National Network of State Teachers of the Year Responds to Report by American Federation of Teachers

Dec. 5, 2012 - PRLog -- The National Network of State Teachers of the Year (NNSTOY) appreciates the vision put forth by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in its recent paper, "Raising the Bar."

The concepts AFT advances are well-aligned with NNSTOY's agenda for strengthening the teaching profession.  NNSTOY is working toward professionalizing teaching by establishing five structures that many other professions have in place, and that teaching lacks: 1) guiding principles developed by practitioners to which the profession holds itself accountable, 2) a common continuum of professional practice with roles for teacher leaders in supporting the practice of peers, 3) distributed leadership models that allow for career advancement, and 4) collaborative practice models that rely on 5) actionable feedback.  NNSTOY is currently engaged in research that furthers this work.

AFT's position on performance-based measures in determining readiness to teach is one that NNSTOY embraces, though NNSTOY also suggests that such measures be carried into the later stages of a professional career continuum.  NNSTOY is also eager to discuss the differences between standards and guiding principles for the profession, as well as the viability of having a governing board for a profession in which all staff are public employees, held accountable to state rules.

NNSTOY intends to work with all organizations sharing its interest in educator-driven reform and looks forward to collaborating to strengthen the profession to which it is deeply committed.

For more information, please contact Katherine Bassett at katherine@nnstoy.org.