhere to all Illinois Compiled Statutes and Illinois Administrative Code requirements for licensure. Each grant recipient will receive a $50,000 planning grant in Year 1 and a $200,000 implementation grant in Year 2.

Updates to FY 2022 RFP

The RFP in its entirety, as well as the actual proposal submission, is in the IWAS system. The notice and directives for request would go to the administrator whose name matches up with the RCDT code for the institution. Any public or private institution of higher education that offers an Illinois-approved teacher preparation program will be the primary applicant. Priority points will be given to programs that partner with at least one or more district or Regional Office of Education that falls within the locale codes 32, 33, 41, 42, and 43 of the New Urban-Centric Locale Codes, as defined by the National Center for Educations Statistics. Priority points also will be given to programs that address high-need teaching areas in Goal 3.3 of the ISBE Strategic Plan.