Since launching our Effective Teaching Campaign in fall 2011 with families and educators from across the city, three things have become even more clear:

• Every student deserves access to effective teaching

• Every teacher deserves the support they need to be excellent

• The time to act is now

A great opportunity to support teachers and students is here: the school board recently adopted a goal (Balanced Scorecard, Dec 2012) of piloting a new professional growth and evaluation system to better support teachers next school year; in recent weeks, the Oakland Education Association has also hosted forums on the same topic; and both groups are in the process of bargaining for a new contract (download initial proposals from OUSD and OEA).

There have been pilot efforts in four district middle schools, and OUSD's Effective Teaching Taskforce -- comprised of principals, teachers, students, and parents -- is developing a framework for effective teaching so that we all have clear expectations.

GO Public Schools Leadership Center is working to support Oakland teachers by spotlighting policies, models and programs that advance teacher development and help educators be more successful in the classroom.

Below are some updates on GO's Effective Teaching Campaign, and what we're focusing on in 2013:

Parent Leadership Workshops: We are continuing to hold workshops for parents in West and East Oakland to help identify what effective teaching looks like and how to advocate for and support it. Check out photos on Facebook from a recent workshop at Think College Now, attended by parents from 7 Oakland public schools. Click here to download "A Parent's Guide to Effective Teaching" in English and Spanish.

Teacher Policy Fellowship: We worked with the Center for Teaching Quality to launch an Oakland-specific fellowship. The fellowship began in December, and fourteen Oakland public school teachers are spending a year learning about teaching policy, while building skills that will help them to lead policy change in OUSD. Selected from a pool of applicants, the fellows come from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience. Two of our fellows recently wrote a column in Oakland Local about why effective teaching matters. Click here to read the column by Oakland teachers Alfredo Mathew III and Caitlin Healey.

Study on Effective Teaching in Oakland: Later this spring, the National Council on Teacher Quality will release a study on how OUSD's practices and policies do or do not support effective teaching (positively or negatively). A broad coalition that includes Education Trust West, Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), SEIU Local 1021, Youth Uprising, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, and Youth Together commissioned the study to help us understand more about long-standing community concerns regarding support for teaching effectiveness in Oakland. This coalition is planning an event for March 7th (see below).

Events: We're also preparing events and activities for the spring to engage our network and the broader community. On March 7, we're hosting an event with Education Trust West (Teaching Matters: The Importance of Supporting Teachers so all Children Succeed) to share information on the importance of effective teaching. The event is scheduled for 6-8:30 p.m. in the gymnasium of Edna Brewer Middle School. More details to come. Please let us know if you'll be able to attend by signing up here.

Effective teaching is so vitally important to the success of our students. Together, we can ensure that every Oakland student experiences it and that their teachers get the support they need to be excellent.