About the Initiative

Steps in Establishing a Teachers Institute

The process of establishing a Teachers Institute that will participate in the Yale National Initiative and the League of Teachers Institutes requires of those who will engage in the new partnership a detailed acquaintance with, and understanding of, the principles and procedures of such an Institute. It also requires that the Yale National Initiative, the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, and the other members of the League of Teachers Institutes assist with the gaining of that acquaintance and understanding. The new partnership must then apply for and receive permission to participate in the Yale National Initiative and in League activities, and receive League services, during a Planning Phase of at least nine months duration, which will enable it to devote itself to more detailed planning of a new Institute. The proposed Institute must then apply for and receive permission to participate in the Yale National Initiative and become a member of the League of Teachers Institutes during a multi-year Implementation Phase (optimally, a period of three years). During that Phase it will begin its operation and further refine its own processes.

Applications for permission to participate in the Yale National Initiative during the Planning Phase and the Implementation Phase have three purposes. First, the process of preparing such an application will lead the planners of a new Institute in a systematic way through tested procedures that enable the Institute to be workable and sustainable. Second, the application itself will provide assurance that the new Institute is qualified to receive the services of the Yale National Initiative and the League of Teachers Institutes. And third, the application will provide narrative and financial information that can be reshaped by the Institute in applying for funding.

Preliminary Steps

An important early step would consist of meetings not only of key university and school administrators, but also of school teachers who might assume a leading role in the new Institute and those university faculty members who might lead seminars and help to identify interested colleagues on the faculty. The Yale National Initiative would be able, directly or through its Web site, to furnish literature and videos in various forms and formats (e.g., DVD or interactive CD-ROM) to those persons who have this interest.

These preliminary meetings would be followed by an information session to be held where the new Institute will be established, at which the Director of the Yale National Initiative would speak with a number of interested teachers and faculty and administrators. At that time or shortly thereafter, the Director of the Yale National Initiative could arrange for teachers and faculty from the League who are knowledgeable of the Teachers Institute approach locally and nationally to meet with counterparts from this site.

During this process, the key university and school administrators would also be arranging for possible funding of the new Institute. This might occur in one or more of several ways. Federal programs might be able (perhaps through the cooperation of the school district) to provide full or partial funding for Institute activities, as currently occurs in Pittsburgh and Houston. A foundation or foundations with special interests in this region or locality might be able to provide full or partial funding. And a national foundation might be supporting the Yale National Initiative with funds that could assist the new Institute, either directly or by a sub-grant through the Yale National Initiative. The Application to Participate during Planning and the Application to Participate during Implementation, described later in the sections entitled "Planning an Institute" and "Implementing an Institute," can be reshaped into grant proposals for funding.

If there is then sufficient interest, and if funding is being or has been arranged, these preliminary steps might be followed by a more formal Planning Phase, with a Planning Director and a number of university faculty members and school teachers committed to assist with planning. The Institute may apply to participate in the Yale National Initiative and receive the services of the League of Teachers Institutes during this Planning Phase.

The Planning Phase

An applicant to participate in the Yale National Initiative and receive the services of the League of Teachers Institutes during a Planning Phase must have arranged—or must be arranging—to receive a planning grant from a federal program, or one or more foundations, or (by a sub-grant from a national foundation) the Yale National Initiative. An application should follow the instructions for planning an Institute given later in the section on "Planning an Institute." Such participation requires a Planning Director, who is committed to become Director of the new Teachers Institute if participation during an Implementation Phase is later approved, and a number of university faculty members and school teachers who are committed to assisting with the planning. An application also requires a written letter of agreement in which appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership. Applications for participation during a Planning Phase of a least nine months duration will be approved upon the recommendation of a National Panel of leading educators and philanthropists, and upon the awarding of appropriate funding. The response of the National Panel will provide useful feedback to the applicant and may also be of use in the seeking of funds. The Director of the Yale National Initiative will decide whether the application is in conformity with this Initiative.

During the Planning Phase a team of representatives from the institution of higher education and the school district will accompany the Planning Director to New Haven, where they will participate in national seminars and corollary workshops at Yale on the Institute's principles and practices. This will provide an opportunity for school teachers and university faculty members, along with the Planning Director, to learn about the Institute approach and procedures through first-hand experience. There will also be an opportunity for a team of representatives to attend an Annual Conference, where they may learn from the experience of both established and new Teachers Institutes at other sites.

During the Planning Phase, the Planning Director, with the assistance of the university faculty members and school teachers committed to this planning, will establish a body of Teachers Representatives, which will canvas teachers for their suggestions of topics for seminars and on that basis determine a desirable schedule of seminar offerings for the first year. The Planning Director will then recruit university faculty members who will be prepared to lead seminars that correspond, in their general focus or outline, to the topics proposed. The Planning Director will also arrange for the appointment of a University Advisory Council of faculty members who will serve in an advisory capacity and will review the seminar proposals. At some point during the Planning Phase, the Yale National Initiative will also arrange for a visit of colleagues, consisting of school teachers, faculty members, and directors from the League, to the site of the proposed new Institute.

