Who We Are

Teaching Matters is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to measurably increasing teacher effectiveness to prepare all students with critical thinking and college readiness skills.

What We Do

We partner with school leaders to establish a set of critical conditions for success that support teachers to reach excellence. Teaching Matters helps educators target their most pressing challenges and improve their results. As a leading New York City Professional Development organization, Teaching Matters:

• Ensures rigorous data-driven instructional practices that align with the Common Core Standards
• Conducts targeted on-site coaching to guide teacher teams to accelerate student gains
• Develops teacher leaders to promote shared accountability and a career path that promotes the retention of effective teachers
• Influences school leaders to drive a positive culture of continuous improvement

Why Teaching Matters

Increasing the quality of urban education is the moral imperative of our generation. To do this, we must invest in and value quality teaching. The U.S. has only begun to realize the importance of teachers as a critical lever to growing our national economy. Research shows that teachers are the single most important school-related factor influencing student achievement. A student with three consecutive years of an effective teacher will make significant, permanent learning gains and higher lifetime earnings.* Our struggling urban schools face an uphill battle to attract and retain the most effective teachers -- creating a critical disparity. It is our goal to work with educators to close this gap.

Our Reach

Since our founding in 1994, we have reached thousands of educators in more than half of New York City's 1,700-plus schools—the largest, most complex school system in the country. In a given year, our staff works with more than 200 public schools reaching approximately 2,000 teachers and 80,000 students.

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* Chetty, Friedman, Rockoff (2011) and Sanders, Rivers (1996).