NCTAF Announces a Pledge to Organize Schools for Success

At an October 24, 2007 national forum, NCTAF announced a Pledge to Organize Schools for Success. Several organizations have already signed on to the pledge. If you would like to add your organization, please send an e-mail to kabercrombie@nctaf.org. Read the pledge below.

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Pledge to Organize Schools for Success

Every child deserves quality teaching in schools organized for success. To reach this goal, the nation has been concentrating on teacher quality. Now we need to finish the job by focusing on what it takes to organize schools for success.  Preparing today’s students to participate in a global, knowledge-based economy is a demanding challenge. No teacher should be expected to do this job alone. It is time to give educators the support they need to succeed. For decades we have been managing school improvement with command-and-control, regulatory, prescriptive, or market-based incentives that treat school leaders, teachers, and students like the targets of change rather than the agents of change. We need to replace these approaches with strategies that empower those individuals to lead and shape the reinvention of their own learning organizations. NCTAF is inviting national leaders to join us in pledging to support educators who are engaged in a cultural transformation of their schools. 

Create Schools that are Genuine Learning Organizations

Quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment. It results from the collective effort of teachers who join forces to improve performance beyond what any of them can accomplish alone. It is time to support schools where teamwork begins with the comprehensive induction of new teachers, and continues through the work of a supportive network of educators, who sustain their continuous growth through professional development that is embedded in the day-to-day fabric of work in the school. 

Close the Gap between Teacher Preparation and Teaching Practice

The gap between traditional preparation and the demands of teaching for the future undermines our ability to create 21st century learning organizations. It is time to reinvent teacher preparation by supporting the creation of “Teaching Residencies” that embed teacher preparation and continuous professional development in schools that are continually evolving to meet the needs of today’s students. 

Engage Teachers in Careers that Reward Collaboration and Expertise

We must re-imagine the teaching career. Teachers’ responsibilities should grow as their expertise deepens. Being an effective educator in a 21st century learning organization opens doors to expanded opportunities and new roles. It is time to support multiple career paths with pay systems that recognize accomplished teaching and reward effective performance.  

Develop Authentic Teaching Standards and Learning Assessments

The spirit of a learning organization is broken when goal-setting, planning, standards, and evaluation are driven only from the outside. It is time to support professional educators who hold themselves collectively accountable for improving student achievement, by using assessments that are valued - not because they are linked to high-stakes consequences - but because they are essential tools to improve learning.