2. Program and Curriculum Support
What forms of program/curriculum and classroom management support does
CIS of Chicago provide for partners?
CIS of Chicago understands that classroom management and program development go
hand in hand. In order to deliver high-quality programming, programs and services
must be delivered to students in a way that they will remember and be able to apply to
their lives outside the classroom. Successful programs have engaging curriculums:
they give students clear instruction, various exercises and activities for application,
and creative forms of assessment for reviewing lessons. The community partnership
team at CIS of Chicago offers support in these areas through NAVIGATE, a series of
trainings offered to community partners.
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3. Program and Curriculum Support
NAVIGATE offers support in curriculum and classroom management, as well as
trainings that explore the landscape of CPS and different tools for building awareness
of community organizations in schools. Our trainings provide organizations
opportunities to collaborate and network with other highly motivated community
organizations, and participants often return to their respective schools and
organizations with several new tools and feedback to share and apply. This portion of
the toolkit has resources as well as a calendar of NAVIGATE trainings for
opportunities to learn more and improve your programs and services.
Additionally, all of our professional development trainings are aligned with the
Elements of Effective Programs which can be accessed via the links below.
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4. Elements of Effective Programs
CIS of Chicago initiated its development of quality school-based program standards by
exploring best practices related to violence prevention providers. During the 2012-13
academic year, CIS of Chicago staff read more than 40 peer-reviewed research articles,
interviewed 15 experts in the fields of public health, juvenile justice, sociology and
education, and participated in a range of informative seminars and trainings related to
youth violence, resiliency practices and various community trends. From this work, CIS of
Chicago developed its Elements of Effective Violence Prevention Programming.
(Hereafter, the Elements)
In 2013, using the Elements as a lens for exploring best practices other focus areas, CIS of
Chicago moved its’ attention to arts education. CIS of Chicago met with multiple
stakeholders in the arts education industry of Chicago and explored a wealth of research
documents and tools for gauging the quality of arts-based programs to develop a tool to
assess effective art education practices. The new Elements of Effective Arts Education
Programs, like our violence prevention tool, is organized around three key aspects of most
school-based programs: The quality of their instruction, the rigor of their program model,
and the expertise of their educators/facilitators.
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Who is in the room?
Site Coordinators, Program Managers, Supervisors, Development
Why are we here?
How many of you bring partners into schools or work with community partners in some way?
How many of you have ever had a concern or incident regarding the quality of a partner’s program?
How many of you have found it challenging to engage in a conversation or process that would address that quality concern?
That is why we are here today. We are a connector. All affiliates work differently, but we all have community partners in common. When we connect programs or services to our students, it becomes incumbent upon us to have a stake in the quality of that program or service.