Giving Compass' Take:

· Frederick Hess talks with Jonas Chartock about Leading Educators, a nonprofit advancing teachers' leadership skills and providing better opportunities for students.

· How does teacher leadership impact youth development and student achievement? How has Leading Educators affected the ways teachers approach their work?

· Learn about another education nonprofit that's boosting diversity in the teaching workforce.

Jonas Chartock, Ed.D., recently announced that he’ll be stepping down as CEO of Leading Educators, a nonprofit working with over 700 teacher leaders to transform professional learning for over 2,400 teachers. Before serving as Leading Educators’ founding CEO, Jonas worked with Teach for America as an executive director, served as founding president and CEO of the Charter School Policy Institute, and was the Executive Director of the SUNY Charter Schools Institute. I recently had the chance to chat with Jonas about Leading Educators and their work in teacher development. Here’s what he had to say.

Rick Hess: So, Jonas, what exactly is Leading Educators?

Jonas Chartock: Leading Educators is a nonprofit that helps districts and schools maximize the effectiveness of their most valuable resource: teachers. We believe all students deserve great schools and exceptional teachers. So do districts. But the reality is that many schools struggle to support teachers in mastering and fully using their content, which doesn’t help the students we have marginalized to reach their fullest potential. Teachers want to be the best they can be for their students, so if we want to reach every student, we have to listen to teachers and put them in a position to lead the change they want to see within systems. So, what we do is take professional development out of gigantic auditoriums and put it where it belongs—in schools, as a regular part of a teacher’s week.

Read the full interview with Jonas Chartock by Frederick M. Hess at AEI.