League of Teachers Institutes®

The League of Teachers Institutes is an informal alliance of university-school partnerships that have been recognized as following the Understandings and Procedures that define the Teachers Institute approach to high-quality teacher professional development. That approach was developed initially in New Haven by the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute and has been implemented in other locations since its National Demonstration Project in the late 1990s. In 2004 the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute undertook the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools to influence public policy on teacher professional development by assisting with the creation of new Teachers Institutes and in other ways. The League of Teachers Institutes is a trademark of Yale University and is supported by Yale.

Each Teachers Institute engages the serious educational challenges associated with low-income communities and a high proportion of racial and ethnic diversity. Each Institute identifies the principal ways it can assist the school district(s) it serves.

League Policies and Procedures

The office of the Director of the Yale National Initiative will coordinate the provision of assistance in various forms to League Institutes and to school districts, colleges, and universities that are exploring, considering, or planning a new Teachers Institute. All requests — including requests for materials, site visits, visits to League Institutes, and assistance in other ways — should be made to the Director. Any requests that League Institutes may receive will be forwarded to the Director for reply.

Site Visits

The Director will organize site visits to be made to participating locations. Partnerships that submit a Declaration of Intent to apply to plan a Teachers Institute will receive a site visit as soon as possible after receipt of the Declaration. Those implementing a new Teachers Institute also will receive a site visit. There will be a standard protocol for such visits, as well as the identification of particular topics the team should pursue on each site visit. The team will be composed of experienced seminar leaders and Fellows who are especially well qualified to address questions of special interest to the site. The protocol for site visits is based on the experience of the National Demonstration Project.

Institute Material

The Director will compile from League Institutes and, before disseminating, will review for consistency with the Teachers Institute approach, any documents that participating cities may request — including local curriculum unit guidelines, program schedules and brochures, and descriptions of the role and responsibilities of various Institute positions from director to Teacher Representative to seminar leader and Coordinator.

Directors

During the process (specified in Procedures for Article 3 of the Understandings and Procedures) of consulting with the National Initiative about the recommendation of a planning director, director, or replacement director, a League Teachers Institute or a school-university partnership planning an Institute shall provide the Initiative Director the following information before a candidate has been told of his or her selection as the person to be recommended to the Initiative:

  • the position description
  • notice or advertisement of the position
  • membership of the search committee
  • description of the extent and duration of the search
  • number of applicants to the position
  • the number interviewed and who conducted the interviews
  • the curriculum vitae or resume of professional experience of the person selected
  • a statement from the person selected about his or her interest in the position