Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/882783
leaders of their own — and students' — learning ILC started out by asking the question: How might educators work together to take charge of their own professional development and improve educational outcomes for students? Th e a n sw e r, a n d I LC 's g o a l : Grow the ability of local educators to enrich instruction and assessment practices in their schools, increase student learning, and create professional learning experi- ences for other educators. Specifically, ILC i s bui l din g a n etw ork of ac c om- plished teacher-leaders such as Delaney to support implementation of schoolwide professional learning around the Califor- nia standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. To date, ILC has grown h u n d r e d s o f e d u c a t o r train ers and presenters, a n d s e r v e d 7 7 , 0 0 0 e d u - c a t o r s . T h e p r o g r a m c o n t i n u e s t o s c a l e , increasing local capacity for educators' continuous instructional improvement so that all students in Cal- ifornia can be well prepared for college, career and life. "ILC establishes that teachers are not the problem but rather an essential part of the solution," says Jon Snyder, executive director of the Stanford Center for Oppor- tunity Po li c y in E du cation ( S C O PE). "Teachers throughout the state said, 'We know something, and we can make a dif- ference.' All it took was permission and a little support. The project documents the caliber of the teachers in this state. ey've taken control of their own growth in leadership and professional develop- ment, and in kids' education as well." ILC 's success in its first three years resulted in funding for a second phase o f w o r k d u r i n g t h e a c a d e m i c y e a r s 2017 to 2020. ILC and CTA's strategic plan ILC is a partnership of CTA, SCOPE, and th e National B oard Resource C ent er (NBRC) at Stanford University. Its mission dovetails with CTA's strategic plan, which fo cu se s on l ea d ership d e v elopm ent, support for teaching and learning, and equity and access for all students. "A major strategic area for C TA i s transformin g our profession," says CTA P r e s i d e n t E r i c H e i n s . " We do thi s by supp or t - ing the highest standards of quality in student-cen- t e r e d e d u c a t i o n . W i t h t h e I L C , C TA i s a t t h e f o r e f r o n t o f quality, educator - driven professional development that benefits all schools and all students." Heins adds that leadership develop- m ent, al so central to ILC, i s anoth er strategic area for CTA. e ILC project uses the organization of C TA's four regions. C TA's Instr uc- t i o n a n d P r of e s si o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t Ldship Cos ILC Project Principles Five project principles guide efforts to grow educators' leadership capac- ity to improve instruction within California public schools: • Use capacity to grow capacity — develop the capacity of existing exemplary educators to support the development of the capacity of their colleagues. • Engage in cross-role collab- oration to enrich the learning opportunities of ILC members and the learning opportunities they provide with their colleagues. • Establish institutional partner- ships (e.g., CTA, local schools and districts, NBRC, SCOPE) critical for growing the conditions for success- ful implementation of the California standards and NGSS. • Develop knowledge and skills through a recursive and continuous approach of Learn, Do (practice, try out), Assess (learn more deeply). • Cohere and align with local initia- tives and funding sources to use and sustain the capacities devel- oped for the long haul. 53 O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 017 Yolanda Muñoz