November 2023
Alliance Newsletter
BALTIMORE & DC PILOT SPOTLIGHT: Innovations in Curriculum Literacy
City Teaching Alliance places, develops, and supports new educators across a vast array of district and public charter schools. This means our participant teachers encounter a wide variety of curricular materials and expectations on the job, often with limited curriculum-focused professional development – particularly in their residency year prior to leading their own classrooms. Over the past couple of years, with the support of Carnegie Corporation of New York and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, we have explored the compelling and timely opportunity to elevate curriculum literacy competencies (i.e., how our teachers discover, analyze, internalize, rigorously implement, and thoughtfully augment and differentiate curricula in their classrooms, with particular attention to high-quality curricular elements and instructional materials) and curricular specificity (i.e., how and when our teachers engage with their real curricula in our program) within our literacy and English language arts content and coaching for early-stage educators.
This work is now culminating in a 2023-24 school year pilot focused on:
Within this pilot, City Teaching Alliance’s Director of Literacy and former DC faculty member Mo Thomas convened our fourth in-depth faculty and coach professional learning day in Baltimore on October 19th, bringing together our teacher-educators to apply what they have learned from Great Minds® and in our customized curriculum literacy PDs and plan concrete instructional and coaching moves they will enact throughout the remainder of SY23-24 with our early-stage City Teaching Alliance educators.
Mo reflects, “As a growing program that places teachers in so many contexts, we had to examine our role with curriculum and how we could support our participant teachers in their various placements. Our teacher-educators came together and we re-envisioned how we integrate curricular competencies and materials into our unique teacher development model. This is a new step forward in our work, grounded in Participatory Action Research. We are taking all that we have learned from our participant teachers, our school partners, Great Minds®, our investment and learning partners, and each other, and combining new concrete instructional and coaching moves in our coursework and classrooms with real-time data and artifact collection that will illuminate how and where we are changing curriculum implementation mindsets and skill sets. With so much community investment in high-quality curricular materials to address critical needs, and so much brilliance generated by our faculty and coaches around how we can build on our role in this space, we hope to advance new innovations that highlight how teacher development pathways can be a true partner in ensuring effective, culturally responsive curriculum-based instruction for all students.”
#GIVINGTUESDAY: Radical generosity, indeed.
From $12 million in its launch year of 2012 to $3.1 billion in 2022, #GivingTuesday has lived up to its goal of promoting radical generosity on the Tuesday that follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday. More than $5 billion is predicted to be shared by generous donors this year.
If you are among the 20 million+ people pondering where you will invest your hard-earned dollars this year, we ask you to consider City Teaching Alliance. Nothing has a stronger, more lasting ROI than investing in children.
9 of every 10 dollars we receive go directly to programming and services positively impacting our children – not just today or tomorrow, but for life. Your trust in us and commitment to our mission are treasured by our entire team, and we are pleased to have
once again earned the Platinum rating for nonprofit management and governance from Guidestar.
Everyone has something to give and every act of generosity counts.
For example:
- $50 provides a one-on-one teacher mentoring session to help a new public school teacher navigate their first year of teaching.
- $150 provides one counseling session for a new public school teacher to nurture their mental health and wellness as they support their students and families.
- $200 provides an expert, in-depth coaching session for a new public school teacher to help them become an exceptional, equity-focused educator.
- $500 provides one year of clinical training materials for an aspiring public school teacher to help them lead their classroom with excellence.
“This year, we are doubling down on our efforts to make sure that every child has the gift of a great teacher,” remarks CEO Pete Shulman. “Please join us in demonstrating the importance of quality education and the critical role of educators in our communities.” Give the gift of a life-changing teacher by donating to City Teaching Alliance on or before November 28th. You can also help us expand our reach by liking, subscribing, and sharing our social media pages linked below (as well as our newsletter) with your friends, family, and circles of influence.
ALLIANCE HIGHLIGHTS
WORLD BANK GROUP: D.C. Commitment Continues
For four years, employees and retirees of World Bank Group have supported City Teaching Alliance with 1:1 matched donations through a dedicated employee portal. We would like to thank World Bank Group for their continued community partnership, collective impact, and annual Community Connections Campaign, which supports many worthy nonprofit organizations throughout the year.
Do you know a World Bank Group employee or retiree?
Please share this exciting opportunity to DOUBLE their impact for local children! The campaign is open now and will run through December 14th.
RECAP: BLACK MATH TEACHER LOVE DAY
Check out these beautiful photos from our team celebrating the brilliance, dedication, and excellence of Black math teachers at NCTM’s 2023 Conference!
JOIN THE ALLIANCE!
City Teaching Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization built on community collaboration, and there are so many ways you can help us achieve our mission!
CALLING ALL CORPORATE PARTNERS!
Do you or your partners serve and support teachers, college students, or young adults entering the workforce? Are you committed to ensuring all children have access to a quality education and being a part of creating a more equitable society? If so, let’s talk today!
We have numerous sponsorship opportunities that provide critically necessary funding for our program, and we offer exciting opportunities for collaborative promotion of your business or brand.
EMAIL US
OUR 2024 COHORT ARRIVES IN 7 MONTHS!
Do you know an aspiring teacher? APPLY HERE TODAY! Our next deadline for this application year is January 16th.
City Teaching Alliance is more than a teacher preparation program – we’re a comprehensive preparation and development pathway with more comprehensive coursework and personalized support than any other teacher preparation program in operation today. Our teachers complete a full-year in-classroom residency prior to leading their own classrooms, earn a master’s degree from American University School of Education, and become dually certified to teach in a core subject area (elementary education, secondary English, or secondary math) and special education.* Additionally, we facilitate 85+ hours of coaching support over the first three years in the classroom, provide a growing suite of wraparound services and resources to facilitate whole-educator well-being, and nurture a vibrant learning community of lifelong practitioners.
*Our Dallas site also offers certification in English as a Second Language
DID YOU KNOW?
There are many ways to support literacy in all spaces!
- Designate a monthly Reading Day at work or at home
- Encourage kids to ask questions and read to find the answers
- Set aside 30-minutes of reading time after dinner or before bedtime
- Donate your time or money to education and literacy programs in your community
- Build or host a Little Library
We hope you will stay connected with us, our students, our educators, and our schools as we – and our growing network of powerful practitioners – continue to learn, innovate, and co-create the future of teaching and learning in our communities.
We will never share our mailing lists with outside organizations.
Please help us grow our City Teaching Alliance (formerly dba Urban Teachers) family by sharing this newsletter with your friends, business partners, and community thought leaders. City Teaching Alliance is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization (EIN 27-0989006). To learn more about us, visit our website at CityTeachingAlliance.org or Click Here to donate.
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