1. How to Be Heard: Lessons Teachers Need to Advocate for Their Students and the Profession
Dr. Celine Coggins
Founder, Teach Plus
Harvard Lecturer and Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Dr. Megan Allen, NBCT
Director of Partnerships, NNSTOY

2. How to Be Heard Celine Coggins, Ph.D.
Harvard Graduate School of Education

3. Describe what policy is in a sentence
(Can you do it?!)

4. My Story Teaching. Policy. Teaching.

5. 10 Lessons for Teacher Advocates
1. There are no experts.
2. The policies that affect our classrooms are not random.
3. Bilingualism is the price of admission to policy making.
4. Equity is everything (and nothing).
5. “Is It Good For Kids?” Is The Wrong Question

6. 10 Lessons for Teacher Advocates
6. Accountability is inescapable.
7. Effective policy advocates “think inside the triangle”.
8. There is no such thing as one best policy for all.
9. Entry points are hidden in plain sight.
10. If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.

7. There Are No Experts
Most common reason teachers give for staying away: I don’t know enough
Blind men and the elephant
Its contentious because all have different perspectives
Need to be a constant learner- see multiple sides of the elephant

8. Policies Are Not Random
Common for teachers to think policy makers are crazy, ill-informed, or anti-teacher
Knowing where a rule comes from is essential to understanding what can and cannot be changed
Common Core: Do you think its okay if kids in Alabama learn less than kids in Massachusetts and Rhode Island?

9. As a teacher, what keeps you up at night?

10. Pressures Teachers Face
Individual Students
TIME!
Outside
Factors
Pressures Teachers Face

11. The Language of Practice
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12. The Language of Policy

13. Bilingualism= Policy and Practice
Dimension
Practice
Policy
Unit of Focus
Individual/Class
District/Nation
Size of Unit
1-100
1,000 -1M+
Primary levers for changing education
Relationships with students, parents, other teachers, principals
Legislation, regulation, budgets, contracts
Key marker of personal success
Impacting the life of a child
Re-election or re-appointment

14. Bilingualism= Policy and Practice
Dimension
Practice
Policy
Knowledge Base
Subject matters content (i.e. math, science, language)
Classroom management
Child/adolescent development
Research on classroom practice (sometimes)
Legal and financial rules governing education
Procedure for initiating and leading policy change
Power dynamics of groups
Research on systems (sometimes)

15. Bilingualism= Policy and Practice
Dimension
Practice
Policy
Imperatives driving work
Time scarcity
Individual student needs
Factors outside class that influence class
Equity
Accountability
Resource scarcity

16. Equity is Everything (And Nothing)

17. Equity is Everything (And Nothing)
The purpose of public education is ensuring that all young people are prepared to be successful adults
Every person’s definition of equitable is different
Focusing on teacher quality is important path to equity

18. “Is It Good for Kids?” Is the Wrong Question

19. “Is It Good for Kids?” Is the Wrong Question
Resource scarcity is a defining feature of policy
Policy, therefore, is about tradeoffs
Most supports (teacher leadership roles, pre-K, etc) could have absolute value for kids, but we can’t fund everything
Policy makers seek to determine which supports have greatest relative value

20. Accountability Is Inescapable
More than 1/2 of state tax dollars go to education
Public and parents have a right to know where things are working and where they are not
Must include some standard measures
To ask for greater investment, must show how it will matter

21. Effective Teacher Advocates Think “Inside the Triangle”
Equity
Resource Scarcity
Accountability
Effective Teacher Advocates Think “Inside the Triangle”

22. We’d love your feedback! (It’s your time to be heard!)