On the basis of the arrangements made during the Planning Phase (and perhaps during ensuing months), the Planning Director will prepare an application to participate in the Yale National Initiative and become a member of the League of Teachers Institutes during a multi-year (optimally, a three-year) Implementation Phase.

The Implementation Phase

An applicant to participate in the Yale National Initiative and become a member of the League of Teachers Institutes during a multi-year (optimally, a three-year) Implementation Phase must have arranged—or must be arranging—to receive a multi-year grant from a federal program, or one or more foundations, or (by a sub-grant from a national foundation) the Yale National Initiative. This application should follow the instructions given later in the section on "Implementing an Institute." Participation during the Implementation Phase requires that the Planning Director now become Director of the new Teachers Institute. It also requires that a body of Teachers Representatives and a University or Faculty Advisory Council be established, and that plans have been laid for the first year of seminars. The application also requires a letter of agreement in which appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership. Such an application will be approved upon the recommendation of a National Panel of leading educators and philanthropists, and upon the awarding of appropriate funding. The response of the National Panel will provide useful feedback to the applicant and may also be of use in the seeking of funds. The Director of the Yale National Initiative will determine whether the application is in conformity with this Initiative.

During the Implementation Phase, the Teachers Representatives will proceed to receive and decide upon applications from teachers for admission to the seminars offered for the first year. They will also provide from among their number seminar Coordinators who will assist the seminar leaders and also help the Director to monitor the progress of the seminars. During each year of the Implementation Phase, the Teachers Representatives will continue the process of canvassing teachers and determining the topics of seminars for which the Director will recruit leaders from the faculty.

At least once during the Implementation Phase a team of representatives from the institution of higher education and the school district will accompany the Director to New Haven, where they will participate in another group of national seminars and corollary workshops at Yale on the Institute's principles and practices. This will provide an opportunity for additional school teachers and university faculty members to learn about the Institute approach and procedures through first-hand experience. During the Implementation Phase there will also be annual opportunities for a team of representatives to attend a Conference, where they may learn from the experience of both established and new Teachers Institutes at other sites. Each year during the Implementation Phase, the Yale National Initiative will also arrange for visits from its team of colleagues to the new Institute.

Articles of Understanding

Introduction:

Teaching is central to the educational process, and the ongoing professional development of teachers is essential for improved student learning. The Teachers Institute model is a long-term undertaking that focuses on the academic preparation of school teachers and the application of what they study to their own classrooms—and potentially also to the classrooms of other teachers. This model was developed initially by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute; it has been successfully tested in New Haven for twenty-seven years; it has also been successfully tested in a four-year National Demonstration Project; and it is now being disseminated through the Yale National Initiative.

Earlier in this booklet (see "Aims and Accomplishments: The National Demonstration Project" beginning on page 2) we have outlined the achievement of the National Demonstration Project. It showed in four different cities larger than New Haven that a Teachers Institute can be rapidly inaugurated and can immediately carry out a program of 4-6 content-based seminars in the humanities and sciences. It showed that the seminars increase teachers' knowledge, heighten their morale, encourage their use of new technologies, and result in individually crafted curriculum units of substance for use in classrooms. It showed that such Institutes will arouse the enthusiasm and support of significant numbers of teachers and university faculty members, and can attract support from administrators of a private liberal arts college, a private university emphasizing the sciences, a flagship state university, and a major state university in a larger system.

It also showed that high-level administrators in school districts, superintendents or their immediate subordinates, will think about means of scaling-up such an Institute, and will commit themselves to its long-term support. The strategies employed in establishing the National Demonstration Project, including National Seminars and observation of local seminars in New Haven, are admirably suited for the process of establishing a nation-wide network or League of such Teachers Institutes.

The Institute model is a natural and appropriate way for institutions of higher learning to be involved in elementary and secondary education. Teachers Institutes link institutions of higher education with local school districts (primarily urban school districts) in order to strengthen teaching and learning in public schools, but they also benefit those institutions whose faculty members serve as seminar leaders. In the National Demonstration Project and the Yale National Initiative these Institutes are located in school districts in which a significant proportion of the students come from low-income communities. These Institutes also help to disseminate the Institute's model and materials, encouraging and assisting other institutions and school districts as they develop similar programs in their own communities. The following articles of understanding provide the necessary basis for Teachers Institutes that intend to adopt the New Haven model. Although listed as separate articles, they are interrelated elements of an organically unified approach. They are followed by a list of Necessary Procedures, designed to implement these articles. Continuing membership in the League of Teachers Institutes will depend upon the maintenance of a Teachers Institute in accord with these Understandings and Necessary Procedures.

