Several organizations that work closely with teachers are collaborating to bring visibility to the Teachers Want to Know campaign. We share a common commitment to ensuring the voice of teachers is involved in each stage of the policy process.
Teach Plus
The mission of Teach Plus is to improve outcomes for urban children by ensuring that a greater proportion of students have access to effective teachers. The organization offers three programs designed to place teacher leaders at the center of reform. They are: the Teaching Policy Fellows Program, the T+ Network, and T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams. Teach Plus currently works with teachers in Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Memphis. Teach Plus teachers initiated a groundbreaking program in Boston to ensure students in turnaround schools have access to top teachers, as well as a contract change in Indianapolis that incorporates performance measures into teacher layoff decisions.
Hope Street Group
Hope Street Group works with teachers from across the country who are unified in their goal: making teaching an iconic profession. We are committed to five principles of education reform and are working with a national network of outstanding teachers to achieve these goals. To this end, we are collaborating with teachers to build opportunities for them to be directly involved in reinventing the role of Teacher for the 21st Century with an initial emphasis on improving teacher evaluation systems in their own communities. We are also connecting teachers with leading policymakers to share their expertise on policy changes that are being considered at the national level. Please join us in our efforts. Share your experiences and perspective in our online discussions. Hear the perspectives of other teachers and stay on top of the latest research by reading Hope Street Group's publications or exploring our blogs and discussions here in Policy 2.0. Explore the Pilot Project: Teacher Evaluation Systems and read their final report. Sign up to receive information on upcoming opportunities to get involved and make a difference!
Center for Teaching Quality
Founded in 1999, CTQ seeks to improve student learning and advance the teaching profession by cultivating teacher leadership, conducting timely research, and helping to craft smart policy. The heart and soul of CTQ is its Teacher Leaders Network (TLN), a virtual community that elevates policy ideas and spreads pedagogical expertise of accomplished teachers. Expert teachers, nationwide, join TLN so they can learn from one another and have their expertise understood, embraced, and utilized. TLNers have numerous (paid) opportunities to write essays for Teacher Magazine Online, pose ideas in their high-profile blogs, engage in cutting-edge policy research, and soon engage in online lesson study and assessment reforms.
Educators 4 Excellence
Educators 4 Excellence brings together like-minded professionals in the field of education – current and former teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators – to create a single, magnified voice in the education reform debate. As educators, we know first-hand how our educational system shortchanges far too many of our students. E4E unites educators around shared principles that place our students’ needs first.
The Viva Project
The Viva Project is an easy, quick and powerful way to collaborate with teachers anytime, from anywhere. It’s an on-line community of passionate teachers who are looking for a chance to make their voices heard (directly) by our nation’s top leaders and your own state’s highest level officials. It’s an opportunity to express your opinions, and add your ideas (big or small) to the movement to make schools work for classroom teachers and students.