The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) released two applications for $1 million in state funds to expand teacher leadership and teacher residencies. The grants promote innovation in Illinois’ teacher workforce systems to help address the statewide teacher shortage. The release of the grants follows ISBE’s Teach Illinois: Strong Teachers, Strong Classrooms report, which identified evidence-based strategies to improve the recruitment, preparation, and retention of effective teachers. The study pointed to a lack of resources preventing the hardest-hit districts from implementing successful teacher recruitment and retention models: 90 percent of teacher vacancies in the 2017-18 school year occurred in districts funded below adequacy, as defined by state law. Applications for the Teacher Leader Problems of Practice Grant are due no later than 4 p.m. on March 1. Applications for the Teacher Residency Planning Grant are due no later than 4 p.m. on Feb. 15. Access the applications at www.isbe.net/Pages/Request-for-Proposals.aspx.