Teacher working conditions (TWC) are a crucial but little-understood element of successful teaching and learning. As part of our TeacherSolutions TWC team, accomplished teachers from school districts across the country will spend the next year analyzing relevant research and sharing their own classroom insights to shape a collective understanding of how working conditions impact teacher retention and quality. The TeacherSolutions TWC team embark on their collaborative venture from across multiple time zones, from varying subject areas and grade levels, from urban and rural school districts. The teacher team is using both a virtual learning community space on the Teacher Leaders Network and live-session, focused webinars to access the latest research and engage in ongoing discussion. Live webinars enable to teachers to communicate using both voice and presentation-sharing tools. Recent webinar topics for the group have included an introductory overview of working conditions, the strategic management of human capital, and targeted discussion of teacher working conditions survey results.

TWC surveys conducted across the nation, by the Center for Teaching Quality and other groups, are shedding light on what makes teachers successful—or what makes them struggle. Our TeacherSolutions team is taking the next step—their work will culminate in a co-authored report with recommendations for how to use teacher working conditions data to inform better policy decisions.