INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Today, the Teach Plus-Indianapolis Teaching Policy Fellows released Teachers Teaching Teachers: Transforming professional development by empowering and investing in educators. The policy brief summarizes the findings from an electronic survey of Marion County teachers, and makes the case for schools and districts to invest professional development dollars where they’re most useful and effective – teachers.
“During the 2013-2014 school year, districts and schools in Marion County spent over $11 million on professional development,” said Daniel Allen, a teacher at Emma Donnan Middle School and current Teach Plus Fellow. “If schools want to provide teachers with PD that is both useful and effective, it’s pretty clear they should invest it in teacher-led PD.”
319 teachers in Marion County participated in the electronic survey, which was conducted in February 2015. Less than half (44%) of the teachers surveyed were satisfied with the current PD opportunities offered by their school or district. The Fellows that conducted the survey, however, are optimistic.
“More schools and districts are realizing that investing Professional Development dollars in their own excellent teachers is a much better bargain than bringing in paid consultants,” said Teach Plus Fellow Nikki Corn, of Chapelowood Elementary. “Teachers deserve the opportunity to learn from great teachers; great teachers deserve the opportunity to lead their colleagues and be compensated for it.”
Teachers Teaching Teachers will serve as the starting point for a discussion on professional development over the coming months. The teachers plan to present their findings to district and charter leaders this summer. They will also summarize their findings on June 11 from 5-7:00 p.m. at the Teach Plus Teacher Showcase at the WFYI Building at 1630 N Meridian Street (details here).
About Teach Plus
Teach Plus aims to improve outcomes for urban children by ensuring that a greater proportion of students have access to effective, experienced teachers. Teach Plus runs three programs designed to place teacher leaders at the center of improvements in policy and practice: Teaching Policy Fellowship, C2 Initiative, and T3 (Turnaround Teacher Teams) Initiative. The programs focus on demonstrably effective teachers who want to continue classroom teaching while also expanding their impact as leaders in their schools and in district, state, and national policy. Since its inception in August 2009, Teach Plus has grown to a network of more than 20,000 solutions-oriented teachers across the country.
