NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

NIET PURSUES IMPROVING EDUCATOR EFFECTIVENESS AND THE NATIONAL K-12 EDUCATION SYSTEM THROUGH DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE, COHESIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SYSTEMS. WE CATEGORIZE OUR WORK INTO FIVE SERVICE AREAS:THE TAP SYSTEM FOR TEACHER AND STUDENT ADVANCEMENT:THE TAP SYSTEM REMAINS NIET'S COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO ESTABLISHING SUSTAINED STRUCTURES FOR BUILDING EDUCATOR EXCELLENCE AND INCREASING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT GROWTH. SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION IN 1999, THE TAP SYSTEM HAS LED TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED OUTCOMES FOR STUDENTS AND CHANGED THE TRAJECTORY OF ENTIRE SCHOOLS. OVER 95 PERCENT OF PARTICIPATING TAP SCHOOLS ARE (SEE SCHEDULE O FOR CONTINUATIONS) HIGH-NEED AND SERVE DIVERSE AREAS - FROM PHOENIX TO RURAL TENNESSEE. THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FOUR INTERRELATED KEY ELEMENTS, TEACHERS ARE IMPROVING THEIR INSTRUCTION AND THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THEIR STUDENTS. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SOLUTIONS:THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SOLUTIONS MODEL IS ROOTED IN PROVEN PRINCIPLES FROM THE TAP SYSTEM AND AIMS TO CREATE EFFECTIVE STRUCTURES FOR TEACHER LEADERSHIP AND FOSTER A CULTURE FOR EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS ALIKE TO EXCEL. IT STARTS WITH A STRENGTHS-BASED NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND IS BUILT AROUND ESTABLISHING FOUR KEY ELEMENTS IN EVERY SCHOOL: INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE, COLLABORATIVE LEARNING, REFLECTIVE CULTURE, AND COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP. BASED ON EACH SCHOOL'S STRENGTHS-BASED NEEDS ASSESSMENT, NIET DESIGNS ITS SUPPORT TO ADDRESS THE AREAS THAT WILL MAXIMIZE AND ACCELERATE IMPROVEMENT AND BUILD FOUNDATIONAL SYSTEMS FOR SUCCESS.RUBRIC AND OBSERVATION SYSTEMS:NIET'S TEACHING STANDARDS RUBRIC IS BASED ON NATIONALLY NORMED, RESEARCH-BASED STANDARDS. IT CLEARLY DEFINES EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND FOSTERS COLLABORATION AROUND A COMMON LANGUAGE AND VISION THAT LEADS TO STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. THE RUBRIC BRINGS A COMPREHENSIVE FOCUS ON FOUR KEY DOMAINS: INSTRUCTION, THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT, DESIGNING AND PLANNING INSTRUCTION, AND PROFESSIONALISM. NIET'S COMPLEMENTARY OBSERVATION SYSTEM PROVIDES SCHOOLS WITH A STRONG, VALID AND RELIABLE INSTRUMENT FOR SEEING HOW TEACHERS ARE GROWING IN THEIR MASTERY OF THE RUBRIC. THE OBSERVATION SYSTEM IS BASED ON MULTIPLE OBSERVATIONS OF EVERY TEACHER, EVERY YEAR BY MULTIPLE, TRAINED AND CERTIFIED EVALUATORS. ALL EVALUATIONS ARE FOLLOWED UP WITH A POST-CONFERENCE SESSION BETWEEN THE OBSERVED TEACHER AND THE EVALUATOR TO DISCUSS AREAS OF STRENGTH AND REFINEMENT WITH THE SOLE PURPOSE BEING TO HELP THE TEACHER IMPROVE.THE RUBRIC AND OBSERVATION SYSTEM, IN PARTICULAR, ARE SUPPLEMENTED BY NIET'S EE PASS ONLINE PORTAL, WHICH INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF HOURS' WORTH OF VIDEOS THAT SHOW EFFECTIVE TEACHING ALONG WITH EVIDENCE AND SCORING AND WHICH ALLOWS FOR ONLINE CERTIFICATION FOR EVALUATORS. EE PASS ALSO INCLUDES A DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES REAL-TIME ACCESS TO EVALUATION DATA, WHICH ENABLES LEADERS TO CONNECT OBSERVATION FEEDBACK WITH PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND ENSURE CONSISTENCY AND RELIABILITY ACROSS OBSERVERS.TEACHER AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT:NIET SUPPORTS TEACHER LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SYSTEMS THAT CREATE FORMAL STRUCTURES AND GIVE TEACHER LEADERS THE RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND AUTHORITY TO DRIVE INSTRUCTION. NIET ALSO PROVIDES COACHING AND SUPPORT FOR OTHER KEY ROLES - PARTICULARLY TO EMPOWER PRINCIPALS, DISTRICT, AND OTHER SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS TO BE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERS - RECOGNIZING THAT BUILDING DEEP CAPACITY ROOTED IN RICH ACADEMIC PRACTICE IS FOUNDATIONAL TO LONG-TERM SUCCESS. NIET'S WORK IN THIS AREA CONSISTS OF DESIGNING AND SUPPORTING CAREER PATHS AND ADVANCEMENT FOR EDUCATORS AS TEACHER LEADERS, ESTABLISHING SCHOOL-BASED PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SYSTEMS, AND DELIVERING AN ON-SITE TEACHER LEADERSHIP SERIES TRAINING THAT HELPS SCHOOLS, DISTRICTS, AND STATES PUT TEACHER LEADERSHIP AT THE CENTER OF EFFORTS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION AND RETENTION.EDUCATOR PREPARATION PARTNERSHIPS:NIET WORKS HAND IN HAND WITH OVER 75 UNIVERSITIES TO PREPARE A PIPELINE OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF EFFECTIVE EDUCATORS. BY STRENGTHENING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN K-12 AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, NIET'S PARTNERSHIPS EFFECTIVELY PREPARE ASPIRING TEACHERS FOR THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE CLASSROOM. SPECIFICALLY, NIET HELPS EDUCATOR PREPARATION PROGRAMS EMBED RESEARCH-BASED, EFFECTIVE PRINCIPLES FROM THE TEACHING STANDARDS RUBRIC INTO COURSEWORK AND CLINICAL PRACTICES. THIS HELPS TEACHER CANDIDATES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE COMPONENTS OF THE TEACHING STANDARDS RUBRIC, HOW THE INDICATORS FIT WITHIN THEM, AND WHICH DESCRIPTORS DEMONSTRATE THE INDICATORS. NIET ALSO SUPPORTS TRAINING AND MENTORSHIP FOR COOPERATING TEACHERS WHO ARE PARTNERED WITH TEACHING CANDIDATES IN A RESIDENCY OR STUDENT TEACHING EXPERIENCE, WHICH HELPS ASPIRING TEACHERS RECEIVE COACHING AND FEEDBACK TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE.