The Literacy Cooperative program is a joint effort by George Washington University (GWU), the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), and our partners: Teaching for Change, In2Books, Aequus Technologies, Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), University of Colorado at Denver's National Institute for Urban School Improvement (NIUSI), and the New Teacher Center at the University of California Santa Cruz.

The Literacy Cooperative program prepares teacher candidates to address the issues of urban teaching and of ensuring high-quality literacy instruction in particular. The teacher candidates participating in this program are placed in year-long internships in DCPS public schools in addition to taking coursework at GWU. The Literacy Cooperative program pays for approximately 75% of the tuition, plus a stipend. In exchange for this support, teacher candidates agree to teach in DCPS for no less than two years after they complete the program.

In addition to training new teachers, the Literacy Cooperative program also funds 100% tuition for a group of current DCPS teachers to further their advanced literacy teaching practice and leadership potential at their schools. A group of 10-15 teachers will be selected to participate in 15 credit hours' worth of coursework at GWU, culminating in a project that addresses the unique literacy needs at the teachers' schools. It is our hope that this cadre of inservice teachers will ultimately become leaders in their schools for the improvement of literacy.