Priorities for Partners & Communities

Potential Teachers

Highlight and honor teachers of all races and backgrounds within the community.

Collaborate with education partners to advocate for changes to improve the desirability of teaching as a profession.

Work to develop funding for salaried teacher residency programs and forgivable loans that make excellent TPPs available to all promising candidates. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Ensure that every PreK-12 student — regardless of socioeconomic status, geographic location, race, gender, or other personal characteristic — has access to a challenging and broad curriculum that includes: access to upper-level coursework, specialized programs of interest to individual students; and 21st century skills that foster creativity and problem solving, and open a full range of postsecondary opportunities. Recommended collaborators: Teachers, NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs, Policymakers

Ensure that teaching and learning experienced by PreK-12 students engages them with authentic experiences, community connections, opportunities to choose the content and kinds of demonstrations of mastery that best represent their individual learning styles. Recommended collaborators: Teachers, NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs, Policymakers

Aspiring Teachers

Advocate for collaboration between schools, the community, and preparation programs to create extensive community-based learning opportunities for PreK-12 students and rich experiences for candidates looking to work with parents and connect with the communities where they teach.

Work to ensure a culture in PreK-12 schools that welcomes TPP faculty as full partners and collaborators, supports the presence of candidates during their field experiences and clinical practice, and includes hybrid roles for teacher leaders in the school and as adjuncts with TPPs.

Develop and implement extensive experiences for candidates to work with parents, families, and in the community, within the school and beyond. Recommended collaborators: NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs

Ensure candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to meaningfully engage parents in the teaching/learning process and to develop learning experiences that are culturally responsive to, and honor the background of, each student. Recommended collaborators: NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs

Collaboratively develop and implement experiences that help aspiring teachers build positive connections with the communities where they work, and encourage schools, unions, and communities to provide support for the psychological, cultural, and emotional needs of the aspiring teacher. Recommended collaborators: Teachers, NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs, Policymakers

Help provide avenues for aspiring teachers to demonstrate the ability to positively connect with parents and communities.

Provide funding to allow for bargained compensation for cooperating teachers as teacher leaders. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Work to develop funding for salaried teacher residency programs and forgivable loans that make excellent TPPs available to all promising candidates. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Emerging Teachers

Ensure policy makers provide ample support for high-quality preparation, induction, and ongoing professional learning of all teachers and the resources to ensure each student has access to a great public school.

Collaboratively develop and implement experiences to help emerging teachers build positive connections with the communities where they work. Recommended collaborators: Teachers, NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs

Collaboratively develop and implement programs to support the psychological, cultural, and emotional needs of emerging teachers — particularly those from underrepresented groups — during induction. Recommended collaborators: Teachers, NEA and Affiliates, Schools/Districts, TPPs

Support emerging teachers in demonstrating competence in connecting with parents and communities.

Accomplished Teachers

Support hybrid roles and release time during the school year to allow teachers to participate in extended training, networking, and leadership roles beyond the school. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Support efforts to bargain for compensation systems that recognize teachers who demonstrate accomplished practice through fair, objective measures of their knowledge and skills. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Teacher Leaders

Provide funding to address the extensive need for teacher leaders in schools. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Support bargained salary enhancements for a lattice of teacher career opportunities that address needs for their expertise in varied roles. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers

Support hybrid roles and release time during the school year to allow teacher leaders to engage in additional responsibilities and participate in extended training, networking, and leadership roles beyond the school. Recommended collaborators: Policymakers