Teachers Network: Press Release: Public School Teachers Make Their Voices Heard in the Policy Arena

Public School Teachers Make Their Voices Heard in the Policy Arena
Teachers Network Leadership Institute MetLife Fellows
Convene for the First Meeting of the School Year

September 20, 2006—Teachers Network Leadership Institute (TNLI) MetLife Fellows convened for their first monthly meeting of the school year at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education this past Saturday, September 16th. The 40 TNLI MetLife Fellows, who are New York City public school teachers, are selected every year by Teachers Network, an education non-profit, and awarded grants that support their conducting action research in their classrooms. These teachers use action research to study the effects of public policy on their own students. The fellows use rigorous qualitative research methods to draw conclusions about policy at different levels of government, contributing to the public discourse that affects their students’ success.

“TNLI serves to bridge the disconnect between policymakers and teachers,” said Ellen Meyers, Teachers Network’s Senior Vice President, “so policy is more in line with supporting practice that improves student achievement.”

Ellen Meyers facilitated the meeting and set the tone and expectations for the fellows’ research this year. TNLI MetLife Fellows will meet monthly to discuss and hone their specific research topics. Each fellow poses a question regarding teaching and learning that will guide their action research throughout the school year. Their research will culminate in a presentation and paper that will seek to determine which policies affect student performance and make recommendations about those policies. These papers will add to the 112 studies already available at Teachers Network’s website at http://www.teachersnetwork.org/tnli/research/