Cleveland Foundation provides $159,000 in additional funding

Cleveland State University has received a new grant from the Cleveland Foundation to continue its highly successful Teaching Fellows program, a unique student teaching initiative conducted in partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

The Foundation recently approved a $159,000 grant to fund the fourth year of the initiative, which places high-performing CSU students as student teachers in elementary, secondary and special education classes throughout the CMSD. The paid, year-long placement provides CSU students with significant real-world experience in an urban setting and also includes ongoing professional development opportunities. In exchange, CMSD receives high-quality support for its class room teachers, while also having access to a standout pool of future candidates. 

“I would like to thank the Cleveland Foundation and CMSD for their continued support of and participation in this important program,” says Sajit Zachariah, dean of the College of Education and Human Services at CSU. ”We are very lucky to have such supportive and engaged community partners who are at the forefront of urban education innovation. This collaboration is truly a win-win for CSU, city school children and the community as a whole.”

The Teaching Fellows program was created in 2015 and has placed over 120 student teachers in schools throughout the district. To date, over 40 percent of the program’s first two cohorts have been hired as full time teachers following graduation. The effort is a component of a broader research and education collaboration between CSU and the CMSD which includes the housing of two public schools on the University campus.

“Our partnership with CMSD is central to our mission as an anchor institution in Cleveland and provides tremendous benefits to our students and faculty,” Zachariah adds. “It also represents the true essence of community engagement, illustrating how two organizations can come together to better meet individual institutional goals while improving society as a whole.”