A Brief History of Teachers21
Partnered with Springfield Public Schools
Took over Leadership Initiative for Teaching Technology (LIFT2) program
Developed Reflective Teaching program
Established partnership with Boston Teacher Leadership Certificate Board
Selected by MA ESE to roll out Massachusetts’ supervision and evaluation system
Received an ESE Grant to develop a Turnaround Leadership Academy for MA.
Sponsored “Moving Beyond Discourse to Action: Revolutionizing High Schools”
This regional conference, held at Olin College and sponsored by MBAE drew upon Teachers21’s “Secondary School Redesign” SSR Model. It asked the key question “How does teaching and learning look different in the 21st. Century?”
Hosted Growing the Future Conference at Simmons College
A National Conference on Systems Approaches to Attracting, Developing, and Retaining New Teachers”
The conference was produced by the Beginning Teacher Center and held at Simmons College in Boston, MA. National sponsors included the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)
First cohort of the Leadership Licensure Program for Superintendents (LLPS).
The program began as a partnership among Teachers21, MSSAA and MASCD) with Lesley College providing the doctorate.
In 2008 the program became a partnership with MASS and BC and is about to begin in its fifth cohort.
Initiated Masters for Math Educators
Sue Looney and Jenny Tsankova began piloting math coaching which evolved into the M. Ed. program for practicing math educators. The program was initially offered through Simmons College. The first cohort graduated with Master’s degrees in 2008.
In 2014 a new partnership was formed with Fitchburg State University to offer the program as a Masters in Education in Curriculum and Teaching
Established the Working Group for Educator Excellence
the first state-wide coalition of education stakeholders in MA, convened to advocate for a systemic, comprehensive approach to ensuring high quality teaching and educational leadership.
- 2004-2008) numerous legislative briefings to help legislators understand the lack of coherence in the existing system and to build support for creating a comprehensive approach to quality teaching and school leadership
- 2008 Collaborated with DESE to define “Professional Knowledge Base” of teaching and leadership, to become the foundation for the comprehensive approach
- 2009 Planned a “proof of concept” pilot project in 3 districts: Revere, Attleboro and Malden
- 2009 Received RTTT funds for the multi-year pilot
- 2010 WGEE becomes an (independent?) organization
Urban District Improvement Model Developed
In 2002, the Malden School Department entered a partnership with Teachers21, a reform-support organization, to initiate a comprehensive approach to district-wide reform. The Teachers21 Urban District Improvement Model (UDIM) incorporated complementary district-wide and school-based efforts to improve student learning and achievement by promoting high-quality teaching in every classroom.
-Between 2003-2009, the percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced on the ELA MCAS rose from 43% of the students in 2003 to 73% in 2009; in mathematics the percentage went from 37% to 65%.
First cohort of the Leadership Licensure Program for Principals established in partnership with MSSAA & MASCD
- Geared towards principals, assistant principals, supervisors, and directors
- Expanded to include a component for superintendents and assistant superintendents that split off to become LLPS
- The program’s integrated approach to learning and doing and its framework for collaboration and reflection make it unique
Beginning Teacher Center established at Simmons College
(Initial grant was $2M for 5 years for work in Boston Public Schools on comprehensive induction support)
The Beginning Teacher Center was dedicated to creating a seamless continuum between teacher preparation and the first years of practice.
GOALS OF THE BEGINNING TEACHER CENTER
- Encourage all school districts to understand, implement, and evaluate the comprehensive model of beginning teacher induction.
- Create a seamless continuum through teacher preparation and the first years of practice.
- Become a national force that moves the American education establishment to devote attention and resources to the induction of beginning teachers.
- Led to development of the “Comprehensive Induction Model” that was supported by a book (Beyond Mentoring), a workbook of case studies, a collection of videos, and an induction program evaluation tool.