College-Ready Promise
The Alliance, along with four other charter school operators in California, formed The College-Ready Promise in 2009 to promote effective teaching and prepare more students to succeed in college. In November 2009, The College-Ready Promise received a $60 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – and was named one of the foundation’s Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching sites – for its innovative plan to reform how teachers are recruited, evaluated, supported retained and rewarded. Over the next several years, The College-Ready Promise will design and implement new practices to recruit, train, evaluate, and compensate teachers and principals. This plan includes four key elements:
- New career paths that reward highly effective teachers with higher pay and allow them to remain in the classroom as master teachers and mentors;
- Professional development opportunities that provide targeted support to help teachers improve their practice and meet the needs of their students;
- A year-long teacher training academy to make sure new teachers are better prepared on the first day of school—as well as training and support for principals to strengthen their leadership and make sure these initiatives are implemented with integrity;
- A fair, transparent, and meaningful evaluation system to identify effective teachers based on multiple factors, including growth in the academic achievement of their students.