AASA Announces NIET as Newest School Solutions Partner

Alexandria, VA—AASA: The Superintendents Association announced the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) as its newest School Solutions partner.

"For two decades, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching has been investing in people, thereby achieving significant results in raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps in high-need schools," said AASA Executive Director Daniel A. Domenech in a letter announcing the partnership. "We encourage our members to consider partnering with NIET as a viable solution to strengthening teaching and learning in their states and districts."

See Domenech's announcement letter below, and visit the NIET/AASA School Solutions partner page.

Dear Colleague:

The most important factor to improve student performance during the school day is none other than the quality of the teacher in the classroom. For two decades, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching has been investing in people, thereby achieving significant results in raising student achievement and closing achievement gaps in high-need schools.

Based on its track record of success in diverse educational settings — urban, rural, suburban and tribal — we are excited to announce NIET as our newest School Solutions partner.

Consider that:

• Working with NIET helped lead Tennessee to the largest student growth gain of any state on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the nation’s report card.
• In the first year of their NIET partnership in Louisiana, NIET-supported schools began to outperform matched Louisiana schools. The gap widened over time.
• In Indiana, NIET-supported schools narrowed the Black/White gap in English Language Arts and the Hispanic/White gap in English Language Arts and Math more than other schools in the state.

Many of you are no stranger to NIET, whose work in educator leadership, job-embedded professional learning, instructional frameworks and rubrics, and performance data systems impacts 250,000 educators and 2.5 million students across the U.S. After all, its signature TAP System for Teacher and Student Advancement was introduced in 1999 as a revolutionary approach to the ways teachers are trained, supported, evaluated and compensated. The implementation of those principles led to expansion in various states and districts, with states such as South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas adopting NIET's teaching standards as a foundation for teacher observation and feedback.

More recently, NIET has become a trusted partner to colleges of education and the school districts they serve. Fifty colleges and universities currently work with the nonprofit to bridge the gap between teacher preparation programs and community needs, all while readying aspiring teachers for the expectations of the classroom.

Working shoulder-to-shoulder with partners on educational needs spanning teacher preparation to classroom instruction, NIET's team of expert educators and coaches has launched a new initiative, NIET School Improvement Solutions, geared to increasing local capacity and student achievement in our nation’s highest-need schools. NIET meets partners where they are and helps them create tailored supports around the elements proven to accelerate teacher and student growth:

• Weekly collaborative learning in schools that is job-embedded, led by teacher leaders and using research-based strategies.
• Collective leadership through school leadership teams that analyze data and drive schoolwide improvement strategies.
• Reflective culture of supportive relationships steeped in a common language around effective instruction.
• Strategic accountability that supports high expectations by aligning systems for educator recruitment, development, career advancement and retention.

We encourage our members to consider partnering with NIET as a viable solution to strengthening teaching and learning in your states and districts.

For more information about NIET's suite of services, visit niet.org/aasa.

Sincerely,

Daniel A. Domenech
Executive Director
AASA, The School Superintendents Association