Working in five targeted communities, our New Millennium Initiative (NMI) seeks to advance student learning by encouraging teachers to play key roles in improving public schools. We are proud to elevate the voices of these teacher leaders, who advocate for bold but practical teaching policy reforms to benefit all students.

Restructuring the Teaching Profession
The current structure of the teaching profession often pushes accomplished and enterprising teachers out of classrooms, away from the students who most need them. Bay Area NMI teachers tackle this problem in their January 2012 report "Many Ways Up, No Reason to Move Out." The teachers suggest a new model that encourages effective teachers to use their expertise to solve our schools' most pressing problems, while continuing to work with students on a regular basis. They created this remarkable graphic to demonstrate how the profession could be restructured.

Measuring Learning, Supporting Teaching
As Illinois reforms its teacher evaluation system, Illinois NMI teachers have added their voices to the discussion. The team released a report titled “Measuring Learning, Supporting Teaching: Classroom Experts’ Recommendations for an Effective Evaluation System.” The document includes suggestions on how the state can best implement its Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA).

How Better Teacher and Student Assessment Can Power Up Learning
Washington NMI teachers draw upon their classroom experiences and more than a year of research in their report, How Better Teacher and Student Assessment Can Power Up Learning. They advocate for new measures of student learning and teaching quality—as well as systems that spread the expertise of effective teachers.

Making Teacher Evaluation Work for Students
The Denver NMI team's recent report, Making Teacher Evaluation Work for Students: Voices from the Classroom, offers research-driven, practical suggestions for all states and districts working to improve teaching and learning.