Stories

In Clint Independent School District, one of the fastest developing areas of El Paso County in West Texas, New Teacher Center helped shape and implement a new vision for instructional leadership. To do this, we first engaged district leaders, principals, assistant principals, teachers, students, and families in a district-wide audit to assess the “current state” of curriculum and instruction. Based on that information, we supported the district to identify aligned curricula for implementation district-wide, then helped design professional learning and coaching focused on instructional leadership. School leaders described the experience as eye-opening and game-changing resulting in a collective shift toward coherent, instructionally focused leadership across the district.

When we are trying to assess the impact of our work, we need to ask the right question. Are we helping to create learning settings in which students can engage at their highest cognitive and creative potential? Our measurement tools and how we define success along the way need to help us understand if we are doing that and, if not, how we can do better.

Meeting the needs of today’s new teacher workforce to help keep them in the classroom calls for comprehensive induction support and the kind of responsive and personalized, instructionally focused mentoring that NTC is known for. Learn how our partners in Fresno USD are using our mentoring model to provide tailored coaching support for new teachers with provisional licenses.

New Teacher Center staff reflect on insights from an internal session with Dr. Jose Medina on linguistic liberation, embracing a mindset of abundance in supporting multilingual learners, and fostering affirming, enriching student environments.

Our partners in Hawai’i are always looking for “grassroots” ways to co-create, test new ideas, and build local capacity. The Educator Leader Assessment Collaborative, a pilot project to lay the foundation for a locally relevant, balanced assessment program across Hawai’i’s diverse school system, is no exception.

In education, women’s leadership isn’t just important—it’s crucial for building inclusive school environments and driving student success. Chief Operating Officer and former 6th-grade teacher Sabrina Plassman, and Vice President of Finance and Business Operations Cheryl Leong who previously worked in California schools overseeing finance, budget, and compliance, advocate for systemic changes to empower female education leaders. They share insights and perspectives highlighting the urgency of fostering strong female leadership to drive positive change in schools nationwide.