National Conversations about Teaching: The RESPECT Project

All across the country, teachers are talking with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) about how they envision a renewed and transformed teaching profession in the 21st Century. This page is designed for educators who are interested in participating in a National Conversation about the Teaching Profession and giving ED their feedback to inform future policy and programs, including a possible competition to transform teaching, which we are calling the RESPECT Project.

RESPECT Vision. Read the newest RESPECT Project vision statement [MS Word, 156KB], sharpened by thousands of educators across the country.

RESPECT Conversations in the News

Back to School During Teacher Appreciation Week (May 13)

A New Family Engagement Partnership with the National Center for Family Literacy (May 10)

With RESPECT, Educators Lead the Transformation of the Teaching Profession (April 25)

America’s teachers earn our respect every day, doing some of this country’s toughest and most important work. Over the years, the demands on teachers have grown as standards rose and student needs...

Finally a Touch of RESPECT (April 25)

Teachers in this great country have long yearned for the opportunity to shape their own profession. Our forces have, as of late, been too often divided and unable to conquer. Now, for the first time...

Teacher Cabinets: Bringing Teacher Voice to the Education Reform Conversation (January 7)

As a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow, one of the many roles I am lucky enough to engage in is that of a conduit between America’s teachers and the Department of Education (ED).

Toolkit

A Letter to Teachers from Secretary Arne Duncan

To prepare our young people for an increasingly competitive global economy, the United States must do more to ensure that teaching is highly respected and supported as a profession and that accomplished, effective teachers are guiding students' learning in every classroom. To support this effort, the U.S. Department of Education recently launched the National Conversation on the Teaching Profession....