In January 2022, the CFP National Championship takes place in Indianapolis, IN.
Like many cities, Indianapolis is experiencing a teacher shortage. Students continue to need a consistent pipeline of high quality, diverse educators in order to improve student achievement. In Indiana, the educator pipeline faces particular challenges. A 2019 report by the Center for American Progress ranked Indiana as seventh for declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs, which had fallen by 54%. With fewer students choosing to pursue education as a career, the Indiana teacher pipeline is narrowing. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has taken note of this issue and included the educator pipeline as one plank in its strategic plan, Reaching Higher in a State of Change.
Another challenge that has been brought to the forefront is the need for distance learning resources that include high quality curriculum for educators, as well as a space to collaborate virtually. Extended stay-at-home requirements and school building closures due to COVID-19 have required educators to rapidly implement plans for full-scale distance learning. In addition, the transition to e-learning has resulted in new preferences for educators and families on how they engage in learning from home. These challenges impact schools and families across the state and regardless of their school environment (e.g., public, private, rural, urban). There is a need for a new way to connect educators and families to engaging, interactive experiences to adapt to this new reality. The learning lab has been created to provide meaningful and relevant content through a virtual hub and to provide educators and families access to high-quality learning resources and trainings, as well as opportunities for collaboration and sharing of best practices. The Indiana Learning Lab will also support educators at public and private schools statewide in developing and implementing longer-term distance learning solutions that meet the needs of students, parents, and schools. Main focus areas of the lab include resource and content curation, accessible learning communities of practice and educator professional development for common, broadly applicable challenges.
Given these expressed needs, the primary focus of the partnership will include teacher recruitment and retention strategies and supporting awareness and access to the Indiana Learning lab. Other focus areas will include provision of classroom resources and recognizing teachers throughout the state for the hard work they do in the classroom every day.
Additional partners were identified to help design and implement this work, including but not limited to, The Mind Trust and the Indiana Department of Education.
Click to explore the Indiana eLearning lab.
Civic, Education Leaders Launch Virtual Hub to Equip Indiana Educators and Families for New Era of eLearning
Indianapolis Learning Fund and the College Football Playoff Foundation gift $2.4 million to statewide eLearning Lab
INDIANAPOLIS (July 22, 2020) —COVID-19 has ushered in a new era in education in which at least some remote learning will be the norm. To help prepare for this reality, the Indianapolis eLearning Fund and the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation today announced the launch of the Indiana Learning Lab…
TEACH INDY
Teach Indy Launched in 2018, Teach Indy has provided hundreds of educators in Indianapolis and statewide with opportunities for professional development, recognition and rewards for their hard work, as well as ways to connect them to each other. Their newly relaunched website features expanded tools for teachers to find resources and training, search for job opportunities, and understand why Indianapolis is the best place for teachers to live, lead, and thrive. The 2022 CFP - Indianapolis Host Committee donated $200,000 to Teach Indy to support them as they continue to provide these resources and support to Indianapolis teachers.