Strong public policies can level the playing field and help close the gap between students who are lucky enough to have effective teachers and those who historically have not. Without such policies, we will have to remain satisfied with pockets of hope instead of consistent excellence. To be effective, however, these policies must be informed by the insights of those closest to students — accomplished teachers. Our current projects bring this important group to the education policy table.

TeacherSolutions

Teachers deserve a seat at the table … the policy table, that is. Therefore, in 2006, CTQ and its Teacher Leaders Network (TLN) successfully launched the TeacherSolutions initiative — a unique approach to elevating the voices of accomplished teachers on policy issues affecting their profession and the students and families they serve. Learn more about specific TeacherSolutions teams who have tackled such challenging tasks as redefining professional compensation to re-envisioning a vision for 21st century teaching and learning.  

Urban Teacher Residencies

As debates continue to rage in the educational and policy communities about the best way to recruit, prepare and induct teachers, an emerging model — the Urban Teacher Residency — offers a promising pathway that addresses the weaknesses and incorporates the best of both traditional and alternative approaches to teacher preparation for high-needs urban schools.

Strategic Management of Human Capital

The strategic management of human capital (SMHC) — which Allan Odden and Jim Kelly have defined as “the acquisition, development, performance management and retention of top talent in the nation’s schools” — may provide a promising path to address the vexing problem of increasing Baby Boomer retirements and dwindling enrollment numbers in teacher preparation programs.

IBM Transition to Teaching

Shortages of mathematics and science teachers are acute in our nation, and IBM has responded with a bold new program designed to transition their own experienced employees to classroom teaching. IBM's Transition to Teaching program is intended to directly address teacher shortages, while proferring a model of teacher recruitment and preparation that other businesses may adopt.