AFT Professional Resources

Charter School Teachers and the Pension System

Did you know that as a charter school teacher you are enrolled in the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund? Do you know what that pension is worth to you?

Read on to learn about this valuable asset!

• An Introduction to the CTPF
• How old do I have to be and how long do I have to work to get a pension?
• How is my pension calculated?
• Is your pension safe?
• Defend your pension! Join the Policy Action Team!

By Teachers, for Teachers

Teaching is an extraordinarily complex and challenging enterprise, made even more so by new academic standards to help students develop 21st-century skills and by years of harsh budget cuts. It can be reassuring for teachers to know that, for virtually every educational challenge they encounter, a fellow teacher somewhere undoubtedly has solved it. But it also can be frustrating: Who has come up with a solution, what is it, and where can it be found?

There is an illogical contradiction to being a teacher in the United States. Teaching, in this country, is a knowledge profession largely withoutaltorganized systems for teachers to share knowledge, challenges, ideas and support.

That’s not the case in most countries with high-performing education systems, such as Finland and Singapore, which recognize the value in teachers learning from and helping each other. Some American schools strive to regularly provide teachers with such opportunities, but built-in time for teachers to collaborate is still the exception.

So much is expected of teachers today, but too little is offered in the way of resources, support and professional development. To meet this need head-on, we have formed a somewhat unconventional partnership to provide teachers in the United States with a new digital platform where users can upload their best resources, review and rate materials to provide quality control, and download these resources at no cost. This site, called Share My Lesson, is by teachers, for teachers, and it will become the largest online community for educators in the United States. Check it out at www.sharemylesson.com .

The AFT has developed a series of brochures, called Teacher Tips, to assist teachers in the classroom and beyond. These concise publications are an effective and useful addition to your back-to-school and throughout-the-year planning.

This guide—produced jointly by the AFT and the NEA—capitalizes on the experiences of National Board-Certified Teachers and others engaged in candidate support, sharing practical advice about how to approach the National Board's assessments and how to increase the prospect of successfully completing them.

Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science:  What Expert Teachers of Reading Should Know and Be Able To Do
Thanks to new scientific research—plus a long-awaited scientific and political consensus around reading research—the knowledge exists to teach all but a handful of severely disabled children to read well. This report discusses the current state of teacher preparation in reading. It reviews the relevant research and describes the knowledge base that is essential for teacher candidates and practicing teachers to master if they are to be successful in teaching all children to read well. 

If we are to achieve the promise of the standards movement, we need to understand the demands of standards-based instruction and develop the capacity of every classroom teacher to carry it out effectively. Learn about the key differences between standards-based and traditional instructional planning in this paper prepared for the AFT by Kate Jamentz, Director of Professional and Organizational Learning at WestEd. 

This kit provides helpful forms for PK-12 educators who work with ELLs to find out if they’re on track learning the important academic English skills they need to be successful. Included in the kit are: monthly tracking forms; a glossary of common phrases and words used in Spanish; a list of Spanish-English cognates; a list of recommended bilingual, culturally appropriate storybooks for children; and information on PK-3 literacy tip sheets available for parents in 11 languages. 

What does it take to become a National Board Certified Teacher? What are the benefits of National Board Certification? This brochure has been developed to answer these and other questions you may have about the certification process. 

Reading, and a love for reading, begins at home and research has shown that children who have a solid foundation in their first language have an easier time learning to read in English. These one-page reading tip sheets offer easy ways for parents to help their children become successful readers. Available in both English and Spanish.