About_TAC

Although there is widespread concern about both the quality of education in U.S. schools, there are few opportunities and mechanisms for classroom teachers to voice their ideas and concerns to decision-and policymakers about issues that directly affect them. In response, the National Academies have established a Teacher Advisory Council to directly involve classroom teachers and integrate their “wisdom of practice” into the Academies’ research and other work in education.

• Work with the education research community in developing new research that is informed by and useful to education practitioners;

• Provide advice to other program units and communication experts about how the National Academies can develop reports with recommendations that can be most effectively implemented in schools; and

• Offer guidance about how the National Academies can best communicate with teachers and the larger education community in the United States.

• Serving as liaisons to study committees and to other standing boards and committees of the National Academies to help them understand and respond to specific issues that are important to teachers;

• Providing teachers’ perspectives relevant to proposed and ongoing National Academies studies, and identifying critical issues to be addressed in those studies;

• Formulating ideas for new studies, which will then be undertaken by ad hoc committees under the aegis of the Council or other program units of the NRC in collaboration with the Council;

• Helping locate other outstanding teachers who might serve as members of committees or as reviewers of National Academies reports; and

• Reviewing published National Academies technical reports in education and recommending which of those might be developed into popular versions, and advising writers as to how those reports might address the needs of teachers most effectively.

The Council currently consists of a core group of 13 teachers representing the natural sciences, mathematics, technology, and reading literacy. These outstanding teachers represent elementary, middle, and secondary grade levels, urban and rural settings, as well as diverse regions of the country. Qualifications for both core group and associate members include a minimum of 50 percent of working time spent in the classroom with students and demonstrated professional leadership. At least one core group member representing each grade band is certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. Several Council members are Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Dr. Bruce Alberts, immediate Past President of the National Academy of Sciences and Chair of the National Research Council, serves as an ex-officio member and advisor. A Teacher Leader and a staff director manage the work of the Council The Council convenes threes times a year, usually in Washington, DC.

The Teacher Advisory Council has established a network of Associate members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who 1) serve with or advise the core group and the National Academies on specific issues when broader expertise is needed, and 2) inform teachers in their states about the work of the Council and the initiatives of the National Academies that will better inform teachers’ work and professionalism. All of the Associates are teacher leaders who meet the same criteria established for TAC core members. Associate members expand the Council’s access to teacher leaders across the country and allow core members to see regional differences with respect to specific issues such as district and/or state support for National Board Certification or funding for education that are common to all teachers.

The staff for the Council also has worked with counterparts in California to establish a Teacher Advisory Council for that state that was modeled on the National Academies’ Council. The California Council held its first meeting in February, 2005 (for more information, see http://www.ccst.ucr.edu/ccst/projects/caltac/caltacdex.html). The process and progress in California will help guide our efforts to work with other states in providing a voice for teachers in the development of education policy and in encouraging policy makers and business leaders to seek the “wisdom of practice” from experienced teachers.

In October, 2004, the Council hosted, in Washington, DC a two-day workshop, Linking Mandatory Professional Development with High Quality Teaching and Learning. Invitees were from professional organizations representing teachers, school superintendents, principals, professional development organizations, the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. Members of the Council responded to papers and panel discussions on the research, implementation, and assessment of professional development programs that are offered by schools and districts and which teachers are required to attend. A CD-ROM of the Proceedings and Transcripts is available through the National Academies Press (http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11518).

As a standing board of the National Research Council, the Teacher Advisory Council will continue to give teachers a more prominent voice in decisions made at national, state, and local levels that would benefit from the “wisdom of practice” and promote enhanced recognition and respect for our nation’s best teachers.

About the Teacher Advisory Council