Teaching Matters Collaborates with Tennessee Depar

New York, New York, Sept. 25, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teaching Matters , a nonprofit leader in the national movement to support teacher leadership as a critical means to improve teaching effectiveness, announces a new statewide partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education to develop strategic career pathways for educators to advance student learning.

Teaching Matters will work with 100 Tennessee teacher leaders to earn four high-leverage micro-credentials over the course of the 2017-18 school year. The organization’s unique competency-based micro-credentialing system, developed in the nation’s largest school system, emphasizes the demonstration of skills in classrooms coupled with continued support for sustainable system-level improvement.

“Tennessee is a state that is setting precedents in system-level commitment to educator development,” said Teaching Matters Executive Director Lynette Guastaferro. “We are excited to partner with the Department of Education in a collaborative program to help develop teacher leaders and give them new tools to demonstrate competencies within their classrooms.”

Tennessee was one of the first states to commit to a plan in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act, prioritizing innovation in teacher development through micro-credentialing.

“Tennessee has been proactive in our pursuit of personalized professional learning, committing early to the exploration of micro-credentials as a way to provide teachers and districts with the tools they need to achieve the goals outlined in Tennessee Succeeds, our state’s strategic plan,” said Dr. Lyle Ailshie, deputy commissioner at the Tennessee Department of Education. “Partnering with Teaching Matters will continue to strengthen our work with rigorous leadership preparation and support that will help our teachers demonstrate high-value skills in our schools.”

Teaching Matters has issued over 1,000 system level micro-credentials since 2015.  The nonprofit published a white paper, Competency-Based Micro-Credentials for Educators: Powerful Lessons from Two Years in the Field , on its micro-credentialing methodology in October 2016. 

About Teaching Matters

Teaching Matters is a leader in the national movement to support teacher leadership as a critical means to improving teacher effectiveness and student achievement across the nation’s school systems. The organization works to promote lasting changes to teacher quality and has been at the forefront of professional development for teachers in the U.S. Teaching Matters aims to close the opportunity gap in urban schools by providing competency-based professional learning. Over the course of 20 years, Teaching Matters has offered year-round, in-depth programming to approximately 1,000 schools, 30,000 teachers and 500,000 students. For more information, visit teachingmatters.org .

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