Public School Teachers Complete Program at Yale

Yale National Fellows Lead Professional Efforts for Their Communities

    National seminars, July 2013.

    Sixty public school teachers from sixteen school districts in nine states have completed national seminars and an Intensive Session as part of the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools®.

    Forty of the Yale National Fellows came from school districts that are planning or exploring the establishment of a new Teachers Institute for Chicago, IL; Diné Nation, AZ; Emeryville, CA; Richmond, VA; San José, CA; San Mateo County, CA, and Tulsa, OK. Other National Fellows came from Teachers Institutes that are members of the League of Teachers Institutes® located in Charlotte, NC; New Castle County, DE; New Haven, CT; Philadelphia, PA; and Pittsburgh, PA. Overall, more than half of the Yale National Fellows were participating for the first time.

    The dual purposes of the national seminars are to provide public school teachers deeper knowledge of the subjects they teach and first-hand experience with the Teachers Institute approach to high-quality professional development. This increases their leadership in an existing Teachers Institute or prepares them to lead the development of a new Teachers Institute. Each teacher writes a curriculum unit to teach his or her students about the seminar subject and to share with other teachers in their school district and, over the Internet, with teachers anywhere. The curriculum units implement academic standards of the teachers' school districts and assist the teachers in engaging and educating the students in their school courses.

    The 2013 seminars, which began in early May and concluded in mid-August, were:

    • "Energy Sciences," led by Gary W. Brudvig, Professor of Chemistry and of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry;
    • "Picture Writing," led by Janice Carlisle, Professor of English;
    • "Interpreting Texts, Making Meaning: Starting Small," led by Paul H. Fry, Professor of English;
    • "The Art of Biography," led by John L. Gaddis, Professor of History and of Political Science;
    • "Invisible Cities: The Arts and Renewable Community," led by Joseph R. Roach, Sterling Professor of Theater and Professor of English, of African American Studies, and of American Studies; and
    • "Genetic Engineering and Human Health," led by W. Mark Saltzman, Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering.

    Participants, who lived on the Yale campus during the two-week Intensive Session in July, included not only the Yale National Fellows but also college and university faculty members who have led or may lead local Teacher Institute seminars. Between July 8 and 19 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 Carol P. Boynton of New Haven, Laura A. Carroll-Koch of New Haven, Cheree M. Charmello of Pittsburgh, Crecia Cipriano of New Haven, Eric J. Laurenson of Pittsburgh and Barbara A. Prillaman of New Castle County, Delaware.

    Visiting college and university faculty members observed national seminars. They learned about faculty roles within an Institute and the institutional partnership an Institute represents between a school district and a college or university. They met with national seminar leaders about what they observed, and with other experienced seminar leaders about the seminar and curriculum unit writing process.

    The teams from each location that is planning or considering a Teachers Institute conferred with the Director of the Yale National Initiative, James R. Vivian, about the potential for establishing a local Teachers Institute and other ways their experience at Yale might assist them and their school district. At the conclusion of the Intensive Session, six Fellows were named their districts' teacher Representatives for the coming year. The Representatives, who have responsibility for planning and implementing Initiative activities locally and nationally are:

    Molly Myers Chicago Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, IL
    Marilyn Dempsey Window Rock Unified and Kayenta School Districts, Diné Nation, AZ
    Sara Stillman Emery Unified, Jefferson Union, and Bayshore School Districts, CA
    Valerie J. Schwarz Richmond Public Schools, Richmond, VA
    Vanessa Vitug East Side Union and Mt. Pleasant School Districts, San José, CA
    Krista B. Waldron Tulsa Public Schools, Tulsa, OK

    Superintendents and other local school officials will accompany the National Fellows when they return to Yale for the Annual Conference on October 18-19.

    The Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools is a long-term endeavor to influence public policy on teacher professional development, in part by establishing exemplary Teachers Institutes for high-need schools in states around the country. Following the approach developed in New Haven and implemented in other cities, it builds upon the success of a four-year National Demonstration Project.

    Teachers Institutes are educational partnerships between universities and school districts designed to strengthen teaching and learning in a community's high-need public schools. The League of Teachers Institutes is an alliance that advances their work locally and nationally. Evaluations have shown that the Institute approach exemplifies the characteristics of high-quality teacher professional development, enhances teacher quality in the ways known to improve student achievement, and encourages participants to remain in teaching in their high-need schools.

    Yale National Initiative®, Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute®, and League of Teachers Institutes® are registered trademarks of Yale University.