The Center for Literacy collaborates with other UIC departments, community organizations, schools, libraries, as well as local, state, national, and international agencies. This page lists the Center for Literacy's current major partners and a link to our full list of community partnerships.
Archdiocese of Chicago Office of Catholic Schools is a partner in two Early Reading First initiatives, Achieving Preschool Language & Literacy and Instructional Model Programs for All Children & Teachers. We collaborate to support preschool teaching teams to create preschool classroom centers of early literacy excellence.
The Autism Program of Illinois (TAP) is the largest statewide network of services in the nation for individuals diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families. The UIC Resource Center for Autism & Developmental Delays coordinates with local Chicago TAP programs to assure families have access to all available resources.
Barnardos (Ireland) is committed to challenging and supporting families, communities, society and government to make Ireland the best place in the world to be a child, focusing specifically on children and young people whose well-being is under threat. To meet this challenge, they have visited the UIC Center for Literacy and invited Tim Shanahan and Center staff to Ireland to share our experience and consult with them on new programs
Chicago Department of Family and Support Services supports the following Center for Literacy initiatives: the Family Start Learning Centers, the Chicago Center for Early Education, Project SOAR, The Resource Center for Autism & Developmental Delays, and the Family Support Center.
Chicago Public Library welcomes Head Start families on field trips from our family literacy programs to their branch libraries and assists parents in applying for library cards. CPL also collaborates with our Early Reading First Schools to encourage parents to utilize local library resources.
Chicago Public Schools contract with the Center for Literacy to provide a variety of professional development, curriculum development, and assessment and evaluation activities focused on improving reading achievement.
First Book is a national nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. The Center for Literacy collaborates with First Book to distribute 2,000-7,000 children’s books each year to Head Start/Child Care families to establish home libraries.
Hope Institute is a partner in developing the Resource Center for Autism & Developmental Delays. Together we are opening a resource center to serve parents of children with ASD and other developmental delays and the professionals who work with these children.
Literacy Volunteers of Illinois and the Center for Literacy collaborate on many community literacy initiatives and co-host a statewide literacy conference each year.
Malcolm X College is a partner at the Chicago Center for Early Education and provides ongoing technical support for staff and patrons.
Mathmatica Policy Research, Inc and the UIC Center for Literacy are conducting a study entitled National Title I Study of Implementation and Outcomes: Early Childhood Language Development. This is a 5-year study to determine the relationships among early environmental variables (oral language, opportunity to develop domain knowledge) and school’s ability to improve young children’s reading in grades K-3. This research is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Science.
Serve Illinois, the Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service funds Project MORE: Making Opportunities for Reading Enrichment, an AmeriCorps national service program that supports family literacy for Head Start and Child Care programs.
University of Illinois at Chicago Office of Financial Aid recruits federal workstudy students to support the Center’s community literacy programs.
Youngballymun was established in 2006 to deliver measurably improved well-being and learning outcomes for children and young people in Ballymun, and to inform national and international practice and policy. They contacted the Center for Literacy and invited Dr. Tim Shanahan to Ballymun to conduct workshops in schools on aspects of his literacy framework and to address educators across the island of Ireland at a public event entitled “Breakthrough Thinking of Literacy Learning”. Shanahan and the Center staff look forward to continued collaboration with Youngballymun.
Community-Based Partners
