FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Joe Pagetta
(615) 259-9325, x211 / jpagetta@wnpt.net
NASHVILLE, TN — Nashville Public Television (NPT) is one of four PBS stations in the nation that will work with the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) to develop a series of forums and video vignettes that spotlight ways in which collaboration transforms school culture and improves student achievement. The project is made possible by a $450,000 grant from MetLife Foundation recently awarded to NCTAF to showcase promising practices of teamwork in public schools.
NCTAF believes schools in which educators work in collaborative learning teams consistently deliver the greatest gains among students. These schools also typically demonstrate strong leadership, shared responsibility among teachers, ongoing professional development opportunities, and strong parental involvement. NCTAF’s initiative calls attention to the need to shift teachers from the practice of working in isolation to working collectively to support student learning, ultimately advancing the teaching profession and helping teachers and students meet the academic and workforce demands of the 21st Century.
“This grant from MetLife and collaboration with NCTAF is a great opportunity for NPT and the entire Nashville community,” said Jo Ann Scalf, Director of Education Services for NPT. “NCTAF’s initiative will work to improve education in our local community and the nation, and will have a profound, long-lasting impact on teachers and their vocation. We look forward to getting started.”
The other stations involved in the initiative are Albuquerque, N.M. (KNME), Bloomington, Ind. (WTIU) and Boston (WGBH). Forums will be convened at each station to discuss the learning team concept with policymakers, educators and community stakeholders, and address issues including leadership development and teacher retention strategies. NCTAF will also work with the stations to develop and broadcast video vignettes of schools that model the learning team approach – showcasing successful programs in some of the nation’s most challenged school systems.
For more information about NPT’s educational services, please visit www.wnpt.net/education. For more information on the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF), please visit www.nctaf.org.
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Nashville Public Television is available free and over the air to nearly 2.2 million people throughout the Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky viewing area, and is watched by more than 600,000 households every week. The mission of NPT is to provide, through the power of traditional television and interactive telecommunications, high quality educational, cultural and civic experiences that address issues and concerns of the people of the Nashville region, and which thereby help improve the lives of those we serve.
The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. NCTAF is dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success. With a network of 23 partner states and links to professional educational organizations across the nation, NCTAF provides leadership on innovation and improvement in teaching and learning in America’s schools
MetLife Foundation supports programs that increase opportunities for young people to succeed, give students and teachers a voice in improving education, create connections between schools and communities and develop leadership. The Foundation works with national nonprofit organizations to develop a variety of programs, many of which address issues raised each year in The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. For more information about the MetLife Foundation, please visit www.metlife.org.
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