Posted on October 1, 2003

Funding for Elementary and Secondary Education - Teacher Quality Resources

American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
http://www.aacte.org/
The Washington, D.C.-based American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education is a national voluntary organization of colleges and universities that prepare the nation's teachers and other educational personnel. AACTE's mission is to promote the learning of all PK-12 students through the promotion of high-quality preparation and continuing education for all school personnel.

Association of American Educators
http://www.aaeteachers.org/
The Association of American Educators is a nonpartisan, non-union professional organization dedicated to academic excellence and character development as well as providing services, such as liability insurance, for teachers who feel that the teachers' unions do not adequately represent their beliefs.

Milken Family Foundation Teacher Advancement Program
http://www.mff.org/tap/tap.taf
The Milken Family Foundation Teacher Advancement Program, or Tap, is designed to draw the best people to the teaching profession, and keep them there, by making it more attractive and rewarding to be a teacher. Under the TAP system, good teachers can earn higher salaries and advance professionally, just as in other careers, and they can do it without leaving the classroom, where they often are needed most. At the same time, this program helps teachers become the best they can be by providing opportunities to learn better teaching strategies and by holding them accountable for their performance.

National Center for Education Information
http://www.ncei.com/
The Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Education Information is a private, nonprofit, research organization specializing in survey research and data analysis in the area of teacher quality and school leadership issues. Founded in 1980, NCEI has conducted several national and state studies which include surveys of teachers, school administrators, school board presidents, state departments of education, local school districts, and individuals interested in becoming teachers.

National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education
http://www.ncate.org/
The Nation Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education is the teaching profession's mechanism for establishing high quality teacher preparation through accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education. NCATE's performance-based system of accreditation fosters competent classroom teachers and other educators who work to improve the education of all P-12 students. NCATE believes every student deserves a caring, competent, and highly qualified teacher.

National Council on Teacher Quality
http://www.nctq.org
The National Council on Teacher Quality fosters innovation and experimentation with teacher-quality policies through four major activities: functioning as a lively information clearinghouse on teacher-quality issues; fostering public understanding of teacher-quality issues; assisting interested states and districts in crafting teacher-quality strategies; and promoting needed research, experimentation, and evaluation.

Teach For America
http://www.teachforamerica.org/about/index.html
Established in 1990, Teach For America is a national corps of college graduates of all academic majors and backgrounds who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to ensure that all children in the nation have an equal chance in life. The organizations goals are to provide excellent teachers who will help ensure that their students attain dramatic gains; and to build a force of leaders with the insight and added commitment that leads them to work throughout their lives, from inside education and from every sector.

Teachers College Record
http://www.tcrecord.org/
A project of Teachers College at Columbia University, this site contains an abundance of information about teaching and education.

Troops-to-Teachers
http://www.proudtoserveagain.com/pages/808014/index.htm
Troops-to-Teachers, a program of the U.S. Department of Education, provides referral assistance and placement services to military personnel interested in beginning a second career in public education as a teacher.