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CTQ is a national nonprofit that's been around since 1998.
Vision: a high-quality public education system for all students, driven by the bold ideas and expert practices of teachers.
Mission: To connect, ready, and mobilize teacher leaders to transform their schools.
This sounds simple. (Many of you are probably thinking, "Of course! Who better than teachers to figure out what kids need?") But the history of teaching in America has been troubled by rigid hierarchies and absurd power plays that do little to benefit teaching and learning. Troubled by out-of-whack supply and demand systems. By faulty public perceptions of what it means to be "just a teacher." By damaging cultural pressures for teachers to stay "in the box" and close their classroom doors.
It's time to turn that around. Time for collaboration, innovation, and making decisions based on what helps students learn—not what's good for a corporation, political party, or outside interest.
At CTQ, they know plenty of accomplished teachers leading in their classrooms and beyond. For many years, they have supported teacher leaders in sharing their perspectives, and provided them with a virtual home for collaboration.
But they know they have only met a few of the hundreds of thousands of extraordinary teacherswho are ready to own their expertise—and their profession. To speak up on what works in their classrooms. To share their big ideas about how schools could be better designed. To propose effective solutions that a non-teacher would never think to offer.
That's why they have created the CTQ Collaboratory. To expose the bold ideas and expert practices of growing numbers of teachers—and create a common place where they can convene to advance the teaching profession and their schools.
In the Collaboratory, teachers (and those who value teachers as leaders) are...
Sharing innovative ideas—and bringing them to life.
Digging deep into education news, policy, and research.
Making connections with colleagues near and far.
Troubleshooting challenges and crowdsourcing solutions for students.
Identifying (and creating) ways to spread teachers' expertise.
Developing leadership skills together.
Influencing policy and practice on the local, state, and national levels.
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