Our Perspective

Center for Inspired Teaching has been based in Washington, DC, since its founding in 1995, and we have been proud to work with teachers, administrators, and leaders from DC Public Schools for over twenty years. Most recently, Inspired Teaching and DCPS ran a formal partnership to develop Teacher Leaders who could lead their peers across the district in implementing rigorous, inquiry-based, standards-aligned instruction.

Jan Schuettpelz, a 2015 Inspired Teacher Leader, was awarded Teacher of the Year for the District. Jan is a seventh grade science teacher at Alice Deal Middle School. She participated in the Inspired Teaching Institute in school year 2015-2016, building her skills in engagement-based instruction in order to ensure her classroom is a vibrant learning community in which lessons are, in her words, “hands-on, minds-on.”

Executive Director Jane Ehrenfeld talks about Inspired Teaching’s unwavering commitment to the students and teachers of Washington, DC; our plans to serve the surrounding region; and our intent to ensure engagement-based education is the norm for every child.

“Oran’s influence and his voice not only fueled the creative process among the teachers he taught, it also enabled teachers to see the creative genius in their students.” Founder and President Aleta Margolis writes an appreciation of Oran Sandel, a luminary who brought his joyful creativity and theater expertise to Inspired Teaching’s foundational years.

Inspired Teaching Fellows enter the profession through a two-year, residency-based program, spending a year learning from lead teachers in aligned partner schools before they take over classrooms of their own. Capital City Public Charter School was Inspired Teaching’s first residency partner site. We’re proud to count Capital City as one of our longest and closest partners.

Teaching and Learning Intern Tess Gann describes her journey of learning through discovery, first as a student with an inspired teacher and now as an intern supporting teachers as they enter the profession through the Inspired Teacher Certification Program: “As I work with Inspired Teaching Fellows and hear stories from their classrooms, I am reminded of the joy of learning like a biologist, an architect, an engineer.”

Executive Director Jane Ehrenfeld describes what it means to be part of the Inspired Family: “It wasn’t until I found my way to Center for Inspired Teaching that I realized how lucky I was to have moved here. If I had ended up living and working anywhere else in the country, I may not have joined a strong, supportive network of teachers who, like me, were dedicated to improving outcomes for children through a joyful and rigorous school experience.”

Executive Director Jane Ehrenfeld explains the need for our work in the context of the 2016 presidential election: “In the face of these urgent challenges, what is Inspired Teaching doing? Our answer: it starts in school. For a better world, we must ensure our young people build their capacity as problem solvers, critical thinkers, collaborators, and empathetic changemakers.”

“Twenty-first century skills — which enable individuals to independently analyze and apply information, not merely parrot it back at the right time — are exactly the types of skills that engagement-based education values and builds in students.” – Inspired Teaching’s Director of Research and Evaluation, Robyn Sperling, on our upcoming white paper about the need for engagement-based education.

Center for Inspired Teaching and the Catholic University of America are working closely with teachers in high-needs schools to improve STEM education across DC through the federally funded Mathematics and Science Partnership program.