National Fellows Complete Seminars at Yale

Half of the forty-six teachers, designated Yale National Fellows, were from seven cities that are planning or exploring the establishment of a new Teachers Institute: Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Richmond, Santa Fe, and Wilmington. Other National Fellows were from Teachers Institutes that are members of the National Initiative League located in Houston, Pittsburgh, and New Haven.

The twin purposes of the National Seminars were to provide public school teachers a first-hand acquaintance with the Institute approach to high quality professional development, and to cultivate their leadership either in a League Teachers Institute or in the development of a new Teachers Institute. Each participating teacher wrote a curriculum unit to teach their students what they learned and to share with teachers in their school district and, over the internet, with other teachers internationally.

The Seminars which began in early May and concluded in mid-August, included "Reading Poetry of All Kinds: Pictures, Places and Things, People," led by Paul H. Fry, William Lampson Professor of English at Yale; "Art and Identity in Mexico, from Olmec Times to the Present," led by Mary E. Miller, Vincent Scully Professor of History of Art at Yale; "War and Civil Liberties," led by Rogers M. Smith, Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania; and "Astronomy and Space Sciences," led by Sabatino Sofia, Professor of Astronomy atYale.

Participants in the two-week Intensive Session in July, who lived and shared meals on the Yale campus, included not only the Yale National Fellows but also directors of Teachers Institutes, individuals with responsibility for planning a Teachers Institute, and college and university faculty members who have led or may lead local Teacher Institute seminars.

Between July 5 and 15 Fellows attended ten two-hour daily meetings of their Seminars and conferred individually with their Seminar leaders. One National Fellow served as the Coordinator of each Seminar. The Coordinators were Daniel Addis of Houston, Mary Jefferson of Houston, Lynn Marsico of Pittsburgh, and Ralph Russo of New Haven.

Individuals with responsibility for planning a new Teachers Institute met with Institute Directors on a range of topics from university faculty role in an Institute, to evaluation and documentation, to finance and fund raising, to uses of technology for dissemination.

Teams from each city that already has or is planning or exploring a Teachers Institute met with the Director of the Yale National Initiative, James R. Vivian, to discuss their existing or potential Teachers Institute. At the conclusion of the Intensive Session Fellows from each city were named their cities' Teacher Representatives, who now have responsibility for planning and implementing Initiative activities locally and nationally. The Representatives and their cities are:

The Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools is a long-term endeavor to establish exemplary Teachers Institutes in underserved school districts in states throughout the country. Following the approach developed in New Haven and demonstrated in Houston, Pittsburgh, and other cities, it builds upon the success of a four-year National Demonstration Project.

Senator Joseph Lieberman has introduced legislation that would establish 45 such Institutes over the next five years. The bill is co-sponsored by the entire bipartisan Connecticut delegation in both houses of Congress.

Teachers Institutes are educational partnerships between universities and school districts designed to strengthen teaching and learning in a community's public schools. Evaluations have shown that the Institute approach promotes precisely those dimensions of teacher quality that improve student achievement.