Education relies on the talent, skill and commitment of teachers and school leaders. The moment students walk into school, no factor is more important to learning than the quality of their teachers. As the primary asset of the American educational system, and as the bedrock of our democracy and economy, our nation’s educators deserve to be part of an esteemed profession that attracts the most talented graduates, provides support to improve and grow, rewards excellence and doesn’t make allowances for continued poor performance.  Great teachers also need great principals, and to attract great principals means giving them the freedom to make decisions for their schools in a culture of support and accountability.  If we do these things, we will be well on our way to creating a system of great schools.  Our students deserve no less.

To significantly improve student achievement, Carnegie Corporation focuses on : (1) recruiting and preparing excellent teachers and principals, (2) using student learning data to develop teachers throughout their careers so that they and their students continue to improve, and (3) providing assessments to manage talent: to incentivize top performers, remove low performers, and ensure that the highest-need students and classrooms have the teachers best equipped to help them. 

Carnegie Corporation invests in cutting-edge, effective nonprofit organizations whose work focuses on getting skilled, committed teachers and leaders into high-needs schools and supporting them to succeed there. Our grantees include:

A series of podcasts on teacher quality, from the Education Writer Association seminar The Promise and Pitfalls of Improving the Teaching Profession.

Select human capital grantees discuss their work, personal motivations and visions for the future.