BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Winter 2010Celine Coggins, Ph.D.

CEO, Teach Plus

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Teach Plus Mission

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Teach Plus Core Values

1. Teaching is awesome.

1. Retaining great, experienced teachers is key to closing the achievement gap.

1. It is important to identify and reward effective teachers and effective teaching practices.

1. Great teachers seek and deserve growth opportunities both in and out of the classroom.

1. Ensuring that the voice of early career teachers is heard by policymakers is vital to the future of the profession and to the success of urban schools.

1. Teaching is awesome.

1. Retaining great, experienced teachers is key to closing the achievement gap.

1. It is important to identify and reward effective teachers and effective teaching practices.

1. Great teachers seek and deserve growth opportunities both in and out of the classroom.

1. Ensuring that the voice of early career teachers is heard by policymakers is vital to the future of the profession and to the success of urban schools.

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

What the Research Tells Us

I. Teachers are the most important factor in student achievement. Four consecutive years of excellent teachers could close the achievement gap.

II. Up to 50% of urban teachers leave within 3-5 years.III. Teacher experience is correlated with effectiveness.IV. When effective teachers leave the classroom there

is a significant cost to students and schools.

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Transforming the Teaching Profession

Why do teachers leave?• Limited career growth or leadership opportunities• Egalitarian norms, little or no differentiation among teachers• Isolation• Seniority-driven policies • Limited ability to impact the “big picture” of education reform• Limited monetary or non-monetary incentives for performance• Demands on time become unsustainable in the long run• Unsupportive administrators • Inability to realize the “sense of success”

Why do teachers leave?• Limited career growth or leadership opportunities• Egalitarian norms, little or no differentiation among teachers• Isolation• Seniority-driven policies • Limited ability to impact the “big picture” of education reform• Limited monetary or non-monetary incentives for performance• Demands on time become unsustainable in the long run• Unsupportive administrators • Inability to realize the “sense of success”

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Our Theory of Change

If we want to ensure that great teachers stay in the classroom into a second stage of their careers, then we need input from those very teachers about how the profession can adapt to support them.

If we keep these great teachers in schools that need them the most, then we will see dramatic improvements in student learning.

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Teach Plus: What We Do

Inform, connect and amplify the voice of effective teachers for reform and support them to advocate for change

Inform, connect and amplify the voice of effective teachers for reform and support them to advocate for change

Impact change by working with states and districts to implement innovative, teacher-created reforms aimed at retaining effective teachers

Impact change by working with states and districts to implement innovative, teacher-created reforms aimed at retaining effective teachers

Work with Teachers

Fellows Program: Train effective, early career teachers to advocate for policy changes that would retain them in teaching

Fellows Program: Train effective, early career teachers to advocate for policy changes that would retain them in teaching

T+ Network: Build an informed network of results-oriented early career teachers dedicated to retaining effective teachers

T+ Network: Build an informed network of results-oriented early career teachers dedicated to retaining effective teachers

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Work with States, Districts and Schools

BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Teaching Policy Fellows

Examples from Boston Cohort

Locally Nationally• Presented model for licensure

reform to State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE)

• Designed model for staffing struggling schools; wrote and published 16 page report detailing model

• Gave testimony at the State House• Held launch event with 100

attendees• Featured in Commonwealth

magazine

• Spoke at National Center for Teacher Quality Conference in Washington, DC

• Participated in focus group for Gates Foundation Measures of Effective Teaching project in Salt Lake City, UT

• Presented at Pensions and Benefits conference in Tennessee

• Written up in Education Week magazine and The Washington Post

• Contributed to EduWonk Ed Policy blog

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BE PART OF THE EQUATION

Teaching Policy FellowsTeaching Policy Fellows

• Selective, 2-year fellowship • Cohort of 20 outstanding teachers• Urban teachers in years 3-10 eligible• Charter and district schools• Monthly sessions with coursework,

expert speakers, and working groups• $3,000 stipend over two years

T+ NetworkT+ Network

• Quarterly lecture series• Facilitated audience response and

discussion• Professional networking reception

with like-minded peers• Access to current research and events• First four events:

– Boston– Chicago

Teacher Voice Programs

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www.teachplus.org

BE PART OF THE EQUATION

• A Cohort Model of Staffing: At least 1/3 of school• Rigorous Selection Criteria: At least three years demonstrated

effectiveness in urban classroom• Career Growth with a Focus on Continued Classroom Teaching• Differentiated Pay: for T3 teachers and schoolwide • Dramatic Culture Change: facilitated by new leader, summer institute

ongoing professional development

T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams

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