The Bay Area New Millennium Initiative (NMI) unites an innovative, energized group of early-career and veteran teachers, diverse in experience but committed to making a difference for students in California. We teach in a variety of schools throughout the Bay Area, including an elementary charter in East Palo Alto, a middle school in Alum Rock and an inner-city Oakland high school. We entered the profession through myriad routes, from Teach for America to the Oakland Teaching Fellows Program to the Stanford Teacher Education Program. We share common beliefs about teaching and learning, fortified through our diverse experiences, which motivate us to advocate for a new vision for transforming education.

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Our Vision for the Future of Teaching and Learning

Every student deserves a high-performing teacher in every classroom every day. No other school-based factor plays a greater role in affecting student learning. Yet much work remains to be done to nurture and retain effective teachers in our schools. We believe that improving teaching quality by better preparing, developing and supporting teachers will increase educational outcomes for our students. To make our vision for change a reality, we propose a comprehensive strategy to transform the teaching profession.

Strategy 1: Preparing new teachers for today and tomorrow

Apprentice teachers need a preparation program that sets them up for long-term success by allowing them to do the following:

• Transition into classroom teaching over the course of three years by first sharing classroom instruction with a mentor teacher and then incrementally taking on more independent responsibility for instruction
• Work collaboratively with a mentor teacher and colleagues to build knowledge and expertise in curriculum, instruction, assessment and intervention
• Receive ongoing feedback about their teaching through observations (both live and videotaped) and reflective conversations

Strategy 2: Enriching professional development

Professional development is too often brief, generic, fragmented and ineffective. A robust professional development program would include these components:

• Allows professional teachers, in collaboration with their administrators and master teachers, to develop a professional educator plan, which sets annual goals for learning and identifies benchmarks for success
• Emphasizes peer collaboration through action research and inquiry projects
• Supports teachers in pursuing specialization tracks and provides time during the school day for sharing their expertise
• Focuses on improving instruction rather than evaluating teachers as “good” or “bad”

Strategy 3: Embracing teacher leadership

Teachers can offer a wealth of knowledge and experience to our schools, districts and communities in addition to effective classroom instruction. Opportunities should be made available for teachers to do the following:

• Pursue leadership in a variety of roles beyond becoming administrators
• Spend part of their day working with students in the classroom and the remainder serving in leadership roles (hybrid roles)

To learn more about the Bay Area New Millennium Initiative, contact Alesha Daughtrey at adaughtrey@teachingquality.org.