Article 1: Each new Institute links an institution or institutions of higher education to a school district (or districts) in which a significant proportion of the students come from low-income communities. The size, scope, and emphasis of the Institute will depend upon the needs of the district(s), the educational resources available, and the expected funding. Policies within the school district(s) pertaining to curriculum and professional development (as established by the state, the school board, the union, and specific administrators) must be favorable to the development of the Institute.

Article 2: Teachers who participate in an Institute become Fellows in its seminars. The body of Teachers Representatives in a given year will consist of selected teachers who are current or prospective Fellows of the seminars being offered. Faculty members from the institution(s) of higher education are invited to serve as seminar leaders and/or serve on a University or Faculty Advisory Council.

Article 3: A continuing, full-time director provided by the Institute serves as convenor, administrator, liaison between the school district(s) and the administration and faculty of the institution(s) of higher education, and fund-raiser. The director reports to the chief officers of the institution(s) of higher education and the district(s). The director shall have full authority and responsibility for the operation of the Institute in compliance with these Articles of Understanding. The director, who must work easily with the teachers of the district and the faculty members of the institution(s) of higher education, acts as leader and facilitator of the participating teachers or Fellows and recruits seminar leaders from among the faculty members of the institution(s) of higher education. Those institution(s) provide a job description for the director that establishes the director's place within their structure.

Article 4: The Institute is led in crucial respects by participating teachers in the district(s), who play a major and indispensable role in the planning, organization, conduct, and evaluation of the programs intended to benefit them and, through them, their students. They are responsible for recruiting other teachers into the program. In order to strengthen teaching and learning throughout the schools, and to have a significant impact upon the school district, the new Institute must involve a significant proportion of all teachers within its initially designated scope, who, in turn, must actively recruit teachers who have not participated before.

Article 5: Faculty members from the liberal arts and/or sciences in the institution(s) of higher education who teach at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels lead seminars, advise in the shaping of the seminars to be offered, and review each year the seminars offered by the Institute.

Article 6: The course of study consists of intensive and collegial or collaborative seminars (not lectures) of relatively small enrollment in several disciplines on broadly defined topics, which meet over a period of no less than three months. The seminar leader and the Fellows study and discuss certain common texts, objects, or places, and each Fellow prepares during the period of the seminar meetings at least two drafts of a substantial "curriculum unit" that he or she intends to employ in the classroom during the following year.

Article 7: The curriculum unit is important for the teacher as a means of articulating what is being learned in the seminar, applying it to the classroom, and sharing it with colleagues. Each curriculum unit consists of at least 15 single-spaced pages. It includes an essay of at least 10 pages that sets forth the unit's rationale and objectives, the material to be presented in the classroom, and the pedagogical strategies to be employed; it also includes several examples of the lesson plans to be used by the teacher, and one or more annotated bibliographies. The curriculum units are published electronically, and preferably also in printed format.

Article 8: The simultaneous consideration of subject matter and pedagogical procedures is fundamental to the Institute's approach and essential to the collegiality on which the Institute is founded. The seminar leaders are primarily responsible for presenting the "content" or "knowledge" of one or more disciplines, the inherent strategies whereby such knowledge is acquired and transmitted, and any pedagogical strategies that may therefore inhere in that field of study. The Fellows, individually and collectively, will be responsible for bringing to the seminar at appropriate points the pedagogical procedures necessary for encouraging active learners in their elementary or secondary classrooms to acquire this knowledge.

Article 9: Participating teachers from the institution(s) of higher education and the schools are considered professional colleagues working within a collegial relationship, and their respective contributions in the Institute process are valued equally. Seminar leaders and Fellows understand that all participants bring to the seminar important strengths, both experience and knowledge, with respect to the seminar topic and/or its potential relevance to the classroom.

Article 10: Within its designated scope, the Institute encourages any teacher to apply who has a teaching assignment relevant to a seminar topic, can present a proposal for a curriculum unit relevant to that topic, and will be assigned to teach a course in which that unit can be used.

Article 11: In order to recognize the intensive, demanding, and professionally significant nature of their participation in the seminars, the seminar leaders will be provided with some remuneration, and the Fellows, who participate on a voluntary basis, will be provided with an appropriate stipend and/or honorarium on completion of their unit and all Institute requirements.

Article 12: In establishing a Teachers Institute, the institutional and district administrations commit themselves to a long-term collaboration with each other in support of the Institute during and beyond the Planning Phase and Implementation Phase.

Article 13: The institution(s) of higher education and the school district(s) are committed to provide meaningful ongoing financial support to the Teachers Institute. They are also committed to provide or seek any necessary supplementary funding during the Planning Phase and the Implementation Phase, and have plans to seek entire funding thereafter.

Article 14: There will be an explicit and visible relation among the new Institutes, with the previously established Institutes, and with the Yale National Initiative in which they are participating. The Yale National Initiative aims to establish, with the help of these Institutes, a Yale League of Teachers Institutes in accord with these Articles of Understanding.

