For decades teacher leadership has been widely promoted by policy makers and education leaders as a prime strategy for improving the educational enterprise. As practitioners of exemplary teaching, as innovators of pedagogy and curriculum, and as promoters of high-quality instruction for all students, teacher leaders are uniquely positioned to…

The California's Outstanding Math Educators' Ongoing Network (COME ON) initiative is a unique and innovative effort to support high school mathematics teachers in California. It serves as a living example of a successful model that addresses an issue critical to all of mathematics education K-18--how to sustain and strengthen those most directly…

The purpose of this report is two-fold. First, it is intended to describe the work and progress of the "MARS Toolkit for Change" project. Toward that end the report provides documentation and portrayal of the project from an outside perspective. The second and primary purpose of the report is to illuminate the lessons learned about the overall…

This brief draws upon the five-year evaluation study of the San Diego Urban Systemic Project (USP) that Inverness Research Associates conducted from 2001 to 2006. The intended audiences for this brief are those interested in investing in, supporting, or designing initiatives that aim to improve math and science education in large urban districts.…

Beginning in September, 2001 when the Portland Public Schools received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the Urban Systemic Program (USP) initiative, the district focused, accelerated and strengthened its efforts to improve mathematics and science education K-12. Since its inception the authors at Inverness Research…

This is the story of Barbara Shoemaker and her work as an Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) Teacher Partner in Oneida, Tennessee. It is the story of what she values and the experiences that shaped her approach to education. In particular it is about what she learned from her experience with the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative, and…

This report describes the teaching practices that emerged from the planning, implementing and refining of the New Teacher Initiative (NTI) programs over the first three years of the initiative. During this period, the 18 New Teacher Initiative (NTI) sites developed a repertoire of practices for educating and supporting beginning teachers. As an…

This report describes the key design features of the new teacher support programs that emerged from the National Writing Project (NWP) New Teacher Initiative (NTI). As the New Teacher Initiative unfolded, a number of design features appeared frequently and consistently across the sites. This report explains how these design features of the NTI are…

This publication describes a dialectical process that emerged at 18 New Teacher Initiative (NTI) sites as they planned and implemented their new teacher support programs. From the inception of the initiative and throughout its duration, the process of developing, improving and refining the NTI programs was fueled by two potent entities: (1) the…

This document provides an introduction to the New Teacher Initiative (NTI), a special effort of the National Writing Project, aimed at learning how Writing Project sites can best support the large numbers of new teachers now populating U.S. schools. The specific purpose of the initiative is to help the National Writing Project (NWP) learn how to…