What is the most influential school-based variable in student achievement? The teacher. Since 1995, Inspired Teaching has fostered better classroom experiences for kids through innovative teacher training. Its two-year certification program for new teachers, and one-year professional development program for existing teachers, trains them to teach students not what to think but how to think, and ensures that all teachers are effective in the classroom when they take charge. Teachers also combine instruction with emotional support – a key factor in student success. Working with DCPS educators to improve student achievement and create rich academic experiences, Inspired Teaching also developed the first-ever Common Core-aligned "modules" for both science and social studies. Its Real World History builds the skills of a historian and provides internship opportunities at historical sites and museums – connecting learning with our world. Want to see lasting, systemic change in our schools? This is where it begins.

Awards & Recognition

2001: Founder and Executive Director, Aleta Margolis is recognized as a leading social entrepreneur by Ashoka. This recognition comes as the organization continues to work to transform education by dramatically improving the way teachers teach.

2009: Recent changes in DC law allow nonprofits to apply for the authority to credential new public school teachers. Inspired Teaching is the only local nonprofit to be given credentialing authority (Teach For America and The New Teacher Project are also approved.

2009: The Inspired Teacher Certification Program is the first local teacher preparation program that is supported by AmeriCorps* State Professional Corps Program administered by Serve DC - The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism.

2011: The Inspired Teaching Demonstration School opens in August 2011. Deeply grounded in the philosophy of Inspired Teaching, this school is a place where children's imagination, intellect, inquiry, and integrity are encouraged and developed.

2012: We welcome the first group of Fellows (in the Inspired Teacher Certification Program) who experience a residency-based approach to teaching. Fellows spend this residency year in the classroom of a lead teacher, learning what high-quality teaching looks like from the first day of school through the last.

2013: Four Inspired Teaching Institute alumni are selected as recipients of the 2013 David Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective teachers. Several Teacher Leaders with our BLISS program are tapped for instructional leadership roles in the K-12 profession. Center for Inspired Teaching's Common Core-aligned curriculum for DC middle school social studies teachers is piloted in classrooms throughout DC, giving students the opportunity to dive deep into the study of early pioneer life in America, the modern urbanization of China, and the U.S. Civil War.

Press

    Budget (FY2016)

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    • The current budget for Center for Inspired Teaching is: $1 million to $3 million
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