Article 15: The new Institutes are committed to undertaking at their own cost, in cooperation with the Yale National Initiative, an annual review of their progress and, at the end of the Implementation Phase, a final review. They assume responsibility for continuing self-evaluation, in cooperation with the Yale National Initiative. They will submit to the Yale National Initiative (and also, through this Initiative, to the relevant local or national funders) interim, annual and final financial reports and annual and final narrative reports as described in the "Necessary Procedures."

Necessary Procedures

For Article 1: The initial scope should include a minimum pool of 500 potentially eligible teachers in no fewer than 20 schools encompassing at least two of the three levels of schooling (elementary, middle, and high), and a minimum of four seminars to be offered annually. If the number of seminars increases in subsequent years, the number of schools and eligible teachers may also be appropriately increased. In any application for funding through the Yale National Initiative, school administrators must describe the relevant policies and the existing professional development programs, explain how they will relate to the new Institute, and identify the key district staff members who will be concerned with this relationship. The recipient of any Initiative grant for the Institute will be the sponsoring institution(s) of higher education in the partnership. The application will also require, however, a written agreement that sets forth the endorsement, the collaboration, and the prospective participation of the school district(s) that will be the sponsoring partner(s). In this letter of agreement the appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district will lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership. An application must also provide a specific account of the anticipated funding for the entire Institute during the period of the grant.

For Article 2: The director, while ultimately responsible for the appointment of Teachers Representatives, will actively solicit recommendations offered by current Teachers Representatives and Coordinators. The President of the institution of higher education will, on recommendation by the director, invite faculty members to serve on a University or Faculty Advisory Council.

For Article 3: The director organizes a body of Teachers Representatives and a University or Faculty Advisory Council (to be appointed by the chief officer of the institution(s) of higher education on recommendation of the director). The director recruits faculty from various parts of the institution(s) of higher education to offer seminars that address the Fellows' interests and needs in the areas of further preparation and curriculum development. The director will hold a full-time, continuing appointment. The appointment of a director should be approved by the superintendent(s) of the school district(s) and chief administrative officer(s) of the institution(s) of higher education in the partnership. (A planning director for a new Institute during a Planning Phase must be prepared, on approval of the Yale National Initiative, to become director when the Institute is accepted as a participant in the Initiative during the Implementation Phase.) Any replacement for the director should be advertised and publicized internally and externally in accordance with the search procedures in place at the partnering institution(s) of higher education. The search committee for a replacement for the director should involve representatives from the local teacher leadership and university faculty advisory groups. A replacement for the director should then be recommended by the superintendent(s) of the school district(s) and chief administrative officer(s) of the institution(s) of higher education in the partnership, and approved by the Yale National Initiative. If the site requires that a Principal Investigator other than the Institute director be assigned for the grant, that person should be a member of the administration, at least at the level of Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. On the appointment of any director, the institution of higher education must provide a description of the position, indicate its classification in the personnel structure, and clarify in detail the lines of authority and reporting for the director within the institution. The letters of recommendation or accompanying materials from the superintendent(s) and chief administrator(s) of the institution(s) of higher education should document this search and appointment procedure.

For Article 4: An application should contain letters of commitment from teachers who will be involved in planning the Institute and who will assume leadership roles in it. Through the body of Teachers Representatives the teachers are involved in initiating and approving decisions with respect to seminars offered, within the scope determined as feasible and appropriate by university and school district administrators and the director. They are also involved in the process of recruiting teachers and enrolling them in the seminars. The director should also appoint from among the Fellows a group of Coordinators, one for each seminar, who may assist with application procedures, handle administrative details within the seminar, monitor its process, and help to advise Fellows. The Annual Reports of a Teachers Institute should document the meetings of the Teachers Representatives and the activities of Coordinators.

For Article 5: An application should contain letters of commitment from faculty members who wish to be involved in the Institute's program. Faculty members from departments, schools, or colleges of Education should indicate their readiness to lead seminars that focus primarily upon "content" rather than "pedagogy." An application should also contain letters of commitment from college or university faculty members who are willing to serve on an Institute advisory council.

For Articles 6 and 7: Experience shows that seminars with about a dozen participants, meeting approximately weekly, afford the best opportunity for discussing every Fellow's work in progress. The curriculum units may bear a variety of relations to the general topic of the seminar, appropriate to the grade-level and the aims of the teacher. They will have immediate application in the classroom, and must be consistent with the curricular guidelines provided by district or school that are to be followed by the teacher. It would be prudent for Institutes to establish handbooks or manuals for Fellows that lay out the necessary structure and content of a curriculum unit, taking advice in that regard from the Yale National Initiative.

For Article 8: It would be prudent for Institutes to establish handbooks or manuals for seminar leaders, taking advice in that regard from the Yale National Initiative. They should provide for two or more individual meetings between the seminar leader and each Fellow.

