Podcast: PreK-3rd Learning at the New Schools Project in Chicago

Erikson Institute in Chicago is internationally known for putting adults on a path to becoming stellar early childhood teachers. What might not be as well-known, however, is the New Schools Project — an Erikson initiative designed to help entire elementary schools provide young children with high-quality instruction. 

In this podcast, we speak with Chris Maxwell, director of the New Schools Project, about how the program works. Half-a-dozen schools are now involved, including two that have been designated low-performing schools in need of “turnaround.”  The project employs coaches who are based at the schools for several days each week to help teachers collaborate and reflect on their teaching by communicating and querying each other between classes and grade levels. Signs of progress are showing up in students’ reading and math skills in third grade, Maxwell said, with gains in New Schools’ test scores, when averaged across its schools, that are three to four times the gains made in Chicago Public Schools in one year. The hope is that the results will inspire more schools to look deeply at the teaching taking place in pre-kindergarten through the early grades of school.

Podcast: PreK-3rd Learning at the New Schools Project in Chicago

With our guest Chris Maxwell, Director of the New Schools Project at Erikson Institute, Chicago