Professional Development with the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute Model: Impact, Lessons, and Future Prospects

The Yale-New Haven Teachers' Institute was founded in 1978 on the belief that "university and school teachers across the country have a strong, mutual interest in the improvement of teaching and learning in the schools." The core goal of the model is to establish a sustainable partnership between districts and universities in order to provide teachers with a rigorous program of professional development seminars heavily influenced by needs that teachers themselves define. This report by Policy Studies Associates, Inc., commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, discusses the lessons from a recent demonstration project funded by Wallace in four districts--Albuquerque, Houston, Pittsburgh and Santa Ana, CA--to determine the feasibility of implementing this innovative model of teacher development in urban districts larger than New Haven. This report begins with a review of the principles that define the institute model and that guided implementation in the four sites. Next, it looks at the seminar experience, focusing specifically on collegiality in the preparation and use of curriculum units. The third section concentrates on the preparation and use of curriculum units, and the fourth examines leadership in the institutes, with particular attention to leadership by teachers. The fifth section explores the organization and governance of the institutes, with particular attention to the various institutional partnerships that support them and the challenges of sustaining these partnerships. This section also summarizes the role of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute as leader, monitor, and partner in the demonstration project. The sixth section looks at resource issues. The report closes with a discussion of the impact of the teachers institutes, lessons learned from the national demonstration project, and the challenges of sustaining teachers institutes in the future. Appendix 1 presents the 16 principles of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute model. Appendix 2 provides an overview of the approach to the evaluation. (Contains 5 exhibits and 8 footnotes.) [Writing assistance for this report was provided by Katrina G. Laguarda. This report was prepared by Policy Studies Associates, Inc. and commissioned by The Wallace Foundation.]