Teach Plus began in Boston in 2007 with a pilot cohort of 16 teachers from district and charter schools in the Greater Boston area.  These teachers drafted reform-oriented policies at district, state, and national levels.  They created a model for staffing chronically underperforming schools with cohorts of outstanding, experienced teachers.  Their model, described in “Ready for the Next Challenge,” was implemented as T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams in three Boston Public Schools in the fall of 2010. 

Now, in Teach Plus’ third year in Boston, the second cohort of Teaching Policy Fellows has recently published a policy memo on teacher evaluation reform, and is currently working on issues such as early-career teachers’ involvement in teachers unions, upcoming changes to assessment in Massachusetts and collaboration among district and charter schools.   Current Boston Teaching Policy Fellows serve on the MA DESE Administrator and Educator Evaluation Task Force, MA Education Secretary Paul Reville’s Teacher Cabinet, the MA Race to the Top Curriculum and Assessment Committee, the MA DESE Educational Personnel Advisory Council, and the Gates’ Measures of Effective Teaching Teacher Panel.  Current Fellows have also been invited participants on panels and/or presenters for: the National Charter Public School Association, the Center for American Progress, NBC’s Education Nation, the Gates Foundation’s National Teacher Voice meeting in Washington, DC, and the Civil Rights Research Roundtable for the Warren Institute at UC Berkeley Law School.

The T+ Network, which began in Boston in the fall of 2009, continues to engage teachers in interactive discussions with local and national policy leaders.  Recently, the Boston T+ Network invited teachers to “Straight Up Solutions: Teachers advise national policy leader Frederick Hess” (read Rick’s blog post about the event).  Greater Boston area teachers are also invited to participate in the T+ Network Online Forum.  Additionally, 37 outstanding T3 teachers are collaborating in teams to drive improvements at three of Boston’s turnaround schools.

Teach Plus Boston offers teachers three innovative leadership opportunities that are designed to place teacher leaders at the center of education reform: the Teaching Policy Fellowship, the T+ Network, and T3: Turnaround Teacher Teams.

In Boston, teachers can take advantage of:

	This highly selective program is for teachers who are interested learning how to advocate for policies that will better serve students and retain excellent teachers. Our second cohort of T+ Policy Fellows is currently engaged in leading Boston T+ Network events, participating in national forums such as NBC’s ‘Education Nation,’ and advocating for teacher quality policy reforms they think would modernize the teaching profession. The Boston Teaching Policy Fellows 2009-2011 cohort is made up of twenty top teacher leaders from urban schools in the Greater Boston area, including larger districts such as Boston, Cambridge, Malden and Revere, as well as six area charter schools.  Read their bios here, and read more about their accomplishments here.
	The T+ Network is a rapidly growing national movement of teachers who want to: connect with highly-motivated peers and national and local policy leaders, learn about innovative policies to empower effective teachers, and be a voice for change within the teaching profession.  The T+ Network began in Boston in the fall of 2009 and has engaged over 300 teachers since then.  Past guest speakers have included: Massachusetts State Secretary of Education Paul Reville, USED Teacher Quality Advisor Brad Jupp, Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and national policy expert Frederick Hess.  Read more about past events here.  RSVP today for an upcoming event.
	Developed by the 2007-2009 cohort of Boston Teaching Policy Fellows, the T3 Initiative is designed to ensure that the highest need students have more access to effective, experienced teachers.  T3 Teachers work as a team that comprises at least 25% of a previously low-performing school.  T3 teachers are currently teacher leaders in Blackstone Elementary, Orchard Gardens Pilot School and Trotter Elementary.  Read more about T3 here and the current Boston T3 teachers’ bios here. Read the New York Times article featuring T3 Boston here.