Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/740763
ILC recently held its annual convening in Sacramento for stakeholders. We asked a few participants about the impact of its work on the profession. ILC's Impact Photos and text by Len Feldman California Education Policy Fund, and the Community Education Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foun- dation. Another major contributor, the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, will continue to provide funding for two additional years. Year 3 of the ILC project is about the project taking root in the ILC members' local and regional education communities. ILC members have developed team plans to strengthen their partnerships with key education groups, such as their local unions, school districts, county offices, content projects and higher education. "e philosophy is 'Together we're better' — that labor and management are working together for the benefit of all students," says Heins of this next phase. "It's about separating what happens in the collective bargaining arena, and building partnerships around curriculum and instruction that help all students." Meanwhile, other organizations, groups and states are interested in learning more about the program, says Fong, who believes that ILC has opened the door to teacher-driven professional development becoming the norm. "ILC is professional development at its finest," says Linda Darling-Hammond, president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute and chair of the Califor - nia Commission on Teacher Credentialing. " You are building a professional learning community. You are building a movement." For more information , check out the website at cta.org/ilc. SUZ ANNE NAKASHIMA third-grade teacher, Lincrest Elementary, Yuba City Teachers Association "ILC opens the doors for district teachers to present to other district teachers. It 's an important step for districts to understand that teachers can do high-quality professional development. ILC gives us high-level, excellent training. It expands our horizons. We're trying to get more teachers involved." BRENDA FR ANCIS curriculum spe- cialist, Stockton Unified School District, Stockton Teachers Association "ILC is important because it features teachers building up teachers. Teachers are knowledgeable. We're uniquely qualified in our craft. What better support system to have in place than teachers teaching teachers? By doing that, we're empow- ering students and getting them ready for the future." MARY BR ACKEN Guerneville School Teachers Association (retired), LGBTQ+ adviser for CTA's Region I Service Center Council " There is an amazing amount of expertise that is already on every school staff. ILC helps us capitalize on it. It helps teachers to help other teachers and help them real- ize they can do anything." ANGELICA MIKLOS teacher, Russell Ranch Elementary, Folsom Cordova Education Association president " There is great value in teachers teaching teachers. Teachers are dialed into teachers' needs. It 's not top- down. We're teaching each other, and as trainers we're learning from participants as well. All of this helps build our skills and knowledge and make each professional development effort stronger." BERNADE T TE SALGARINO mathematics coordina- tor, Santa Clara County Office of Education "ILC lets us collaborate, advocate and empower. In Santa Clara, we've collabo- rated with business people [and] industry to make impactful changes, and secured their support to help our students be successful inside and outside of the classroom. ILC empowers teachers to be the leaders of our own school sites." 45 October 2016