Teachers are by far the most important in-school factor in determining whether our students succeed and our nation’s schools improve. An ever stronger and more sophisticated body of scholarship confirms what parents have long suspected: Highly effective teachers help children soar while ineffective teachers actually hobble students’ chances for success. Absolutely critical to boosting overall achievement and closing the longstanding gaps that separate low-income students and students of color from their peers is ensuring a strong teacher corps and curtailing the practice of assigning the weakest teachers to the children who most need the strongest.
Recent Actions
- December 1, 2015: The Education Trust and 10 other organizations send a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees opposing any appropriations rider prohibiting the promulgation or enforcement of the proposed teacher preparation program regulations.
- May 27, 2015: In “Fears that Children Will Slip Back Into the Shadows” in Huffington Post, writer-in-residence Karin Chenoweth talks about a principal’s fear that without federal accountability, poor children and children of color could once again be ignored.
- May 11, 2015: In “‘I Don’t Know If I Would Still Be a Teacher’: The Importance of Supportive Leadership” in Huffington Post, Writer-in-Residence Karin Chenoweth shares teachers’ perspectives on what it means to have a strong school leader.
- May 1, 2015: Ed Trust releases a framework,“Ensuring Equitable Access to Strong Teachers,” to help state leaders refine state teacher equity plans.
- February 9, 2015: Comments on the Every Child Ready for College or Career Act discussion draft submitted by The Education Trust to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee.
- February 5, 2015: Ed Trust Writer-in-Residence Karin Chenoweth presents “Getting It Done: Leading Academic Success in Unexpected Schools,” for 600 educators at the National Title 1 Conference in Salt Lake City, UT.
- February 3, 2015: On The Equity Line, the seventh installment in the Why I Teach Where I Teach Series comes from Whitnee Garrett, a third-year educator at Madison Park Business and Art Academy.
- February 2, 2015: The Educational Leadership Blog, InService, published “How to Do Everything Right In Schools,” by Ed Trust Writer-in-Residence Karin Chenoweth.
- February, 2015: Educational Leadership published “How Do We Get There from Here,” by Ed Trust Writer-in-Residence Karin Chenoweth.
- January 30, 2015: Comments on Teacher Preparation Programs Proposed Rulemaking submitted by the Education Trust to the U.S. Department of Education.
- January 27, 2015: Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is needed, and overdue. Done right, a new law will pave the way for federal, state, and local leaders to improve education for all children, especially students of color and those from low-income households.
- December 3, 2014: Huffington Post published “Leading Coherence,” by Ed Trust Writer-in-Residence Karin Chenoweth.
- November 25, 2014: The Education Trust issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rule to improve teacher preparation programs announced today.
- November 10, 2014: Statement from the Education Trust on the U.S. Department of Education’s new guidance on equitable access to strong teachers. While there are excellent teachers in every community, evidence is clear: Too many students of color and low-income students don’t have the strong, well-supported teachers they need and deserve.
- November 10, 2014: The Education Trust announces the winners of the Twelfth Annual Dispelling The Myth Award.
- October 1 2014: The Office of Civil Rights sent a strong message that equity matters, and The Education Trust applauds their leadership. The “Dear Colleague” letter is a reminder that federal law requires more than good intentions to ensure the equitable provision of educational resources for students of color. It is not enough to rest upon laws, policies, and principles that are not enforced. Benign neglect is not acceptable.
- July 7, 2014: Deborah Veney Robinson, vice president for government affairs and communications at The Education Trust, issued a statement on the U.S. Department of Education’s teacher equity strategy.
- June 10, 2014: Kati Haycock, president of The Education Trust, and Valerie Cuevas, interim executive director of The Education Trust–West, on the Vergara v. California Decision.
- April 25, 2014: Joint Statement From Twelve Education Organizations on the U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Preparation Regulation
- September 4, 2013: The Education Trust along with 22 other organizations sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calling on the Department to release a proposed rule outlining reforms of our current teacher preparation system. The letter also acknowledged support for the Administration’s teacher education reform strategy outlined in “Our Future, Our Teachers.” Moving forward with efforts to reform how we prepare teachers will help ensure that all students are being taught by effective teachers.
- June 17, 2013: Ed Trust and ten other organizations representing teachers, administrators, chief state school officers, and business and community groups sent a letter to the House and Senate appropriations committees supporting the recommended $400 million for the Teacher Incentive Fund 2014, a program designed to implement performance based compensation for teachers and principals.
- June 3, 2013: In light of the most recent attempt at ESEA reauthorization, Ed Trust joined a coalition of other education and civil rights organizations to sign a letter to Congress supporting measures to ensure teacher quality, teacher effectiveness, and the equitable distribution of highly effective teachers to schools with high proportions of low-income students and students of color.
- May 7, 2013: Check out Ed Trust’s Teacher Appreciation week graphics on Facebook.
- February 28, 2013: Ed Trust joined a coalition to support the STELLAR Act, which would provide funding for robust, fair, and high-quality evaluation systems in high-poverty schools. Read Ed Trust’s letters of support for the bills introduced by Reps. Susan Davis and Jared Polis, and Sen. Mary Landrieu.