For Article 9: Although arrangements may be made for Fellows to apply to a relevant graduate program to receive university credit for a Teachers Institute seminar they have already completed, the Fellows are not to be regarded as students in regular university courses. Rather, they are considered full members of the university community during the year in which they are taking a seminar, and they will receive all privileges customarily given to faculty.

For Article 10: The Teachers Institute makes every effort to ensure that the pool of teachers applying to the Institute represents a cross-section of all eligible teachers. Its program should attract and accept teachers regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, academic background, professional experience, and length of time in teaching. It should document annually the percentage of Fellows in each category and relate that percentage to the demographics of the teaching cadre in the district.

For Article 11: In an application to participate in the Yale National Initiative during a Planning Phase or Implementation Phase the institution of higher education should indicate the appropriate range for remuneration of seminar leaders, in accord with that for comparable duties. For Teachers Institutes involving more than one institution of higher education, those institutions should devise an equitable arrangement for remuneration. The honorarium or stipend for participating school teachers is not salary or wages and is therefore not to be regarded as subject to any conditions of employment.

For Article 12: Letters from the highest administrators of the institution(s) of higher education and the school district(s) should explicitly state their commitment to this collaboration in support of the Institute through and beyond the grant period. In a written letter of agreement the appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district should lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership.

For Article 13: Letters from the highest administrators of the institution(s) of higher education and the school district(s) should explicitly state their commitment to provide continuing funding, to seek necessary supplementary funding for the duration of the grant, and to plan to seek entire funding thereafter. They should also specify the support that the Development Office(s) of the institution(s) will provide in the continuing search for funding.

For Article 14: Each new Institute is committed to communicating with the Yale National Initiative and with the other Teachers Institutes, both new and established, and to disseminating its experience of the adaptation of the Institute model in various ways to other actual and potential Institutes across the nation. The means of communication may include participation in July Intensives and Annual Conferences, personal visits, e-mail, news groups, online chats, text-based forums, etc., and will also include written accounts by the new Institutes for publication in On Common Ground. Each new Institute is also committed to joining with the other Teachers Institutes in the Yale League of Teachers Institutes.

For Article 15: The reporting that is required of a Teachers Institute serves several functions and provides several advantages. It constitutes a detailed account, in depth and through time, of the operations and accomplishments of the Institute. This account is a requisite for current funding; it contributes greatly to the process of obtaining funding in the future; and it also contributes to the wider understanding by teachers, district administrators, university faculty members and administrators, and policy-makers of the role and importance of Teachers Institutes in this nation. If an Institute is receiving funding directly from one or more local or national sources, an account of this funding must be included in the reporting to the Yale National Initiative hereafter described.

Using surveys and other instruments developed by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and the Yale National Initiative, each new Institute will document: the number of teachers who apply; the representativeness of those teachers vis-a-vis the entire pool of teachers eligible to participate; the teachers' and faculty members' assessments of the new Institute; the classroom uses to which teachers put the curriculum units; and the students' responses to those units.

Each new Institute will provide reviewers who may be sent by the Yale National Initiative and/or any funding agencies with full access to their activities and their documentation, including school and university personnel and sites. Each new Institute will also submit to the Yale National Initiative interim, annual and final financial reports and annual and final narrative reports.

The financial reports will contain interim and annual financial accountings of expenditures made under the terms of any Agreement established through the Yale National Initiative, and through any direct local or national funding, including verification of cost-sharing. In order that new Teachers Institutes can prepare to become financially sustainable, they should follow a cost-sharing discipline during the Planning Phase and Implementation Phase. The required cost sharing of 1-to-1 for the Planning Phase will apply to the total budget and also to that part of the budget essential to operation—i.e., basic or necessary expenses—globally and severally. These necessary expenses will include salary for the Planning Director, honoraria for teachers, and travel expenses for the information session and the intensive session. The specified ratios for a 3-year Implementation Phase (1/2; 1/1; 2/1)—which may be modified appropriately for other multi-year Phases—will likewise apply to the total budget and also to that part of the budget essential to operation—i.e., basic or necessary expenses—globally and severally. These necessary expenses will include remuneration for seminar leaders, stipends for Fellows, one full-time salary for the director, the publication of curriculum units, office assistance for the director, and travel to League events. The financial reports will set forth in detail the cost of operating the Institute, provide a documentation of other funds allocated to it, and indicate the availability of long-term funding sources. The final financial report will provide such accounting for the full term of any Planning or Implementation Phase. The reports will be made on forms to be supplied by the Yale National Initiative.

