Article
courtesy
of the Southeast Queens Press
New
PS 136 Teacher Helps Create Change |
By
KARLENE HAMILTON
A third grade teacher at PS 136 has been chosen
as a MetLife Fellow in the Teachers Network
Leadership Institute (TNLI), an honor shared
by hundreds of exemplary public school teachers
across the nation.
Since its inception in 1996, TNLI has been the
pioneer in offering the teachers’ voice
into the national discourse on education reform.
MetLife gives grants for research to teachers
involved in their program.
“It’s exciting,” said Sharon
Chapman, when she learned she was accepted.
“I was in corporate America for 15 years
and I decided to become a teacher so I went
through the New York City Teaching Fellows program.”
Chapman said she decided to become a teacher
because she wanted to make a change. She started
teaching at PS 136 in 2002.
“My voice and my research can affect change,”
she said. “MetLife gave me the opportunity
to do research and impact this school and other
schools in New York City,” Chapman said.
Members of MetLife Fellows read relevant literature,
participate in online dialogues, and meet regularly
with policymakers.
As a major part of their work, teachers with
full-time classroom responsibilities, also conduct
action research studies in their classrooms
and schools, addressing the direct link between
policymaking and its effect on student achievement.
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TNLI
works in partnership with New York University
Steinhardt School of Education. The MetLife
Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation provide major funding for TNLI.
“I work full time at PS 136 and meet once
per month with the teachers’ new work
group,” Chapman said. We work with an
NYU professor, talk about our research and take
the question about education to a researcher.
Chapman said her question about education addressed
the impact she would have on students’
academic success if she worked with the parents.
“Some parents are not involved with their
children’s academic study,” she
said. “If I work with them and they get
involved and help the children at home with
the techniques I show them, then that would
effect change.”
The Director of the Teachers Network Leadership
Institute, Ellen Meyers said “this kind
of teacher action research serves as the catalyst
to forge meaningful conversations among parents,
communities, and policymakers about what really
works in education.”
For more information about TNLI visit www.teachersnetwork.org/TNLI
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