Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Chicago, Illinois
(312) 445-5000
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation has awarded 17 Illinois non profits with grants towards early childhood education, totaling more than $5 million.
More than $1 million will go towards services and programs for infants and toddlers and their families. Programs include parent education, language acquisition, teacher training and efforts to increase the participation of low income fathers.
Below is a complete list of grant recipients:
Infants and Toddlers
- Illinois Network of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) ($355,000) over two years to support infant and toddler teachers who need additional education and degrees that correlate to better child outcomes.
- University of Chicago – Thirty Million Words ($225,000) over two years to support a multimedia curriculum to address language deficits in toddlers.
- University of Chicago – School of Social Service Administration ($300,000) over two years to support “Dads Matter,” a home visitation program designed to increase the family participation of low-income fathers.
Quality Teachers and Programs
- Action for Illinois Children ($250,000) over one year to support Chicago’s “Ready to Learn” initiative, which aims to drive continuous quality improvements in Chicago-funded early childhood programs.
- Illinois Network of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (INCCRRA) ($250,000) over one year to help early childhood teachers and center directors gain access to professional development.
- Illinois State University ($250,000) over two years to create training materials to support best practices for principals and early childhood teachers.
- Rush Neurobehavioral Center ($300,000) over one year to support the implementation of a Preschool Executive Functioning Curriculum in five Chicago elementary schools.
Quality Leaders
- National Louis University ($500,000) over two years to support the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership.
- New Leaders ($250,000) over one year for general operating support for principal training programs, which include efforts to recruit more principal candidates with early education experience and to train all principal candidates to lead early education classrooms.
- SIUE/IL Education Research Council and University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research ($500,000) over two years to support work to evaluate Illinois’ principal preparation efforts.
- University of Illinois at Chicago – School of Education ($450,000) over two years to support Common Core-aligned professional development for Pre-K through 5th grade math instruction in Chicago Public Schools.
Public Policy
- Action for Illinois Children ($300,000) over one year for general operating support and a grantee-led evaluation of the Illinois early childhood system.
- Advance Illinois ($150,000) over one year for general operating support.
- BUILD Initiative – TSNE ($175,000) over one year for general operating support and to support Illinois in improving infant and toddler systems.
- Ounce of Prevention Fund ($275,000) over one year for general operating support.
- Voices for Illinois Children ($275,000) over one year for general operating support.
Family/Community Outreach
- Chicago Children’s Museum ($80,000) over one year for general operating support for early learning programming, particularly serving low-income and underserved families.
- DuPage Children’s Museum ($175,000) over one year for general operating support for early learning programming, particularly serving low-income and underserved families and for strategic transition planning.
- Sesame Workshop ($250,000) over two years to support the development and implementation of an autism spectrum awareness initiative
About the Robert R. McCormick Foundation
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is committed to fostering communities of educated, informed and engaged citizens. Through philanthropic programs, Cantigny Park and museums, the Foundation helps develop citizen leaders and works to make life better in our communities. The Foundation was established as a charitable trust in 1955, upon the death of Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation is one of the nation’s largest foundations, with more than $1.5 billion in assets.
For more information, please visit www.McCormickFoundation.org
Judith Fenlon is the Money and Business Editor of the Chronicle of Social Change