Three Cheers for T3 Teachers!

As many of you know, T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams is a teacher-designed model for staffing low-performing schools with high-performing teachers. We run it in partnership with the Boston Public Schools and will be expanding to a couple of new cities next year. In 2009, our first cohort of Boston Policy Fellows argued that many experienced teachers who have a track record of success with urban students would be willing to teach in the most challenging schools under certain conditions. They developed a proposal for staffing turnaround schools that laid out the following priorities:

• Excellent colleagues including a strong principal and a team of teacher leaders who would be rigorously selected and comprise at least 25% of the faculty.
• Formal leadership roles that allowed them to expand their impact beyond their classroom.
• Specialized training and time to work with colleagues.
• Compensation that reflected their expertise and additional time commitment.

Today, the program operates in 6 Boston Public Schools and is rapidly expanding. It is becoming a proof point for a few important and contested areas of the education reform landscape.

First, it demonstrates that it is possible for teachers to take ownership over the “big picture” problems that inhibit the success of students across our nation. This is key to what it means to be part of a profession. So often, “solutions” to the most pressing problems our students face come from people who are not in daily contact with schools. Teachers, in many cases, have great ideas for how to address these problems, but have too few entry points for getting their voice heard beyond the walls of their school.

Second, the program is challenging the conventional wisdom that high-performing, experienced teachers will not teach in low-performing schools. The program is competitive, with about 6 candidates for every position from around the country. The recruitment and selection process we run is far more labor-intensive than most districts currently have the capacity to do alone, but it is rooting out the most damaging pathology that exists in schools today— routinely placing our highest-need students with novice and/or weak teachers.

Third, it is demonstrating that it is possible to move the needle on student learning in a “turnaround” setting.  We found that T3 schools outperformed all possible comparison groups in terms of student growth on the MCAS, our statewide assessment. Comparison groups include:

• All schools statewide;
• All Boston Public Schools;
• All turnaround schools statewide, and
• All BPS turnaround schools.

T3 schools as a group outperformed 89% of all schools in the state in elementary mathematics. Orchard Gardens deserves special mention. OG middle school students performed at the 96th percentile of all schools statewide in producing student growth in ELA and at the 98th percentile in mathematics. The median middle school student at Orchard Gardens demonstrated more growth in mathematics than 82% of other students statewide.

Getting these results takes many ingredients, but the most important is the adults in the building. Kudos to all of those teachers who took the risk and are making it happen!

Click here to read a two-page summary of the T3 MCAS data analysis by Brown University’s John Papay.

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Teach Plus selects Alice Johnson Cain as National Director of Policy

As National Director of Policy, Cain will help ensure that the work of Teach Plus is focused on policy change that leads to better retention of effective teachers and improved student outcomes in urban classrooms. Cain was formerly Education Director for the Hope Street Group. She previously spent six years as chief advisor to Congressman George Miller (D-CA) for K-12 education. Cain also advised Senator Paul Simon on education policy for five years and served as an education advisor to then-Senator Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.

Said Teach Plus Founder & CEO Celine Coggins, "Alice’s long track record as a leader in education policy, an innovator who has found new ways to include teacher voice in policy debates, and collaborator across traditional political lines makes her an ideal fit for the role. We are excited to welcome her to the team."

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Top stories in education policy this week:

Joining Forces: A Special Report on Labor-Management Collaboration:  A new report by Education Week examines ways that districts and unions are working together to advance achievement.

Tennessee's Push to Transform Schools:  This New York Times editorial examines changes being made to Tennessee's evaluation systems as part of their Race to the Top grant.

Teacher Diversity Matters:  A comprehensive analysis by the Center for American Progress concludes that a two-pronged approach is necessary to recruit a diverse teaching force and "improve the professional experience of teachers of color."

Obama’s NCLB Waivers: Are they necessary or illegal?:  A conversation with two policy experts in Education Next takes a look at the Obama administration's plans to issue waivers to states excusing them from parts of No Child Left Behind. So far, eleven states have applied for waivers.

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