The annual narrative reports should include as attachments only documents produced by or related to the project. Such documents should include three copies of all brochures, schedules, seminar proposals, curriculum units, questionnaires, reports, and news articles. The first report should describe the scope, the strategy, and the goals of the new Teachers Institute. It should explain the process by which it has been established and maintained, the ways that it has tailored the New Haven approach, its current activities, and the progress made toward its specific goals. There is no specific limitation on length. The style should be succinct, but important details should not be omitted for the sake of brevity. Detail should be provided concerning the activities of the Teachers Representatives in planning the seminars, the roles of the Coordinators in admitting Fellows, assisting them, and monitoring seminars, the length and nature of the curriculum units, the representativeness of the Fellows admitted, and the teachers' and faculty members' assessments of the new Institute. Subsequent reports should include continuing descriptions of the Institute's activities and progress. They should explain significant differences between the first, second, and third years of operation, and comment on the use of the curriculum units in the classrooms so far as that is known. They should update the account of progress made toward funding the new Institute beyond the Implementation Phase. They should also discuss any discernible effects of the new Institute upon teacher empowerment, curricular change, student learning, and other issues central to school improvement.

Each report should provide as specific an account as possible of each of the following items. The report should be explicitly keyed to these items, so that readers can easily note the information that pertains to each:

• evidence that the new Institute is faithful to each of these Articles of Understanding and the Necessary Procedures;
• a systematic description of the new Institute and its activities, including ways that it has applied the New Haven approach to its own situation, the process by which it was established, how that process has unfolded over time, and the progress made toward its goals;
• a description of the relationship between participating school teachers and university faculty members;
• an account of the ways in which teacher-participants in the seminars have exerted leadership in planning the seminars, recruiting teachers, admitting Fellows to the seminars, monitoring their process, and assessing their results;
• indication of the incentives at the new Institute for university faculty members and school teachers to participate;
• an analysis of the participation of school teachers in Institute activities (using surveys and other instruments developed by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and the Yale National Initiative, which might be completed on-line) that documents the number of teachers who apply, the representativeness of the teachers vis-a-vis the entire pool of teachers eligible to participate, and (through annual questionnaires) the teachers' participation in Institute activities and the teachers' and faculty members' assessments of the new Institute;
• the cost of operating the Institute, set forth in detail as specified in the financial reporting requirements; a documentation of all other funds allocated to the Institute; and the availability of long-term funding sources;
• a summary description of the curriculum units developed by participating teachers, with information about the teachers' use of the units and any other outcomes of their participation;
• an account of the assistance from the Yale National Initiative that was needed, obtained, and used;
• and an analysis of the factors contributing to, and hindering, the success of the new Institute.

Each report will also include a summary that sets forth in brief compass the accomplishments and impact of the Teachers Institute, its relations to local and national funding, the impediments that have been encountered, the unanticipated outcomes, and the lessons learned thus far. The final report for an Implementation Phase will summarize the items covered by the annual narrative reports, will include a survey of the use of curriculum units by Fellows and non-Fellows in the school system, and will then answer the following questions:

I. What are the most important outcomes, impacts, and lessons learned from the establishment of this Teachers Institute?

II. How has it changed the way in which your institution or other institutions may address these issues?

III. What plans do you have for continuing the Institute?

IV. Are there other observations or reflections that you would now like to make about your Teachers Institute's work during this Implementation Phase?

Planning an Institute

The Yale National Initiative and cooperating foundations and organizations will provide instructions and forms on which to apply to participate in the Yale National Initiative and the League of Teachers Institutes and receive their services during a Planning Phase of at least nine months duration. This Planning Phase may be funded in a variety of ways: e.g., by or through a federal program, a national funder, one or more local funders, a school district (e.g., district Title I funds), a college or university, or (by a re-grant from a national funder) the Yale National Initiative. An application will include a narrative, a budget, and a budget narrative. Such an application can also be shaped into a grant proposal for funding during the Planning Phase. A National Panel of educators and philanthropists will review the applications and recommend acceptance. The Director of the Yale National Initiative will determine whether the application is in conformity with the principles and procedures of this Initiative. Sites will be expected to match a grant received during the Planning Phase on at least a 1-to-1 basis. (Cost-sharing will apply to necessary expenses, for which see the explanation in the "Necessary Procedures for Article 15.")

The goal of the Planning Phase is to enable a full exploration of the likely form, major strategies, personnel, and funding of a Teachers Institute that conforms to the Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures that have been earlier set forth.

Declarations of Intent to Submit a Planning Application

A Declaration of Intent to submit an application to participate in the Yale National Initiative and the activities of the League of Teachers Institutes during a Planning Phase will be filed, on a form to be provided, at a specified date in advance of the submission of such an application. This Declaration of Intent will set forth the intentions and commitments of the collaborating institution(s) of higher education and the school district(s).

Planning Applications

The narrative for an application to participate in the Yale National Initiative and the activities of the League of Teachers Institutes during a Planning Phase will cover the following topics:

1. College or University: Specific people committed to do the planning for possible participation in a multi-year Implementation Period with strong prospects for continuation beyond that period; specific faculty who are qualified and available to lead seminars, with description of applicable experience and letters of commitment. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1-3, 5, 12".)

