Teachers Rave About New Development Program: Delaware Spinoff of Yale Initiative Raises Bar for Training

This article first appeared in The News Journal on December 27, 2010. Reprinted with permission.

Middletown High School teacher James Foltz says the experience was the best professional training he has had as an educator.

The training was through the Yale National Initiative, which aims to pair teachers with experts in the field. Because the training was tailored for his needs, it didn't include the redundancies that can be found in other professional development days, Foltz said. A second-career teacher who came to the classroom after working as a technical writer, Foltz says the program energized him.

Hoping to re-create that experience for other Delaware teachers, a large group of educators created the Delaware Teachers Institute in New Castle County, making it one of four League of Teachers Institutes approved by Yale nationwide. It received approval in late October.

At the teachers institute, university professors who are experts in their topics, such as English literature, help kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers to learn more about their core subject area and teaching strategies. Teachers use that knowledge to write lessons for their students that are aligned to the district and state standards.

Brick Mill Elementary teacher Lori Paderewski said her experiences at Yale were "life-changing." A third-grade teacher, Paderewski authored two units of study: one on the solar system, the other on nutrition and allergies awareness.

"This institute is what's going to keep me going for the next 20 years. It's that amazing," Paderewski said. "You have to just be there."

The program creates a partnership between universities and high-need schools. Five New Castle County school districts — Appoquinimink, Colonial, Christina, Red Clay Consolidated and New Castle County Vo-Tech — have agreed to partner with the program.

Ray Theilacker, a former teacher at Howard High School of Technology who attended the Yale program, is the director. An open house in early January will introduce teachers to the program.

"Our plan is to be countywide and ultimately, statewide," Theilacker said.

When teachers complete the program, they earn continuing-education certification hours and have the units they write published online at Yale and the University of Delaware. The Delaware program will last a college semester. The Yale program is two weeks long.

Delaware Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery said the program aligns with ongoing reform efforts in the areas of teacher and leadership quality. The program is so engaging for educators because it is tied to the teacher's core content area rather than a statewide or district program, she said.

"There is no better investment than the investment in our teachers," Lowery said in an e-mail. "The Delaware Teachers Institute has proven to be a beneficial resource to those teachers who have participated, as they delve deeply into content area professional development."