Organizational Change and Innovation at TNTP: How an implementation resource can become a more effective learning organization

Abstract

In 1997, The New Teacher Project (now TNTP) was founded by a group of teachers. The organization quickly became a prominent force in the education reform movement; their early theory of action focused on recruitment of strong candidates into the teaching force as well as on stronger evaluation systems that linked student learning to teachers’ effectiveness. As the education reform movement matures, the problems facing the sector have changed. Once few states and districts had effective teacher evaluation systems. Today, many schools systems are now trying to sharpen the systems that they have in place and link them more clearly to student achievement. Charter schools have increased parent choice in school options and alternative teacher certification and training programs have diversified the teacher pipeline. In the education reform movement of the future, reform organizations will have to organize themselves around being able to define and solve problems as they arise. Replicating and scaling a limited number of reforms will no longer generate the change or maintain the momentum of a movement that, in some geographies, is decades old and has made significant progress. TNTP is currently expanding its reach to include more teacher development in both the induction and certification phases of a teacher’s career. As an organization that works in school districts across the nation, they are also grappling with questions of scale and sustainability. This paper highlights the organizational challenges embedded in changing the way that TNTP, a self-sustaining non-profit, does business in order to meet changing demands of the market. It also uncovers the difficulty that an organization with a history of being an implementation resource could face as it evolves into an innovative learning organization. This Capstone may yield insights that inform the way that TNTP, and organizations like it, approach organizational learning as well as the internal culture and programmatic structures needed to accommodate this shift in priorities. These findings also impact my own leadership growth and development and will shape my future decisions as a leader and an agent of change in the education sector.