Achievement First Partners with Truenorthlogic to Implement a Customized Solution

March 20, 2012 - PRLog -- Achievement First, a network of 20 high-performing, college-preparatory public charter schools in New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island, recently announced a partnership with Truenorthlogic  to work together to close the achievement gap.  Achievement First will implement a comprehensive portal solution with Truenorthlogic’s configurable tools to support the AF Teacher Career Pathway, a first-of-its-kind, systematic, coordinated approach to recognizing and developing great teachers as they progress through five career stages:  intern, new teacher, teacher, senior teacher and master teacher.

Research shows that the largest contributing factor to student achievement is the person at the front of the classroom:  teachers. Thus, individualized professional development to meet specific needs for teachers can lead to better outcomes for students (MET Gathering Feedback for Teachers. Allen, J.P. 2011.).  Using the customized performance management portal designed in collaboration with Truenorthlogic – Achievement First’s “AF Platinum” portal will provide teachers and school leaders with real-time, transparent access to teacher effectiveness data, including lesson observation feedback, survey results from a variety of stakeholders (parents, students and peers) and student achievement data.  Additionally, teachers will work with school leaders to craft student learning and professional development goals within the Truenorthlogic portal based on teacher effectiveness data.  Achievement First plans to integrate the use of AF Platinum into the organization’s existing evaluation and development process in order to support structured individual growth that leads to achievement-gap-closing student achievement results.

“Achievement First teachers and school leaders agree that the use of transparent data, coupled with aligned development and support, will lead to an even greater impact on students. AF Platinum is an exciting tool to support teachers’ learning and development throughout their careers,” said Sarah Coon, Senior Director of Talent Development at Achievement First.

“We are fortunate to work with Achievement First to enable a new level of educator development for teachers and school leaders,” said Jeanette Haren, CEO and Co-founder of Truenorthlogic.

ABOUT TRUENORTHLOGIC
Truenorthlogic is the leading provider of K-12 Education Human Capital Management solutions that solve complicated educator quality issues.  Our award-winning solutions help education agencies link human resource management with sustainable, scalable strategies to ensure an effective educator for every student, including teacher preparation and induction support, licensure and certification tracking, career planning tools, professional development management and system support for differentiated learning and incentive pay models. With more than one million licensed users, Truenorthlogic has a proven track record helping organizations achieve educational workforce excellence.  www.truenorthlogic.com  

ABOUT ACHIEVEMENT FIRST
The mission of Achievement First is to close the achievement gap and deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all children, regardless of race, economic status or zip code. With its college-preparatory focus, the Achievement First approach is attaining breakthrough academic gains throughout its network of 20 public charter schools. In the 2011-12 academic year, Achievement First is educating nearly 6,200 children in historically low-performing and underserved neighborhoods in Connecticut and New York (with Rhode Island opening in 2013).

Achievement First’s approach to teaching and learning enables every student to succeed at the highest levels. This involves:

•   Providing students with more time on task and intense intervention when they are struggling so that no child falls through the cracks.
•   Recruiting and developing successful teachers and school leaders and empowering them to use student data to strategically drive instruction.
•   Creating a joyful school culture where it is “cool to be smart” that emphasizes character education and focuses students on college.

For more information about Achievement First, please visit www.achievementfirst.org.

ABOUT THE AF TEACHER CAREER PATHWAY
Achievement First’s Teacher Career Pathway is a systematic, coordinated approach to recognizing and developing great teachers as they progress through five career stages:  intern, new teacher, teacher, senior teacher and master teacher.  These stages were developed to celebrate excellent teachers and are accompanied by increased compensation, recognition and professional growth opportunities.   The AF Teacher Career Pathway program builds off of a number of practices already in place – lesson observation and feedback, peer feedback, parent surveys, student surveys, and analyzing student achievement data – but brings them all together in a more systematic and coordinated way.

# # #

Truenorthlogic is the leading provider of comprehensive human capital management systems to K-12 education agencies working to improve student achievement by increasing educator effectiveness.