Grant Will Help Train New York Teacher Leaders
With the help of a new
$500,000 grant, Teaching Matters will offer its Teacher Leadership Program over
the next two years to teachers in New York City. The program is
expected to
eventually enhance the skills of 15,000 teachers.
Teaching Matters received the
grant from the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, which
is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The program, titled "Deepening
and Scaling Teacher Leader Support for Common Core-Aligned Instruction
in New
York City," launched Oct. 1. The hope is to engage 600 teacher leaders
who will
take the skills and information they learn back to their colleagues in
New York
City schools.
The goal is to deepen and
spread Common Core-aligned instruction practices with a focus on
competency-based
education that will measure and reward teacher leadership skills with
micro-credentials.
Key components of the program
include:
- A mentorship model that
develops teacher leaders through exercises and feedback;
- Clear learning targets for
developing peer leadership and team inquiry skills;
- A specific focus on content
knowledge and teaching skills aimed at English language arts and math;
and
- Recognizing teacher leader
impact through micro-credentials that demonstrate improvement in Common
Core-aligned instruction.
"Teacher leadership is a key
lever in building strong school communities and a dynamic career ladder
for
teachers," said Amy Way, executive director of teacher recruitment and
qualities for the New York education department.
Teaching Matters has worked
with the New
York City Department of Education in the past. Most recently, last
year, 150 teachers were involved in the Emerging Teacher Leaders Program.
This
year, another 350 New York teachers will be involved in that program.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.