2. Schools: Evidence that the district(s) serve a significant proportion of students from low-income backgrounds; specific people committed to do the planning for possible participation in a multi-year Implementation Period with strong prospects for continuation beyond that period; letters of commitment from those people; and a strategy for constructing a network of teacher leadership. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1-4, 12.")

3. Director of Planning: Specific person (who must have agreed to become the permanent director of the proposed Institute), with description of applicable experience and letter of commitment. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 3.")

4. Scope: A description of the proposed scope within the school district, or indication of the process by which it will be determined (a minimum pool of 500 potentially eligible teachers in no fewer than 20 schools encompassing at least two of the three levels of schooling [elementary, middle, and high], and a minimum of four seminars to be offered annually); a list of possible seminar topics for the first year of Implementation, and an explanation of the process by which teachers will finally determine them. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1-6.")

5. Funding and Cost-Sharing: A statement of the proposed funding and the proposed cost-sharing for the Planning Phase (specifying the primary funders, and the matching by university, by school system, and by any supplementary funders); institutional letters of commitment. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 13 and 15.")

6. Basic Commitments: A provisional statement of how the partnership envisions meeting all other Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures given earlier. In a written letter of agreement the appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district should lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership. These commitments must be fully understood by administrators, by the director, and by participating faculty and teachers.

To be considered complete, a Planning Application should consist of the following:

1. Cover page (forms to be supplied by the Yale National Initiative)

2. Demographic information about partners (forms to be supplied)

3. Proposal Narrative (of no more than twenty double-spaced typed pages with at least one-inch margins)

4. Budget (forms to be supplied) and Budget Narrative (instructions to be supplied)

5. Attachments (attach only items requested and prepared specifically for this purpose)

Planning Phase Activities

At each site, during the planning period, there will be:

• Meetings with university faculty and school teachers that may participate in the project to ascertain their needs and their interest in, and commitment to, the project.
• Joint planning and meetings of university and school administrators to discuss, among other things, how to leverage local and other funds for the implementation phase of the initiative.
• Development of a three-year implementation plan and proposal for a potentially long-term Teachers Institute in accord with the Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures.
• Participation in an Intensive Session to be held in New Haven, which will include opportunities
• for the directors of planning to participate with James Vivian in a colloquium for directors;
• for at least one or two university faculty members and three school teachers to participate in a program that will include a number of "national seminars" (versions of a characteristic New Haven seminar supplemented by distance learning and supervision, involving preparation, readings, presentations, discussions, preparation of an essay relating the seminar topic to classroom needs and opportunities, and revision of that essay under guidance of a seminar leader), visiting of two regular seminars being offered, with opportunities for university faculty to review curriculum units in process; meetings with previous seminar leaders, Fellows, and teachers involved in the leadership of the Institute;
• for representatives from the site engaged in planning to advise on ways to preserve teacher leadership in the Yale National Initiative, and to participate in the National Steering Committee of school teachers and the complementary National University Advisory Council of faculty members;
• to attend sessions on Institute principles of organization, techniques and instruments for evaluation and documentation, admission procedures, and guidelines for curriculum units.

Although a Planning Phase of nine months duration looks toward a multi-year Implementation Phase, it is not required that an application for participation in the Yale National Initiative and membership in the League of Teachers Institutes during the Implementation Phase be made at the end of that initial Planning Phase. There may be a period of time for further planning, adjusted to the organizational needs of the site, before such an application would be necessary.

Implementing an Institute

The Yale National Initiative and cooperating organizations will provide instructions and forms on which to apply for participation in the Yale National Initiative and membership in the League of Teachers Institutes during a multi-year (optimally, a three-year) Implementation Phase. Such an application can also be shaped into a grant proposal for funding during the Implementation Phase. A National Panel of educators and philanthropists will review the proposals and recommend sites to participate in multi-year Implementation Phases, which may be funded in a variety of ways: e.g., by a federal program, a national funder, one or more local funders, a school district, a college or university, or (by a sub-grant from a national funder) the Yale National Initiative. Final decisions as to conformity with the principles and procedures of the Yale National Initiative will be made by the Director of this Initiative. It is required, if there is a sub-grant through the Yale National Initiative, that a site match any funding received for the Implementation Phase on a graduated basis, which will involve an increase in the cost-sharing to be borne by the institution, district, and supplementary funders from at least a 1-to-2 matching in the first year to at least a 1-to-1 matching in the second year and at least a 2-to-1 matching in the third year. This ratio will apply to the total budget and also to that part of the budget essential to operation—i.e., the basic or necessary expenses—both globally and severally. The basic and necessary expenses consist of the following: remuneration for seminar leaders, honoraria for Fellows, one full-time salary for the director, publication of the curriculum units, office assistance for the director, and travel for participating in League events. (See the budget forms and instructions, to be supplied by the Yale National Initiative.)

