These teachers are, in fact, leaders,
doing what successful leaders do in all
challenging contexts—rallying others
around an audacious vision, investing
others in working hard to get there, and
doing whatever it takes to stay on track.
Our development model centers on
empowering carefully selected recruits
to have a transformational effect on
students’ lives. We don’t operate with
the stark divisions between pre- and
in-service development and support.
Instead, our model focuses on expe-
to develop early childhood teachers
were influenced by the Rollins Center
for Language and Learning. The Rol-
lins Center is part of the Atlanta Speech
School, which serves children and
adults with speech, hearing, language,
or learning disabilities through clinical
and education programs. The develop-
ment of our math teachers is influenced
by more than half a dozen scholars,
such as Jon Star at Harvard University
and Deborah Ball and Magdalene Lam-
pert at the University of Michigan.
teaching practices, but also deepen
incoming teachers’ understanding of the
systemic causes of inequity and the crucial role that education can play in giving students power over their futures.
We clarify the type of leadership that
classroom teachers need to demonstrate
to help students unlock that power for
themselves. We also encourage teacher
reflection about the ways their backgrounds and identities may influence
their work as teachers.
We find that our teachers make the
Our teachers make
the most progress
when they are on
their feet, teaching,
and then reflecting
on their practice.
riential learning, access to concrete
resources, cycles of reflection about
what is and isn’t working, and a strong
collective culture that supports rapid
development of our teachers in context.
In this way, we can produce the leaders
that we need our first- and second-year
teachers to be.
Our development work is also
strongly influenced by insights of
experts in the field. We frequently consult with researchers, education school
leaders, and practitioners as we develop
and refine components of our model.
Last year, for example, our initiatives
How the Training Works
Our development model begins in the
spring before our new teachers arrive
at our five-week summer training institute. During those months, recruits
are required to study key concepts of
teaching by reading texts and watching videos; observe classrooms in the
communities in which they live; and
reflect on the teacher actions that most
powerfully accelerate student learning,
such as backwards planning and investing in students so they believe they can
be successful. These experiences not
only build knowledge about effective
PHOTO BY JEAN-CHRISTIAN BOURCAR T
most progress when they are on their
feet, teaching, and then reflecting on
their practice. Our summer institute
is, therefore, built around a collaborative teaching model instead of a traditional student-teaching model. With
the guidance, support, and coaching
of several experienced teachers at the
back of the room, our teachers are fully
responsible for student learning at summer schools we run around the United
States. They learn how to plan lessons;
check for understanding during instruction; design assessments; and build
relationships with students, families,
and colleagues. We use our Teaching as
Leadership rubric—a road map of excellence developed from studying our most
successful teachers—to diagnose teachers’ needs and focus our support. 1
When they arrive in the community
