MENU

About the Organization

New Teacher Center (NTC) seeks to reduce the achievement gap in American schools by accelerating the effectiveness of new teachers and principals, through comprehensive mentoring and professional development programs.

NTC partners with school districts, policymakers, and leaders in education to implement induction programs that build leadership capacity, enhance working conditions, improve teacher retention, and transform schools into vibrant learning communities.

Their induction programs include one-on-one mentoring and professional development, all taking place within school environments that support new teachers.

NTC believes that when we focus on teachers, students succeed. New teachers and administrators are typically placed in difficult assignments in hard-to-staff schools. Many of their careers will not survive this trial by fire.

Yet, it is these schools, and the low-income and students of color that attend them, that stand to benefit the most from excellent teaching. Improving teacher effectiveness delivers on the promise of public education and helps close the achievement gap in American schools.

https://staging.skoll.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/new-teacher-center-sl1.jpg

Assigned to the most difficult classrooms, half of new teachers leave the profession within five years, leaving behind the students most in need of stability.

https://staging.skoll.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/new-teacher-center-sl2.jpg

NTC pairs talented and inexperienced teachers with experienced, veteran teachers who guide them through the crucial first two years.

https://staging.skoll.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/new-teacher-center-sl3.jpg

Ellen Moir intends to ensure that every district trains and mentors new teachers to deliver highest quality educational outcomes.

https://staging.skoll.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/new-teacher-center-sl4.jpg

5,700 mentors are working with 23,000 new teachers in 35 states, benefiting 1.6 million students.

Ambition for Change

Improve teacher quality and close the achievement gap by ensuring that every school district trains and mentors every new teacher to deliver highest quality educational outcomes.

Path to Scale

Demonstration and Uptake of Model into Existing Systems.
Build mentorship programs into school district structure and funding systems.

Skoll Awardee

After beginning her career as a bilingual teacher, Ellen Moir spent 15 years directing the teacher education program at UC Santa Cruz. Dismayed to see new teachers become disillusioned and leave teaching, she developed an instructional mentoring program to induct new teachers. Ellen then founded NTC in 1998 to scale high quality teacher induction services to a national audience. She is widely recognized for her work in new teacher development and school reform. Ellen was named a recipient of the 2015 Mary Utne O’Brien Awards for Excellence in Expanding the Evidence-based Practice of Social and Emotional Learning, the 2015 California Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (CASCD) Outstanding Instructional Leader award, the 2014 Brock International Prize in Education Laureate, became a Pahara-Aspen Education Fellow in 2013, and an Ashoka Fellow in 2011. Other major awards include the 2013 NewSchools Venture Fund Organization of the Year Award, 2010 Civic Ventures Purpose Prize Fellow, 2008 National Staff Development Council Contribution to the Field award; the 2008 Full Circle Fund Impact Award; the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. 2005 Prize in Education; and the 2003 California Council on Teacher Education Distinguished Teacher Educator Award. Ellen Moir retired in August of 2018 and NTC's new CEO is Desmond K. Blackburn. Desmond comes to NTC as the former Superintendent of Brevard Public Schools, and we are now working through the goals of his First 100-days Plan. As the leader of Florida’s 10th largest school district, and overseeing 75,000 students and 9,000 educators and employees, Desmond exercised his leadership skills to create a new vision and strategic plan for the district. Desmond is also a Broad Fellow and a former principal, classroom teacher, and community leader with two decades of experience leading educators driven to achieving educational equity for every student.

Impact & Accomplishments
  • During the 2017-18 school year, New Teacher Center supported 24,000 teachers, as well as 6,500 mentors and coaches in 400 districts throughout 27 states, impacting the learning of 1.8 million students.
  • An evaluation of two different programs found that after two years of support, students of New Teacher Center-supported teachers in grades 4 through 8 demonstrated 2 to 4 months of additional learning in reading and 2 to 5 months of additional learning in math (compared to students of the control group teachers).
  • After two years of support, students of New Teacher Center-supported new teachers demonstrated learning gains at the same level as students of veteran teachers for both elementary and secondary levels in math and English.
Affiliated
Tracy Kremer
Associate Director of Communication, New Teacher Center
Kirsten Ward
Sr VP Business Development, New Teacher Center
Kamilah Jones
Chief Marketing & External Affairs Officer, New Teacher Center
Jenna Wachtel
Director of Early Learning, New Teacher Center
Desmond Blackburn
Chief Executive Officer, New Teacher Center
Arthur Mills IV
Chief Operating Officer, New Teacher Center
Cindy Brunswick
Senior Vice President, Program Delivery, New Teacher Center
Ellen Moir
Founder and CEO, New Teacher Center
In the News
See All Awardees