Pittsburgh Teachers Interviewed on Policy and Practice

Pittsburgh's A+ Schools program prepares for confidential teacher talks as the Empowering Effective Teachers plan is also given a boost.

Pittsburgh’s A+ Schools program is searching for 150 volunteers to perform confidential interviews with middle and high school teachers as part of the group’s third year of school data collection, writes Timothy McNulty at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

This fall, A+ Schools hopes to interview 100 teachers, or about 10 percent of the middle and high school teacher pool. Past interviews with administrators included discussions on policies for student behavior and dropout prevention, director Carey Harris said, but now they will probe how the policies have filtered down to the classroom.

“What do [teachers] have? What do they need but don’t have? What stands in the way?” Ms. Harris said when asked to characterize the questions.

Pittsburgh Public Schools administration and its teacher union released statements supporting the drive.

This comes at the same time as an innovative program is launched, where seven teachers have the sole task of making Pittsburgh students feel safe and welcome in schools, writes Rachel Weaver at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The “learning environment specialists,” as Pittsburgh Public Schools calls them, won’t have assigned classrooms but will work with students and other teachers on tactics such as conflict resolution, anti-bullying and mentoring.

The goal is to make Pittsburgh “one of the safest districts where the kids want to go, where the parents want to go, and where the teachers want to go,” said Tim Stevens, chairman of the Black Political Empowerment Project, whose group is lending its expertise to the effort.

“I pride myself on making my classroom safe, respectful and caring,” said Terea Pope-Green, a specialist who will be based at Martin Luther King K-8 in the North Side.

“I grew up in the inner city. I want to show them I’ve been where they are and am where they can be.”

The program is part of the district’s Empowering Effective Teachers plan funded in part by a $40 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Valerie Dixon, executive director of the PACT (Prevent Another Crime Today) Initiative, who attended a press conference announcing the effort, said although educators will work to curb problems in schools, it’s up to people in neighborhoods to make children feel safe once they leave their homes each day.

“It’s so important every segment of society plays its part,” she said.