PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria High School, Manual and Richwoods High Schools, have been chosen to be part of a group of 30 schools nationally to benefit from a $13 million grant from the Bill and and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The schools will be working with the BARR Center, Building Assets Reducing Risks, to improve the graduation rates of black, Latino and low-income students.
“What we like is their proven approach to collecting and monitoring data. And, that emphasis on building relationships and getting to know students well,” said Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat.
14 of the schools in the BARR program are from the Midwest and 16 schools are from California.
The BARR model uses scientific methods to test advances made in school centered goals of improving college readiness for target groups of students. Successes of the program will be shared throughout the network of schools.
Peoria High, Manual and Richwoods High Schools will receive BARR services that include training, on-site and virtual coaching, membership, resources and data support at no cost to the school district.
Peoria Public Schools has also been selected to take part in a national pilot study looking at the “teacher-leader” model of professional development.
PPS is one of 100 school districts in the nation selected by the United States Department of Education for the program.
Kherat said 10 PPS primary schools are involved in the study.
“We’ll have five buildings that will be a control group, and another five buildings will be experimental. And, what they’ll do is, they will pipe in some unique professional development,” Kherat said.
Through Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., the DOE will deliver an innovative model of professional development to participating school districts over a two-year period.
Teachers participating in the study will receive a $5,000 annual stipend.
The program will begin in the 2020-2021 school year and continue through the 2021-2022 school year.
“As the superintendent of Peoria Public Schools, I am proud of our teachers and staff for enthusiastically embracing new and innovative methods to support our students and enhance their educational experience,” Kherat said.
