The new Web site will provide you with regularly updated announcements and other information about the activities of the National Initiative and the members of the League of Teachers Institutes. You will find descriptions of the Teachers Institute model of university-public school partnership for improving teaching through teacher-initiated seminars led by university experts in fields in the humanities and the sciences. The Web site also provides information on the teacher-leadership principles underlying governance of Teachers Institutes as well as access to resources for those interested in exploring the establishment of a new Teachers Institute.

Teachers and others may also click on the Curricular Resources button to search and download any of the more than 2,000 innovative Curriculum Units for K-12 classroom use that have been developed by teachers as one result of their seminar participation.

The Yale National Initiative is an effort under the auspices of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute to replicate its longstanding university-public school partnership model for teacher professional development and school improvement in other school districts around the nation. A National Demonstration Project, 1997-2002, supported by major national foundation grants and Yale University, studied the best methods for establishing new Teachers Institutes in school districts with different educational needs and resources. As a result of that Project, thriving Teachers Institutes now operate in Houston (in partnership with the University of Houston) and Pittsburgh (in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University and Chatham College).

A recently released evaluation of the National Demonstration Project by a team under the direction of Professor Rogers M. Smith, Chair of the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Political Science, concludes: "The Institute approach significantly strengthens teachers in all five of the major dimensions of teacher quality." These dimensions are:

1). Teachers who really know their subjects;
2). Teachers with good basic writing, math, and oral presentation skills;
3). Teachers with high expectations of their students;
4). Teachers who are enthusiastic about teaching; and
5). Teachers who can motivate all students to learn.

Successful Teachers Institutes have demanding requirements. "But," the Report emphasizes, "the National Demonstration Project has shown clearly that they can be met, and that everywhere they are met, the quality of teaching in America's schools can be significantly improved."

The National Demonstration Project has also shown that the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute's distinctive and successful model of professional development can be swiftly replicated in other school districts with varied needs, population composition and resources. U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, who oversaw the establishment of the Houston Teachers Institute, said, "I applaud the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute for supplying models for what universities should do. Its projects are not just inspiring; they are creating an environment in which partnerships will be the norm, not the exception."

Please explore the new Web site. We welcome your comments or suggestions. Click here to contact us.