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Kimberly Lloyd has been an officer with the Chicago Police Department for over 18 years, but she hasn’t forgotten what she learned during her previous decade as a teacher in Catholic and public elementary schools in Chicago. In her experience, many boys in third grade would score in the 90th percentile in reading, then plunge to the 35th percentile in fourth grade when they couldn’t keep up with the more difficult material. Such struggles in school dramatically increased the odds that someday they’d be in trouble with the law.
This is an opportunity for the COE to redefine and even expand the way we think about educational leadership.”
—Leodis Scott
“I’m creating a not-for-profit that will work with those boys,” says Lloyd, a member of the first cohort earning a doctoral degree in educational leadership through a partnership between the COE’s Department of Leadership, Language and Curriculum and Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police. She’s combining her educational and law enforcement experiences to try to change the outcome for such students.
Leodis Scott, an assistant professor in the educational leadership program, says, “It’s less about everyone wanting to lead schools and more about wanting to change communities or the environments that they’re in.” The first cohort is now working on dissertation ideas, which include topics such as enhancing the role of school resource officers, reducing the number of repeat offenders and preparing police to provide emergency medical care.
“This is an opportunity for the COE to redefine and even expand the way we think about educational leadership,” says Scott. “It enriches our program because we have to think about how to create a curriculum that’s more diverse and serves more leaders than only principals.”
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“We’re excited about the impact of our partnership with the FOP on Chicago,” says Paul Zionts, dean. “We’re able to equip these students with leadership knowledge that incorporates Vincentian values and social justice, which will resonate both within the Chicago Police Department and in the communities that our students plan to serve.”
Scott is excited about the potential for tangible solutions to violence and crime in Chicago to emerge from the program. “This is a huge opportunity for DePaul, the Chicago police and the City of Chicago. The nation is looking to us for leadership,” he says. “I’m excited to think that I may be a part of new ideas on how we can do things differently in areas like community policing and crime prevention.”
For her part, Lloyd is encouraging her colleagues to enroll. “I tell people all the time that it’s a great program; it’s a great school.”