Advancing the Teaching Profession - A Weblog
Barnett Berry offers his knowledge of and opinions on America's efforts to build a real teaching profession.

Barnett Berry is President and CEO of the Center for Teaching Quality, Inc., based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Founded in 1999, CTQ seeks to close the student achievement gap by closing the teaching quality gap.

A former high school teacher, Barnett leads a research-based advocacy organization dedicated to creating a 21st century teaching profession. In 2003, he created the Teacher Leaders Network -- a dynamic virtual community designed to elevate the voices of expert teachers on matters of education policy that impact their profession and the students they serve.
 
Barnett also has worked as a social scientist at the RAND Corporation, served as a senior executive with the South Carolina State Department of Education, and directed an education policy center while he was a professor at the University of South Carolina.

Barnett has authored numerous academic reports and publications and many articles for the popular education press (see selected works below). He frequently serves in an advisory capacity to organizations committed to teaching quality, equity and social justice in America's schools. Currently, he advises the Education Testing Service and its Teacher Leadership Initiative, The Rhode Island Urban Education Task Force, the Coalition for Urban Teacher Residencies, the National Education Association Foundation, the Public Education Network, the Ford Foundation and its teacher retention project, and the Rose Community Foundation and its initiative around the strategic management of human capital.

Meredith, Barnett’s wife of 32 years, is a special education teacher in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. They are the proud parents of Joseph, a community organizer for the Working Families Party (New York City), and Evan, a recent graduate of Evergreen College, who is now pursuing a passionate interest in sustainable agriculture.

Read Barnett Berry's Curriculum Vitae.

Selected Works and Recent Publications

The Future of Teaching: Transcending the Debate - An Education Week commentary that surfaces emerging insights from TeacherSolutions 2030. Forthcoming May 2009.

Teacher Working Conditions: Using Data, Changing Teaching - With TLN Member Carolann Wade and principal Paula Trantham, Barnett Berry surfaces the impact of using teacher working conditions data in a North Carolina school's transformation. Educational Leadership, December 2008/January 2009, vol. 66, no. 4.

The Future of the Teaching Profession - A PDK EDge article that imagines the possibility for transforming teaching and learning, November/December 2008, 4(2). 1-20.

Staffing high needs schools: Insights from the nation's best teachers -- A report emerging from a series of summits engaging National Board Certified Teachers in Phi Delta Kappan, 90(4), June 2008.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the future of a profession -- An examination of latest research regarding certification published by the NBPTS in 2008.

Lessons from networking -- A feature article by Barnett Berry, Ann Byrd, and John Norton in Educational Leadership, Vol. 64, No 1, September 2007.

The reauthorization of No Child Left Behind: Views from the nation's best teachers -- A collaborative report including embedded podcasts with the voices of the Teacher Leaders Network, September 2007.

Linking teacher and student data to improve teacher and teaching quality -- A report prepared for the National Center for Educational Accountability, Data Quality Campaign, March 2007.

Highly qualified teachers for all -- An article by Linda Darling-Hammond and Barnett Berry in Educational Leadership, Vol 64, No 3, November 2006. Read the abstract or purchase the article.

Invest in great teachers -- A special by Barnett Berry published in the News & Observer, September 2006.

Learn from the masters -- An article by Barnett Berry and John Norton published in Edutopia, June 2006.

Opening classroom doors with teachers who can teach -- A response by Barnett Berry to Nicholas Kristof's opinion piece, submitted to the New York Times, April 2006.

Why we do not support new teachers - And what can be done about it -- An essay on induction by Barnett Berry, May 2006.

Teacher quality and the question of preparation -- Commentary by Barnett Berry in Education Week, Vol 25, No. 8, Pages 32, 34-35. 

The power of teacher leadership -- An article by Barnett Berry, Dylan Johnson and Diana Montgomery in Educational Leadership, Vol. 62, No. 5, pages 56-60. Read the abstract or purchase the article.

The good high school teacher -- By Barnett Berry, Prepared for the North Carolina New School Project.

Recruiting and retaining National Board Certified Teachers for hard-to-staff, low-performing schools: Silver
bullets or smart solutions -- A policy paper by Barnett Berry and Tammy King.

Closing the student achievement gap by closing the teaching quality gap: Reframing the debate -- A research brief presented at the National Education Association Visiting Scholars Series by Barnett Berry, April 2005.

Taking action to improve teaching quality: Addressing shortcomings in the Teaching Commission report -- A response to Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action by the Teaching Commission.