The partnerships will be required to submit annual reports to the Yale National Initiative that describe and assess the activities undertaken, describe challenges and successes, account for grant funds, and document other funds that have been allocated to the new Institute. Any change in the director or other key staff at a partnership that is participating in an Implementation Period must be approved in advance by the Yale National Initiative. In such instances, the candidate selected should be recommended to the Yale National Initiative in a letter from the Superintendent(s) of schools and the President(s) of the institutions involved in the partnership. This letter, or accompanying materials, should provide the job description used by the site, and describe the candidate's qualifications and the process used to solicit candidates and select the finalists.

Declarations of Intent to Submit an Implementation Application

A Declaration of Intent to apply for participation in the Yale National Initiative and membership in the League of Teachers Institutes during the Implementation Phase will be filed, on a form to be provided, at a specified date in advance of the submission of such an application. This Declaration of Intent will set forth the intentions and commitments of the collaborating institution(s) of higher education and the school district(s).

Implementation Applications

The narrative for an application to participate in the Yale National Initiative and become a member of the League of Teachers Institutes during the Implementation Phase will cover the following topics:

1. Scope: In discussing the initial scope of your Teachers Institute, describe how the scope was determined and how you envision it developing over the three or more years of the Implementation Phase. Include a map of the school district partner(s) noting the location of both the higher education institution(s) and the schools to be involved during the Implementation Phase. The scope should include a minimum pool of 500 potentially eligible teachers in no fewer than 20 schools encompassing at least two of the three levels of schooling (elementary, middle, and high), and a minimum of four seminars to be offered annually. Indicate any likely expansion of that scope during subsequent years of the Implementation Phase. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1, 6, 10.")

2. Strategy: If you are working with a large school district or several school districts, state how you determined the scope of the proposed Teachers Institute so that its impact would not be diluted but would have as great an influence as possible. What do you expect this Teachers Institute to achieve within the school district(s) involved? (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1, 6, 10, 12, 15.")

3. Structure: Describe with as much specificity as possible the structure of the proposed Teachers Institute, including the director, faculty advisory committees, and teacher leadership roles. A Teachers Institute participating in the Yale National Initiative must adhere to the Articles of Understanding and the Necessary Procedures. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures, especially: 1-5, 12.")

4. Seminars: In discussing the seminars for the first year of the Implementation Phase, describe how teachers have been involved in identifying topics, which faculty have been approached and selected to lead these seminars, the pool of eligible teachers, and how potential Fellows are being recruited. In discussing seminars for the subsequent years of the Implementation Phase, describe the pool of interested and available faculty and that of eligible teachers. (See "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 6-11.")

5. Revisions in Plan: Please note where there is a significant change from the information or plan submitted with the Planning Application.

6. Accompanying Letters: Letters indicating commitment from the institutions and individuals to be involved should be appended to the application to participate in an Implementation Phase. Each letter should make clear the writer's actual and potential involvement in the Institute, and his or her understanding of the role to be played in this project. Letters from administration should indicate their commitment to all items under the Articles of Understanding and the Necessary Procedures that fall under their purview. In a letter of agreement the appropriate administrators of the institution of higher education and the school district should lay out the terms and expectations of the collaboration entailed by their partnership. (See especially "Articles of Understanding and Necessary Procedures: 1, 12, 13.")

7. Basic Commitments: State how the new Institute will meet each of the other Articles of Understanding and the Necessary Procedures.

To be considered complete, an Implementation Application should consist of the following:

1. Cover page (forms to be supplied by the Yale National Initiative)

2. Demographic information about partners (forms to be supplied)

3. Proposal Narrative (of no more than thirty double-spaced typed pages with at least one-inch margins)

4. Budget (forms to be supplied) and Budget Narrative (instructions to be supplied)

5. Attachments (attach only items requested and prepared specifically for this purpose)

Implementation Phase Activities

Certain of the activities during the Implementation Phase will be planned in greater detail with the Teachers Institutes that are participating in the Yale National Initiative. They will include:

• visits to these Institutes by personnel from the Yale National Initiative;
• a meeting in New Haven of project directors, university faculty members, and school teachers from the Institutes;
• an Intensive Session in New Haven, for which each Institute will send the director to participate in a colloquium for directors, and will send six school teachers and three university faculty members who are actual or potential seminar leaders to participate in a program of "national seminars" and observation of seminars like those during the Planning Phase;
• participation in annual conferences and national advisory groups.

As the Yale National Initiative expands, there will necessarily be a series of Intensive Sessions for the Institutes being established. Existing Teachers Institutes may also help to present these Intensive Sessions, and send teams to participate in them. These Intensive Sessions will therefore provide continuing opportunities for additional faculty and school teachers to become acquainted with the principles and processes of an Institute.